Sulfur 2

Yes, same species of butterfly as yesterday.

Identification - blanda snelleni - 3 spot grass yellow,

Very nearly didn't get a blip at all today. Very heavy clouds all day. I tried to wait them out, but they started getting heavier, so at around 15:45 I decided to grease up and nip around the corner to my old stomping ground, 'the grove'.

Prime safari time is before noon, after that, bugs seem to become scarce, even the creeping foxglove gives up and drops its petals and opens a fresh bud the next morning.

I can't believe that I got some three months of blips out of this location. Not so sure I could do it now, I expect more from my safaris. There were plenty of sulfurs around, a few small blue hairstreak butterflies, a few psychs, a delias and an 8 spot ladybird.

I have 15 ladybirds in my collection, but only ten have been identified and this 8 spot was one of the unidentified.

Obviously I wasn't enthused about blipping another sulphur, but with an empty card, I decided to shoot it anyway. It was quite a surprise when it flew off, to discover another butterfly attached, totally missed that one. However, it does give something to write about.

Here you can see the difference between the male and female, the male having a brown patch towards the tip of its forewing, absent on the female. Such images of mating butterflies are important, otherwise you can spend all day searching for a new species.

It was already starting to spit drops of rain and despite the liberal coating of DEET, the mosquitoes were murderous, with a dozen hovering around my ankles, the prime feeding grounds. So, only ten minutes into the safari, I decided to call it a day, as I was not getting any pleasure out of the experience.

Dave