James CBR
@jamescbr
🦋 County Butterfly Recorder (Suffolk) 🦋 Suffolk Naturalists' Society and Butterfly Conservation (Suffolk Branch) 🦋 Committee member BC (Suffolk Branch) 🎓 Former photographer, scientist and teacher, now enjoying early retirement 💍 Happily married
Meadow Brown lift-off. My first ever in-flight photography session with butterflies. Yesterday at Lound Lakes in Suffolk. Some tweaks needed for the next time but I am very happy with how the Olympus pro-capture mode worked. @savebutterflies.bsky.social @bc-suffolk.bsky.social
Meadow Brown have held up well to the heat where I live. They have a variable number of eyespots on the hindwing - this male has just one. Lesser Knapweed is deep rooted, stays green and has large nectaries, which helps butterflies refuel. @savebutterflies.bsky.social @bc-suffolk.bsky.social
So many local butterflies were concentrating on Marjoram in July. Now that it's going over the attention has switched to Ragwort. Here's a recent selection from the wild space in our local cemetery in Lowestoft. @bc-suffolk.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social
Scarce Chaser teneral, photographed recently in the heat. Made a change from butterflies, which were not sitting still anyhow. @britishdragonflies.bsky.social @britishnatureguide.bsky.social #Dragonfly
Brimstone are emerging. We have 3 buckthorns and, curiously, we seem to have more females hatching than males. They're in no hurry to get going and they seldom return, despite us growing their favourite flowers (violet, purple and pink colours). @bc-suffolk.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social
A joy to join in with #PollinatorPals for #WildFlowerHour tonight as I spend much of my time recording and reporting on insect pollinators, particularly butterflies. @bc-suffolk.bsky.social @wildflowerhour.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social
The last of the Green-winged Orchid. Winks Meadow, Suffolk. For the #OrchidChallenge by #WildFlowerHour @bsbibotany.bsky.social @wildflowerhour.bsky.social @ukorchids.bsky.social @floraconuk.bsky.social
For #WildFlowerHour some local #TinyPlants Hoary Tare, Tamarisk and Common Fiddleneck. Lowestoft, Suffolk. @wildflowerhour.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social
Late for #WildFlowerHour Lesser Celandine still going strong in east Suffolk, and, what I believe is Common Field Speedwell - happy to be corrected!
Here are some other colour variants and a wider view of the meadow showing how profusely ornamented it is with orchids, cowslips and buttercup at this time of year. Adder's Tongue fern and Spiny Restharrow also grow here, along with other species of orchid.
Green-winged Orchid (Anacamptis morio) in full bloom at SWT Winks Meadow. Purple, lilac, bicolour and white forms plus Cowslip, buttercups, Speedwell and sedges woven among them. Spectacular. #WildFlowerHour @bsbibotany.bsky.social @wildflowerhour.bsky.social @ukorchids.bsky.social
Such understated beauty in our smaller flowers. Photographed locally except for bluebell wood. Herb Robert - G. robertianum Common Vetch - V. sativa Cuckooflower - C. pratense Bluebells around Silver Birch stump - H. non-scripta #WildFlowerHour
A buttercup that made me think. Lots of Bulbous and a few Meadow b'cup locally. The sepals suggest Meadow but it's diminutive (15cm). Any ideas? Spotted Medick and White Bryony now in flower. North east Suffolk, urban and coastal. #ButtercupChallenge #WildFlowerHourID #WildFlowetHour
A sunshine day reflected in the colours of the flowers. Bulbous Buttercup with it's recurved sepals, Daisy and Common Sorrel. Buttercups are used by Chelosia hoverfly larva, daisy by mining bee grubs and sorrels by Small Copper butterfly larva. #Pollinators #WildFlowerHour
Cheilosia caerulescens, a species of hoverfly. May be quite a rarity, although expanding its range quickly. Delighted to have it in our Suffolk garden today. Larvae feed on Sempervivens. @flygirlnhm.bsky.social @hoverflyspotter.bsky.social
It's a boy! A Small White pupa successfully overwintered in our Suffolk garden having fully grown as a caterpillar on Nasturtium. He's hatched and this is his profile before taking his maiden flight. Bon voyage. @bc-suffolk.bsky.social
This, for comparison, is the cultivated garden Spanish Bluebell which is a different species altogether.
Rather belatedly, Lucie and I went to the bluebell wood. Still at their peak and joined in places by Greater Stitchwort, Bugle, Primroses, Common Dog Violet but, sadly, no Early Purple Orchid. Good bird song too. #WildFlowerHour
Lords and Ladies (Arum maculatum). A plant with so many local names - cows and bulls, Jack in the pulpit, cuckoopint to name but a few. The most I have seen for a few years. Suffolk. #WildFlowerHour @wildflowerhour.bsky.social
Delighted to have seen my first Glass-winged Dronefly (Eristalis similis) yesterday in Lowestoft. A rarity indeed and a complete surprise. Confirmed by the Hoverfly Recording Scheme experts. #Pollinators #Hoverflies @hoverflyspotter.bsky.social
One of my favourites, a Peacock butterfly nectaring on blossom in full sun and looking good for it. East Suffolk. @savebutterflies.bsky.social @bc-suffolk.bsky.social @suffolk-nats1929.bsky.social
Last call. If anyone has any butterfly records for Suffolk (2025) please submit them online this weekend. I plan a final download early next week for processing into the 2025 Suffolk Butterfly Report. Early signs are of a record breaking year for observations. Thank you. @bc-suffolk.bsky.social
Lucie discovered this Peacock inside our home today. Not sure if this counts as a first of my year sighting or even when and how it got in but it's now safely settled down in our unheated summerhouse. 🙏🏻🦋 @bc-suffolk.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social
It was a good year for Clouded Yellow butterflies in Suffolk, being reported 100x more than 2024! Details later in my 2025 report. Here's one I photographed in Lowestoft, where I was also lucky enough to see a helice form and an egg-laying female. @bc-suffolk.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social
This Small Tortoiseshell stayed briefly in our Lowestoft garden. @savebutterflies.bsky.social @bc-suffolk.bsky.social
A calming walk for #WildFlowerHour and #DaisyFamily Last of the Ragwort, Yarrow, Canadian Fleabane and Tansy. All growing within ten minutes' walk of my home in Lowestoft.
Butterflies are excellent pollinators and also indicator species for the environment. Male Silver-washed Fritillary on Bramble, female Meadow Brown on Ragwort, Peacock on Cherry Plum and Swallowtail on Dame's Violet #PollinatorPals #WildFlowerHour @wildflowerhour.bsky.social @bc-suffolk.bsky.social
Today's the final day of the #BigButterflyCount and a chance to get one more count in. Or more, if you feel like it. @savebutterflies.bsky.social @bc-suffolk.bsky.social @bc-cambs-essex.bsky.social
Nice to see this backlit Small Tortoiseshell this evening. I like the stained glass effect. A good year for them by modern standards although they're still not doing well everywhere. @bc-suffolk.bsky.social
Sea Holly, Sea Kale, Bird's-foot Trefoil and Marram grass growing on the beach north of Lowestoft. The blue attracts white butterflies to lay eggs (Crucifers). The UK's first ever Southern Small White was recorded today just down the coast in Felixstowe. #wildflowerhour @wildflowerhour.bsky.social