2 Peacocks at Gosport. At 10:00, 2 Peacocks were basking on a compost heap in a garden in North Close,Alverstoke,Gosport. [Posted by Dr David Tinling]
Painted Lady seen today. Seen sunning itself on a low wall at East Park, Southampton. [Posted by Philip Budd]
Brimstone on Portsdown. a male Brimstone was active in compartment 6 on Portsdown in the warm morning sun. [Posted by J Goodspeed]
Noar Hill Brown Hairstreak Egg-Hunt. I arrived to Noar Hill by about 0930 scouting ahead to see what the terrain was like and it was very muddy and frozen solid in places, which really was an advantage, as wading through mud is not everyone's favorite pastime. I looked into the first area of Noar Hill at the main triangle and here there were several Blackthorn Bushes with red markers on them, obviously Brown Hairstreak eggs, but unfortunately there was still the hard frost to contend with and the stems were white and no eggs could be seen. Back at the car-park area everybody gathered and we then all set off hoping the ever increasing sunlight would melt the frost so we could see our quarry. With so many eyes it became obvious 'once we got our eye in' so to speak we were going to have a successful day. We counted from 10:30 until 13:00 up to 125 Brown Hairstreak eggs, which I suspect is a good total. Many of the Blackthorn Bushes we were looking at were very young 3-4 feet in height, and a sort of reddish colour, and here we found up to 3-4 on some of them with multiples all in a line.One Blackthorn bush in the far chalk-pit near to 'Mouses' grave there was one blackthorn bush with (7) eggs on it. Of the majority of the eggs counted I would say 75% were from new counts which didn't have any red markers or white tags on them. Id like to thank all who came and what looks to be now an annual event! [Posted by Ashley Whitlock]
 |  |  |
| 3 Brown Hairstreak eggs in aline Photo © Ashley Whitlock | 2 Brown Hairstreak eggs together Photo © Ashley Whitlock | The chalkpit where we found seven on one bush. Photo © Ashley Whitlock |
Brown Hairstreak Egg-Hunt. Saturday 16th January Ashley Whitlock will lead a Brown Hairstreak egg-hunt around Noar Hill and surrounding area. Meet at 10.30 am at the track junction where cars can park. It will be muddy in places please bring wellies or stout walking boots, woolly hat and gloves; it isn't going to be warm, but it will be sunny. There will drinks and discussion on the field trips for the coming season in the local pub in Selbourne in the afternoon...anyone interested, please contact Ashley Whitlock on usual media, phone etc. [Posted by Ashley Whitlock]
 |  |  |
| Brown Hairstreak Photo © Ashley Whitlock | Brown Hairstreak Photo © Ashley Whitlock | Brown Hairstreak laying eggs Photo © Ashley Whitlock |
Red Admiral at Brownwich. Apologies for late submission - problem uploading and wanted to include a photo. Lovely red admiral basking on ivy at Brownwich in (weak!) January sun. [Posted by Mark Wagstaff]
 |
| A January Red Admiral Photo © Mark Wagstaff |
Small White Larvae. Surprised to see Small White larvae on cabbages in a relative's garden in Four Marks on Dec 29th. They were nearly full grown. I've seen Large White larvae in December before, a couple of times, but never Small White - though Richard Fox knows of the odd record (in SW England). No photo as it was tipping down at the time! [Posted by Matthew Oates]