Tag Archives: Whincup

A white butterfly with green markings on a yellow flower

Orange Tip. Photo: Tracy Whincup

Tracy sent in this photo telling us:

I took this photo of a female Orange Tip ovipositing on yellow rocket at Canford Magna on 11/05/2026 – you can also see an egg that was laid earlier on the right stem. 

A brown butterfly with orange, black and white markings on a pink flower

Long-tailed Blue. Photo: Tracy Whincup

A dark brown butterfly with black and white markings on a pink flower

Long-tailed Blue. Photo: Tracy Whincup

Two photos of a great butterfly to see sent in by Tracy telling us:

It was great to spot a Long-tailed Blue at Southbourne yesterday, 09/10/2025 and my husband Gary managed to get a slight open wing shot confirming that it was a female.  Also it was good to bump into Andy and Gary doing the transect but a shame that they missed her. 

A yellow/orange coloured butterfly with black and yellow markings

Clouded Yellow. Photo: Tracy Whincup

Tracy sent in this photo saying:

It was lovely to see good numbers of Clouded Yellows when I visited Southbourne this afternoon, 30/09/2025.  The settled females were getting lots of attention and I witnessed this female laying with her wings open for several minutes after two males had harassed her.

Hummingbird Hawkmoth. Photo: Tracy Whincup

Tracy spotted two Hummingbird Hawkmoths while she was looking for Wood white butterflies at Lyme Regis on 29/04/25.

Hopefully this summer we will see more of this beautiful moth in the UK if we have a better summer weather wise.

A brown and small part blue butterfly with black, white and orange markings on a plant seed head

Common Blue. Photo: Tracy Whincup

A brown and small part blue butterfly with black, white and orange markings on a plant seed head

Common Blue. Photo: Tracy Whincup

Two photos from Tracy sent in saying:

I took these photos on 20/09/2024 at Southbourne of a female Common Blue – it looks a little unusual with the chequered wing margins. 

Editor’s Note:  In view of Tracy’s comment I referred these photos to one of our verifiers who has confirmed that they are definitely Common Blues by the dot pattern on the underwings adding that the chequered edge is a bit unusual but couldn’t find a named aberration that matched.

A brown butterfly with black, white and orange markings on a plant seed head

Long-tailed Blue. Photo: Gary Whincup

The place to see butterflies in Dorset at the moment must be Southbourne.

Yesterday we received and published several photos of Clouded Yellows all seen there and then today we have just received this photo of a Long-tailed Blue sent in by Tracy Whincup telling us:

My husband, Gary thought he was photographing some Common Blues today, 18/09/2024 at Southbourne but when I downloaded his photos I was very surprised to see one was in in fact a Long-tailed Blue.  I have never seen one at Southbourne before so it’s an exciting find for us.

A yellow butterfly with some black and brown markings on a pink flower

Clouded Yellow. Photo: Gary Whincup

After waiting patiently for a photo of a Clouded Yellow for the Gallery this year, two of them were sent in to us this afternoon, 17/09/2024.  This one was sent in by Tracy and it was also taken at Southbourne undercliff (by her husband Gary).  Let us hope we see some more of them in the days ahead.