David M

[David M]

Saturday/Sunday 9th/10th April - Will spring ever start?

Castle Meadows in Abergavenny is a top spot for Orange Tips, especially once the Cuckoo Flower has been out for a week or so.

Sadly, one requires suitable weather conditions to see them and on both days this weekend, despite promising forecasts, on each occasion the cloud outweighed the sunshine several-fold.

We're almost halfway through spring now, yet it feels like we're stuck in the first week of March, with temperatures stubbornly refusing to reach the teens Celsius.

Small Tortoiseshells were the only species I saw (just 8 of them in two days), which is a real shame, as in this location at this time of year they can number well over 50 if conditions are optimal. Here's one desperately clinging to the earth to try to inject some warmth into it:

With few butterflies to see, I spent time watching all the bird life, with Nuthatches, Thrushes and this Heron all making an appearance:

I'm sure I'm not the only one praying for temperatures to rise soon. We all need a break (particularly the butterflies).

[bugboy]

Well you've already seen more Small Torts than me, they do seem to be much more numerous over on the west side of the country with both you and Wurzel doing better than me. 50 in one day though, thats something I could only dream about over here!

Wednesdays looking quite good currently, 17 degrees predicted... I wonder if that will come to fruition. Hope so, my day off work

[Chris Jackson]

Sorry to hear your Spring hasn’t started yet, when it could quite be the opposite.
I feel guilty about posting my own sightings down here. Let’s hope your weather brightens up soon.
Chris

[Roger Gibbons]

There seems to be quite a difference between the UK and French seasons so far. Yesterday I went to the site you know as "T", David, (apologies to all for mentioning location in encrypted form) and saw 22 species including at least 20 Provence Hairstreaks, about half of which were females egg-laying on just about every low-lying plant available.

Here's hoping the UK season is just a slow-starter.

Roger

[David M]

...saw 22 species including at least 20 Provence Hairstreaks, about half of which were females egg-laying on just about every low-lying plant available.

Good job I had an uplifting day today, Roger, otherwise I'd have been on a plane to a location not far from you...

Wednesday 13th April 2016 – Redemption….

After my prolonged period of suffering lately due to poor weather conditions, it was ironic that redemption was obtained during a visit to a graveyard!

Given the promising forecast, I arranged a day off work at short notice and headed to Dan-y-Graig Cemetery on the eastern outskirts of Swansea, as this location has traditionally come up trumps for early Speckled Woods and Holly Blues.

Having walked up the first slope that leads to the summit of Kilvey Hill, most of my ‘demons’ were vaporised within the space of a few seconds. I had just located my first Speckled Wood of 2016 and had my camera at the ready when I was distracted by a shadow above me. This turned out to be two warring male Holly Blues and I watched them for half a minute until the battle came to an end and both went their separate ways.

This is the stretch of terrain where all this happened:

In all, I saw about a dozen Specklies, including these two adversaries who climbed high into the air to settle their differences:

The winner came down to rest on last year’s bracken:

Moving into the cemetery, I was transfixed by a male Brimstone nectaring from a patch of bluebells. He’d flit from one flower to the next, then he’d fly off a short distance before turning round to return:

I took multiple images, including this accidental one where I hit the shutter just as he launched into flight:

A Peacock was sighted on the pathway immediately above the cemetery, and I soon arrived back at the track that leads down to the entrance:

Here I stayed for a joyous 20 minutes or so, as further Speckled Woods and another Holly Blue flitted about. Suddenly, I spotted three whitish butterflies 20m or so down the path. I jogged down and watched another male Brimstone chase two male Large Whites in and out of the shrubbery. Fortunately, one of the Large Whites decided to hang around for a bit:

So, whilst not a perfect day, many ‘cobwebs’ were blown off during this two hour visit.

Totals seen were:

Speckled Wood 10-15, Brimstone 3, Holly Blue 3, Large White 2, Peacock 1.

Orange Tips are next on the menu!

[Neil Freeman]

Great stuff David ...it seems that everyone is beating me to Specklies this year

Cheers,

Neil

[David M]

Sunday 17th April - Still slow going....

A cool but largely sunny day today, so I headed over to the base of Kilvey Hill again, figuring that this sheltered spot would be better than some of the more exposed ones local to me.

The first butterfly I saw was a male Green Veined White, my first of the year, although he didn't hang around to be photographed.

No vanessids today, and the commonest species was easily Speckled Wood, with approximately two dozen seen. A couple more Holly Blues made an appearance, but as is often the case, they remained frustratingly out of range - at least this long distance 'effort' shows that it's a male:

Soon after, my first Small White of the year turned up:

I then spotted a beautifully marked female Green Veined White:

This poor female barely got a moment's peace, as there were several Small and Large White males in the vicinity, and every time they passed they would chase the poor lady round the track. In this image, the male Small White is hot on the tail of her, with a male Large White in pursuit!

No Brimstones today, and in spite of seeing my first Orange Tip in a different location yesterday, they too were absent in spite of plenty of cuckoo flower growing in the cemetery below Kilvey Hill.

[Neil Freeman]

Hi David,

Beautiful female GVW

I also love the action shot of the whites.

Cheers,

Neil.

[David M]

Monday 2nd May 2016 - Eight day drought over....

Yep. Not one butterfly seen from mid-afternoon on Sunday 24th April to approx 2.30pm today. The weather really has been that bad!!

I only ventured down to Castle Meadows in Abergavenny this afternoon because the rain had stopped and it suddenly felt a lot warmer.

I felt sure I had a half-decent chance of at least locating a roosting Orange Tip among the copious Cuckoo Flower blooms at this damp location and decided I'd start this search where the growth is particularly robust, just outside the entrance:

Sure enough, within a couple of minutes I spotted this male clinging on in the wind to this flower head:

As the sky became a little brighter, he started to get more active:

..and when, eventually, the sun broke through, he was off on his travels, only to alight again when the cloud rolled back in:

Hopefully, along with the rest of us, he'll have a much more enjoyable time of things over the coming week as temperatures rise considerably.

[Neil Freeman]

Hi David, lovely Orange-tip images , still not seen one myself...maybe this week with the forecast upturn in the weather.

Cheers,

Neil

[David M]

Wednesday 4th May 2016 - That's more like it.....

I was confined to my workplace today (such a shame this weather descended immediately AFTER the Bank Holiday), but I escaped for just under an hour and what a joy it was to see butterflies aplenty, doing what nature intended them to do - fly around in numbers, looking for mates, nectar sources, etc.

I spent just over half an hour in a 200m spot close to my work building, and in that brief time saw 7 Orange Tips, several Whites (both Small and Green Veined positively identified), a Speckled Wood and a Small Tortoiseshell.

The most pleasing moment was when I stumbled upon my first female Orange Tip of 2016, who was, as usual, far more accommodating than the males normally are:

[Pauline]

That's a lovely image of the OT female David. The exposure is just right showing every level of detail and very nice composition too. I have yet to see a female myself

[bugboy]

Very with your female OT, all I've had is one fly past me the other day, loads of males about now though so they must be hiding somewhere!

[Goldie M]

Love your Female OT David, glad I saw one in my garden or I'd be really jealous. Goldie

[Jack Harrison]

I have often thought that female Orange Tips are under-rated. That exquisite under wing pattern would be more appreciated if she were not so "outshone" by her male who shares the pattern but has that gorgeous splash of colour.

Jack

[David M]

Thanks for the comments, all.

Sunday 8th May 2015 - Shock to the system....

After being cold for seemingly forever, a sudden day of sunshine and 24c temperatures could mean only one thing - many hours out in the field!

I started at Rodborough Common just after 9am, at which time it was raining. However, by 10 o'clock skies had cleared although butterfly activity took a while to lift off.

My first Green Hairstreaks of the year were seen; this one being extremely frustrating as it insisted upon landing at the top of a hawthorn bush with the sun directly behind it. Shame really, as it was a fresh specimen with a nice set of white 'streaks':

Dingy Skippers were about too, probably a couple of dozen of them:

All was worryingly quiet in the 'Duke' hotspot on this site at first, but compensation arrived via the sighting of a mating pair:

After about ten minutes, the male detached himself and moved to the tip of the leaf:

He then flew straight back down into the main 'lek' area, whilst the female, abdomen bulging, basked for a couple of minutes:

I was interested to see what she did following pairing, and unlike the male, she headed up the slope in 4 bursts of about 10 metres, briefly resting in between. Her fifth flight took her right over the top of the slope and well away from the half dozen or so males in the 'lek' area. These males continued to joust with one another, periodically alighting for a rest:

With it now being midday, I decided to head back to the car and catch up with Pearl Bordered Fritillaries in Herefordshire, stopping briefly to take a panoramic of this beautiful site:

I detoured through the country lanes around Skenfrith where my car temperature gauge hit 25c!!! Hard to believe that a week earlier I was sitting in my friend's conservatory in nearby Abergavenny with the wood fire lit!

Arriving at Ewyas Harold just before 2pm, I was unsurprised to see Willrow's VW in the car park, and even less of a surprise was to find him in the PBF hotspot a couple of hundred metres into the site.

Males were whizzing around like bullets but eventually I spotted a much more docile female who was content to flutter about only a little and take time out basking:

All told, I reckon I saw roughly two dozen, but given I'll be in Abergavenny next weekend, I will probably head back (weather permitting) to see if things improve.

[Neil Freeman]

Hi David,

Rodborough Common is looking great, I have not been there for a couple of years now, I really must make the effort to drive down there again.

Great photos of the DoBs, I really like the one of the pair together on the leaf after separation

Cheers,

Neil

[Padfield]

If anything could make me pine to come home, David, it would be shots like these. Lovely.

Guy

[essexbuzzard]

Agreed. Great dukes ,never been to that site before but it looks worth a visit. I also like the picture of the two adults just separated.

[Goldie M]

Fantastic Shots Dave, I envy you your Dukes and Pearls I went to Gait Barrow yesterday and the rope barrier hadn't been put up yet, next week the Ranger said, so, no sightings, no Pearls either, I hope I'm not going to have another Pearl less year ,I'll try again next week Goldie