October 2016

[Ian Pratt]

Silly me, I should have know it was a geranium bronze as I had seen them before in western France in October.
A better photo of the European speckled wood attached.

[Allan.W.]

Hello all,
Things have really wound right down, (butterfly- wise) in my part of Kent, although I did manage 4 Red Admirals,last Sunday (23rd),at Reculver,but not the hoped for late Holly blue or Clouded Yellow,and I think that's probably it for butterflies ,for me this season ! On a bright note,the second of the three Small Coppers that I,ve been rearing ,hatched this late afternoon, of the other two,one unfortunately,had a forewing defect,and a deformed tongue,i can't think how this occurred,but I released it anyway, the other ,in its second instar, has now ceased feeding and appears to have attached itself to the underside of a Sorrel leaf,for the winter. I,ll release the other Copper tomorrow where I found it as an egg,
so hopefully it may enjoy a few days in the sun. regards Allan .W.

[Vince Massimo]

Good recent reports of late butterfly activity at Southwick basin, Shoreham prompted me to make my first visit today. The location is on the north side at TQ251050. A total of 5 Clouded Yellows were seen (4 male and 1 female). The female was fresh, as was a helice individual photographed earlier in the morning by Dave Cook. This is a different helice to the older, worn female that was seen being mated on 22nd October (again by Dave Cook).

Clouded Yellow male 26-Oct-2016

Clouded Yellow helice (Dave Cook) 26-Oct-2016

Other species seen (but not all by me) were:
4 Common Blue (2 worn males and 2 fresh females)
4 Small White
1 Red Admiral

In the sunny spells the temperature reached 16C by mid afternoon.

Further details and photos of the butterflies seen today are in Trevor Rapley's diary viewtopic.php?f=29&t=7953&start=980#p115191
It was good to bump into Dave and Trevor today

Vince

[essexbuzzard]

It's been so cold and cloudy in Essex this October that insect activity has been hard to come by. However,I did see a hummingbird Hawkmoth yesterday near Folkestone,and 3 red admiral.

[LancsRover]

Hi all, I've only been home to my beloved Lancashire for a week, when I persuaded my lovely wife to go away to the north-east(England) for a few days.
On Tuesday 25th October 2016, we walked from Dunstan Hill along the coast to Low Newton(south of Berwick on Tweed) it was a beautiful sunny day about 12c, with little wind, when we came across a Painted Lady, next to Embleton golf links.
Is this the furthest north for a Painted Lady this month?
Russ

[Catteraxe]

Hi Russ,

My wife and I did that very same walk back in the summer! Plenty of Ringlets but little else then but an excellent pint in the Ship (I think it's the Ship) and some good bird spotting at the ponds behind the pub (Black Tailed Godwit, Ruff, Long Eared Owl, Little Grebe, Grasshopper Warbler (heard not seen)). Really enjoyable.

Kevin.

[LancsRover]

Hi Kevin,

Yes we had a pint and a little lunch in the ship too, it took me 25 minutes to get to the bar, school half term and a sunny day. We had a quick look into the hide at the ponds but I'm a novice when it comes to birds.

On Friday(28.10.16.) we walked around Lindisfarne in the morning, there were loads of birds about, I took a few pics. which I hope my mate John(he's a birder) will be able to ID.

Thanks again for your interest,

Russ.

[millerd]

There are still Holly Blues flying here near Heathrow, including an egg-laying female.
/viewtopic.php?t=6157&start=1400#p115255
Dave

[Vince Massimo]

A walk along the seafront at Lancing and Worthing today produced 3 Clouded Yellow (2 males and a helice female),
1 Common Blue (male, near Worthing Pier), 1 Red Admiral and a Peacock. I also found 2 Red Admiral eggs on a
south-facing clump of nettles in a sheltered spot in Lancing.

Red Admiral eggs - Lancing, Sussex 31-Oct-2016

The weather was sunny, with the temperature reaching 18C.

Vince

[Brian Arnold]

Nice warm sunny day here in Swanage so went to Ballard Down. Saw 4 Clouded Yellows including a mating pair, plus Painted Lady, Red Admiral and Speckled Wood. Photo of the Clouded Yellow pair attached. I assume this is more or less end of season but who knows? This time last year I was at Southwick Basin looking at a Long-tailed Blue! Brian Arnold

[Allan.W.]

Hello Russ (LANCSROVER)'
Just seen your pic of a bird flock,i,m pretty sure that the bulk of them are Golden Plover ,with perhaps a few Lapwing in the background . Regards Allan.W.

[LancsRover]

Thanks for the birds ID Allan,
Regards Russ

[essexbuzzard]

Went to Shoreham harbour on Sunday, where a couple of hours warm sunshine produced a splendid six Clouded Yellow, including two very fresh males, 4 Common Blues, a Small White and a Red Admiral flying purposefully south. A staggering success for the end of October!

Thanks go to Trevor for his postings and images,and Vince for adding a grid reference,allowing me to find a site I had never been to. Thanks guys!