November 2017

[David M]

Well, after an appalling August & September, October (certainly the latter half) wasn't too bad.

Let's see what November brings....

[Pete Eeles]

I've seen a Red Admiral almost every day in my garden for the past month (and often up to a dozen), at least when the sun is out. They've had an incredible year and eggs are still being laid! I'll be putting out yet more fruit (to rot) in the morning for them

Cheers,

- Pete

[petesmith]

Same in Lincolnshire - Red Admiral has definitely been the butterfly of the year! Good numbers from mid-summer, building to quite exceptional abundance during late September/October. And as Pete says, still laying eggs in my garden. Larvae and pupae still to be found also, so if the weather is kind there should be even more.
Speckled Wood and Small Copper have also had excellent late seasons.

[Wolfson]

Red Admiral are also having a good late season in Cambridgeshire and Norfolk. I have just seen one flying in lIght rain. I agree, the butterfly of 2017.

[Goldie M]

The Red Admiral I saw yesterday was in pristine condition and just one of many I've seen in the garden through Sept/Oct. It seems most counties have seen loads this year, we usually only see RA's in good numbers in Sept/Oct here in Lancashire but this year I was seeing them from May, so I agree they've had a great year
I watched the Red Admiral yesterday closely and when the Sun wasn't shining it flew to the roof of the house and disappeared under one of the slates.
I was digging round some roses also yesterday and found what looked like a Chrysalis which I recovered not wanting to disturb it, I'm not too well up on these things so don't have a clue what it could be!!! Goldie

[web4160]

Two separate Red Admirals seen in Somerset this morning. Temperature was 14 degrees

[Vince Massimo]

It certainly has been a fantastic end to the year for the Red Admiral. Today I counted 9 eggs (including 2 on the potted nettles in my garden). Also 12 larval tents, of which the two checked contained 3rd and 4th instar larvae. These would have developed from eggs that were observed being laid on 18th September.

Two Red Admiral eggs - Crawley, Sussex 1-Nov-2017

Red Admiral egg nearing hatching - Crawley, Sussex 1-Nov-2017

Red Admiral larval tent (3rd instar) - Crawley, Sussex 1-Nov-2017

Also 3 adult butterflies fluttering about in the weak sunshine.

Red Admiral - Crawley, Sussex 1-Nov-2017

In all cases the eggs and larvae were found in sunny sheltered locations where the nettles had fresh growth. These same sites were also used for egg laying in the summer and it is therefore worth checking such locations over the coming weeks.

Vince

[David M]

That's not a bad response for a November day!! Been mild today here in Swansea too, but despite 20 minutes wandering around my workplace, I saw no butterflies (although there were plenty of flies and a few bees).

[Allan.W.]

A single Red Admiral for me at mid-day today in reasonable sunny weather ,here in Ashford Kent. A single Small Copper
reported today ,by a local at Dungeness..........hope one or two can hang on till the weekend !
Regards Allan.W.

[millerd]

Two notable sightings to kick off November near Heathrow:
A Red Admiral egg-laying...

...and a lovely new female Holly Blue

Dave

[bugboy]

Two notable sightings to kick off November near Heathrow:
A Red Admiral egg-laying...RA5 011117.JPGRA egg2 011117.JPG...and a lovely new female Holly BlueHB1 011117.JPGHB4 011117.JPG

Dave

Think you've got early November mixed up with late March there Dave!

[David M]

Fresh November Holly Blue female on a dandelion!!!! You'll have them on Christmas trees at this rate, Dave!

[millerd]

Well, David, the closest I've come was 16th October last year...
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Holly Blue on holly berries - very Christmassy!

Dave

[Lee Hurrell]

Lovely late Holly Blue, Dave.

I saw a Red Admiral last week in Farnborough, Hampshire and my sister reported another at Ceasar's Camp in Aldershot, Hampshire on 2nd November.

Lee

[peterc]

Yesterday in the pleasantly warm sunshine in Knebworth Park I didn't find any butterflies but found an egg very low down on freshly grown nettles in an open but sheltered situation. My hunch is that it is a Red Admiral egg as opposed to a Comma one. Anyone know for sure by looking at the image what it is? In any case, it would be slightly unusual to find an egg of either species this late in the year.

ATB

Peter

[bugboy]

Yesterday in the pleasantly warm sunshine in Knebworth Park I didn't find any butterflies but found an egg very low down on freshly grown nettles in an open but sheltered situation. My hunch is that it is a Red Admiral egg as opposed to a Comma one. Anyone know for sure by looking at the image what it is? In any case, it would be slightly unusual to find an egg of either species this late in the year.

ATB

Peter

Definitely a Red Admiral. It's not unusual to find egg laying at this time of year anymore with these mild autumns that seem to be becoming the norm. There's every chance the resulting larvae will survive the winter and emerge as an adult in the spring as long as it's sheltered from the worst winter weather.

[Matsukaze]

Holcombe, Somerset - Red Admirals feeding on ivy, as they have been most days for the last three weeks.

[peterc]

Yesterday in the pleasantly warm sunshine in Knebworth Park I didn't find any butterflies but found an egg very low down on freshly grown nettles in an open but sheltered situation. My hunch is that it is a Red Admiral egg as opposed to a Comma one. Anyone know for sure by looking at the image what it is? In any case, it would be slightly unusual to find an egg of either species this late in the year.

ATB

Peter

Definitely a Red Admiral. It's not unusual to find egg laying at this time of year anymore with these mild autumns that seem to be becoming the norm. There's every chance the resulting larvae will survive the winter and emerge as an adult in the spring as long as it's sheltered from the worst winter weather.

Thanks for your comments Paul. It is certainly true south of the country but probably more unusual north of London so I am wondering if anyone here has seen Red Admiral eggs or larvae overwintering further north.

ATB

Peter

[Susie]

Red admirals still nectaring here in West Sussex and I found some brown hairstreak eggs last weekend at my local patch.

[Allan.W.]

Possibly my last Coppers of the year today at Dungeness ,found three in all (possibly 4 ) ,including a male ,trying hard to mate with an unresponsive female.....but he tried !

found another male on one of the last remaining Ragwort plants close by, he flew down to the shingle to warm up.

And the female of the pair.

I also found a single absolutely battered Red Admiral ,couldn,t bring myself to post any shots of the poor old soul ! Near the Railway station I was lucky enough to find a Dartford Warbler keeping company with a pair of Stonechats .

Regards Allan.W.