April 2018

[Allan.W.]

Three more Orange Tips hatched earlier,final tally 3 male ,3 female,too much interest being shown by the garden Blue tits so I,ve boxed them ,for release tomorrow. Regards Allan.W.

.

[badgerbob]

Following my best Spring searching for Wall Brown larva, with twice hitting 40 found in a session and probably 60-70 individuals found in total I was confident of finding pupa. I started looking last week when the larva started to become harder to find. Even a nighttime search didn't produce much with just 6 larva found. A couple of hours yesterday produced a gorgeous Toad, 6 Wall Brown larva and a Speckled Wood larva that has been in the same grass tussock now for several weeks. However, despite a really detailed search the pupa remained hidden. How do they do it?

Today I had a quick look at the end of a long walk. I was pleased to find 2 tiny Marbled White larva in a tussock. Strangely one was a green form and the other a brown form. I then hit lucky with finding a larva in the middle of pupating. Friday the 13th is a lucky day for me!!

Wall Brown larva pupating.

Common Toad watching the World go by!!

http://bobsbutterflies.blogspot.co.uk

[Jack Harrison]

14th April, near Nairn north Scotland.

Max temperature today 14.8C. I wasn't in the garden for long, but during that time, I saw one Peacock feeding from a daffodil, a rather unusual nectar source I would have thought - well I'd never previously seen daffodil used.

Jack

[Wurzel]

Green-veined White at Mottisfont, Hampshire today along with a 2 Peacocks, 2 Small Torts and about 8 Brimstone.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

Bucket loads of Comma and Brimstone at Bookham today along with good numbers of Peacock (already egglaying) and a single Small tort.

[Andrew555]

Blue butterfly on the wing today at Abbot's Wood. No landing unfortunately , small in size, I'm assuming it was a Holly Blue.

[Katrina]

A brief sighting of a single Grizzled Skipper at Mill Hill in Sussex this afternoon

[Vince Massimo]

I am helping out with a new transect that is being established at a nature reserve on the north-west zone of Gatwick Airport.

Gatwick north-west zone nature reserve

Note that the transect information is incomplete on this image which is why it may look confusing.

Being inside the airport, it is not open to the public, so there is very little dog mess or litter and it boasts an impressive list of 32 butterfly species, including Grizzled Skipper. The taxiway and runway are just the other side of the fence, so it's a very unusual place.

View from the southern end of section 7 of the transect line

At the moment it's still very boggy in places due to heavy clay soil and the proximity of the River Mole.

Today the count was 5 Peacocks and a male Small White. However whilst I was leaving the airport on the perimeter road an unmistakable male Orange-tip flew across the front of the car.

Peacock - Gatwick 14-April-2018

The route back home to Crawley also presented 2 male Brimstones and a Small White.

Vince

[Jack Harrison]

Gatwick.....an impressive list of 32 butterfly species, including Grizzled Skipper

And no doubt includes The Kerosene splattered Skipper.

I'll ask my son (easyJet pilot based Gatwick) to wave to you

Jack

[Philzoid]

What a difference a sunny day makes. Seven species seen around Woking , 5 up on my seasons’ total:- Green-veined White (1), Brimstone (lost count), Small Tortoiseshell (6+); Speckled wood (1), Orange-tip (1); Peacock (4), Comma(6+), Only the gvw eluded my camera lenses.

Phil

[Wurzel]

Great stuff Philzoid - we drew on the GVWhite but you beat me to the Specklie and the OT

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Brilliant, Phil! I managed some Orange Tips today, but no GVW or Specklie... Can't be long, though.

Dave

[David M]

Some encouraging reports coming in here, but pride of place has to be Bob's pupating Wall Brown larva. That's an incredible sighting!

[David M]

With cloudy skies forecast I didn't expect to get out on Saturday, but in the event the sun shone for much of the day.

I stayed local and whilst 13 butterflies is nothing to shout about, it nonetheless represents the most I've seen in a single day so far in this appalling spring!

6 Peacocks, 5 Commas and 2 male Brimstones were encountered during a very pleasant walk around Parkmill:

[badgerbob]

Thanks to David for his comment about my find!!
Well, yesterday I checked to see if there was any change in its development. It still looked the same, but I was delighted to find another in the same stage about 6 feet away from the one found on Friday.

Today, I trudged my way back up to the site hoping one of them, or both would have changed to pupa. It was here that I had mixed success as the one I found yesterday was being demolished by loads of Ants. This is not the first time I have lost a Wall Brown larva whilst changing to a pupa to Ants following one back in 2013 being eaten when I spotted it. This one today was very close to the ground which I suppose didn't help matters.
However, the one that I found on Friday had become a Pupa. As it was still very light in colour and was a bit translucent I assume it had only happened in the previous hour or two. I just hope this one stays safe from all the perils that these creatures face every day.

Wall Brown pupa. 15/4/2018.

http://bobsbutterflies.blogspot.co.uk

[KeithS]

Sunshine (at last!) in the garden yesterday. This brought out my first Orange Tip of the year, checking out the primroses...



A female followed on, along with my first Peacock of 2018, a Red Admiral and half a dozen Brimstones (4 male, 2 female). Spring has finally sprung, methinks...

[David M]

Excellent, uplifting image, Keith!

We have all got this species to look forward to next week. Of that I am sure!

[KeithS]

Excellent, uplifting image, Keith!

We have all got this species to look forward to next week. Of that I am sure!

Thanks, David. The image doesn’t match some of the truly splendid compositions featured on this forum, but every now and then my little pocket-sized (and ancient) Sony Cybershot grabs something worthwhile.

A comparison of sightings with last year’s suggests that everything is about three weeks behind, so I guess you are right about what’s to come.

[andy brown]

Just found this freshly emerged (still all floppy) Large White in the garden from one of the numerous pupae dotted around.

[Jack Harrison]

That Andy (Brown) is one of the best butterfly pics for some time: it isn't just a specimen. It shows the butterfly in a real context.

Jack