Thank you Wurzel - more GVW coming up. One secret is to go out early before the sun has properly energised them all.
Thank you, Art. The GH patch at Denbies is a good one, and as for my local Holly Blues... 20+ is not unusual at peak times.
Thanks to you all as well, Callum, Janet, Goldie, Neil, Essex, Buggy, David and Andrew. These numbers of Holly Blues really are not unusual in the spring, and the summer brood can be equally good. It just seems to be a favourable location. I have yet to experience a poor season for them, but I imagine at some point their parasite will gain the upper hand. Certainly the regular third brood in October/November has no adverse effect on numbers either.
After nearly a week of cold, cloud and rain, either at home or up in Yorkshire (especially yesterday!) the day dawned blue today (1st May). It was pretty chilly to start with, but I set out round my local patch just after 9 and was soon seeing butterflies. Early on, most were keen on nectaring or just basking to warm up, and the GVW were particularly obliging.
Most whites turned out to be this species, but there were one or two Small ones and a few Large Whites too.
The Orange Tips were also very amenable to start with, and in the end, good numbers were seen.
This included a single female.
I saw the first Brimstones for a while, one of each sex, plus a Peacock, three Speckled Woods and four Commas.
However, most numerous again were the Holly Blues, with over 20 seen in various spots all along the walk. Today, the many patrolling and perching males included a few females. It also appears the weather has battered a few of them, but there were still some fresh ones.
Dave