Neil Freeman

[Neil Freeman]

A bit of a catch up post from the weekend..although I feel a bit like the poor relation compared to all those lovely Dukes, Pearls etc I am seeing posted on other PDs

Saturday 12th May

The weekend arrived and it was back to normal...in other words, a decent sunny start to the morning but with clouds building rapidly to give a dull grey overcast for most of the day.
At least it was dry so between doing stuff around the house I did some pottering around the garden during which the occasional brighter spell - not quite sunny but a thinning of the cloud – produced a few butterflies.

A couple of the resident male Speckled Woods were in their usual corners but looking a bit worse for wear now,

Speckled Wood male - Coverdale 12.05.2018

A nice large female came wandering through and stopped to bask for a while before carrying on her way, right in front of the males who were that busy chasing each other about that they completely missed her.

Speckled Wood female - Coverdale 12.05.2018

At one point a worn and rather undersized male Green-veined White came fluttering along, it's weak flight in the cools conditions looking very much like that of a Wood White...I wish

Green-veined White male - Coverdale 12.05.2018

The only other species seen today was a Holly Blue that actually stopped just long enough for me to get a quick photo, not exactly up to millerd standards but the closest I had got to one of these so far this year.

Holly Blue - Coverdale 12.05.2018

Sunday 13th May.

A similar start to the morning but today the clouds took longer to build up and they didn't form a complete blanket so there continued to be some good sunny spells which made for a much brighter and warmer day.
I did think about going out somewhere but with the more localised species such as Grizzled and Dingy Skippers and Small Blues only just beginning to be reported in Warwickshire I decided to leave it for another week or so to give a bit more time for numbers to build up. I also still have loads of stuff to do at home which at least means the brownie points are being topped up...but as usual I also managed to squeeze in a few sessions in the garden.

As well as the more worn examples, there were some better condition Speckled Woods about today, I counted at least four different males through the day by taking photos and comparing differences in condition and markings.

Speckled Wood male - Coverdale 13.05.2018

Speckled Wood male - Coverdale 13.05.2018

Speckled Wood male - Coverdale 13.05.2018

Another couple of females were seen, both of them different individuals to the one seen yesterday,

Speckled Wood female - Coverdale 13.05.2018

Speckled Wood male - Coverdale 13.05.2018

Green-veined Whites were far more active in the warmer conditions today and only occasionally stopped for a quick refuel, unlike the couple of Orange-tips I saw which didn't stop at all.

Green-veined White male - Coverdale 13.05.2018

A female Holly Blue was fluttering around the Holly bushes in the garden and kept investigating the flower buds but was always hidden by leaves or shadows. She eventually came out and perched on a nearby Lilac and opened her wings about half way which enabled me to get a better photo than yesterdays before she carried on fluttering down the garden and over next door.

Holly Blue female - Coverdale 12.05.2018

As well as the butterflies mentioned above, I also saw a couple each of Small and Large Whites during the day which like the Orange-tips were constantly flying and didn't settle once whilst I was watching them.

Back to work yesterday (Monday) and you guessed it, clear blue skies all day...and today

Bye for now,

Neil

[Wurzel]

Lovely Holly Blue Neil in amongst the Specklies I know what you mean about all the Dukes and Pearls as over my way we're about a week or two behind everyone else in the East, plus I have try and catch up with my PD I reckon this weekend could be good for both of us

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Goldie M]

I agree Neil, we're so late up here as well, definitely the poor relations and having to travel miles to look and then be disappointed when nothing as emerged, I suppose that's butterflying for you, (now you see them then you don't!) at least you've got a nice shot of an opened winged HB to compensate Goldie

[Andrew555]

Fantastic Greenstreaks Neil. And a very nice garden selection.

[millerd]

That is a very nice female Holly Blue, Neil. Most of my local ones are distinctly worn-looking now and yours seems lovely and fresh.

Dave

[David M]

At one point a worn and rather undersized male Green-veined White came fluttering along, it's weak flight in the cools conditions looking very much like that of a Wood White...

That is an abnormally 'washed out' Green Veined White, Neil. No wonder you were forced to do a double take.

[Neil Freeman]

Thanks for all your comment Wurzel, Goldie, Andrew Dave and David, very much appreciated as always

Garden Moths.

So far this year the garden moth trapping has been slow to get going with many nights being either clear and cold or with a blustery wind, neither of which are good conditions for moths to fly in. Despite these less than favourable conditions there has been a steady trickle of species on the nights that I have put the trap out but overall numbers have been low.

Spectacle - Coverdale 12.05.2018

On Tuesday night the forecast was for cloud and a low of 13 degrees so I put the trap out. A fairly blustery breeze to start with eased off during the night and my final count was 30 moths of 20 species, my best tally for quite some time. These included 10 species which were firsts for the year and also 1 that was new for the garden.

Rustic Shoulder-Knot, Common enough but a new one for my garden-Coverdale 15.05.2018

Clouded Silver - Coverdale 15.05.2018

Flame Carpet - Coverdale 15.05.2018

Garden Carpet - Coverdale 15.05.2018

Yellow-barred Brindle - yes, I know its green but they are like this when fresh and fade to yellowish

I was particularly pleased to see my first hawk moth of the year, a Lime Hawk.

Lime Hawk Moth - Coverdale 15.05.2018

The total count count also include a few micros, numbers of which have been even lower than the macros so far with quite a few species that I had already seen last year yet to turn up.

Syndemis musculana - Coverdale 15.05.2018

Whilst pottering in the garden last weekend I found a large caterpillar which I have kept to rear through. After a couple of days looking at various possibilities I finally identified it as that of the Old Lady Moth, a large moth that is on the wing later in the summer.

Old Lady Moth caterpillar

Friday 18th May.

A mostly cloudy day but feeling quite warm and with little breeze. At home this afternoon I had a look around the garden as usual and spotted a little day flying Longhorn Moth, possibly Cauchas rufimitrella but not 100% sure of this.

Cauchas rufimmitrella (I think) - Coverdale 18.05.2018

A couple of male Speckled Woods were there as usual, just basking and making the most of the weak sun most of the time.

Speckled Wood male - Coverdale 18.05.2018

A little later I also spotted a mating pair of Specklies about 6 feet up in one of the Alder Buckthorns which surprised me a bit as I have seen Speckled Woods in cop before but usually much lower down and hidden away under vegetation.

Speckled Wood mating pair - Coverdale 18.05.2018

About 20 minutes after I first spotted them they separated and first the male flew off and after a brief time the female followed.

Speckled Wood pair - Coverdale 18.05.2018

It looks like a decent weekend ahead of us so hopefully I will be able to get out somewhere.

Bye for now,

Neil.

[ernie f]

Great mating Speckled Woods.

But love all the moths too. There are so many moths I sometimes don't know where to start. I don't have a moth trap but the more images I see like yours, the more I want to get one.

[Wurzel]

Speckled Woods in cop is a shot I'd like to have in my collection Great moths the Spectacle in particular - I've wondered if it's called that because of the 'spectacles' or because it is a bit of a spectacle with those colourings and that 'comb'

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Yes, that mating pair of Specklies are splendid - an unusual angle, and something you don't come across very often.

Dave

[Andrew555]

Some great Speckled shots recently Neil.
Nice moths as usual. I wonder, how many varieties of Carpet are out there ?

Cheers

[Neil Freeman]

Thanks Ernie...that was pretty much how I started with my moth trap, 3 years ago now. It is amazing what is flying around at night even in my suburban garden .

Cheers Wurzel, I was going to post the shot below with the previous report but forgot...so just for you ,

Spectacle head on shot showing the reason for the name.

Thanks Dave, I think that is only the third time I have seen Specklies in cop...all in my garden .

Cheers Andrew, there are quite a few, you've aroused my curiosity now so I may have to look that up .

Friday 18th May - Nocturnal activities

On Friday night, my son Chris and myself went along with a few other members of the Warwickshire Moth Group to support a Warwickshire BC new members moth night held at Ryton Pools Country Park. Despite a clear night the temperature held up to about 11 degrees by midnight and a good selection of moths were trapped in a number of traps set out around the country park. I am not sure what the final tally was the following morning but I believe something like 36 species had been recorded by the time we left around 01.00am.

Gathered around one of the traps. Chris is the skinny guy on the left bending down.

Saturday 19th May – Bishops Hill.

With it shaping up to be a nice day and after doing the usual Saturday morning chores I asked Jane if she fancied popping down to Bishops Hill to see Small Blues which I had seen being reported from some of the Warwickshire sites for about a week now. This site is just a 40 minute drive down the M40 from our house and Jane likes it there as she can see a lot of stuff from good paths which she can manage easily with her limited mobility.

We had a quick sandwich for lunch and headed down, arriving just before 1.30pm on a beautiful early afternoon with lots of blue sky with occasional white fluffy clouds. We usually see the first Small Blues here in a patch of long grass right inside the gate into the first part of the reserve and so it proved to be with 4 or 5 flitting about here.
A couple of Brimstones were also flying along the hedgerow in this first part and one of them surprised me by dropping down just a few feet in front of us to feed for some time on some common vetch here. I am not used to seeing Brimstones stop for long at this time of year on such a warm sunny day when they are usually constantly on the move.

Brimstone - Bishops Hill 19.05.2018

We carried on wandering slowly along the paths and it soon became obvious that there were plenty of Small Blues flying, many of them looking like they had only been out for a day or two at most. In fact numbers seemed to be increasing during the afternoon so they were probably emerging whilst we were there and I would think they are still a week or so from peak numbers here.

Small Blue - Bishops Hill 19.05.2018

Small Blue - Bishops Hill 19.05.2018

Small Blue - Bishops Hill 19.05.2018

Small Blue - Bishops Hill 19.05.2018

This is the site where I often see my first Common Blues as they usually emerge on the warmer calcareous grassland sites in south Warwickshire a good week or so before my spots closer to home which are on heavy clay soils. Sure enough a few fresh looking males were flying and I also spotted a pair in cop.

Common Blue - Bishops Hill 19.05.2018

Common Blue pair - Bishops Hill 19.05.2018

There were also plenty of Dingy Skippers flying here today which I was pleased to see as numbers of these had seemed well down when we visited last year. Some of these were worn and faded, living up to their name and indicating that they had been flying for a while, but there were also plenty of fresher and more attractive looking individuals about.

Dingy Skipper - Bishops Hill 19.05.2018

Dingy Skipper - Bishops Hill 19.05.2018

Grizzled Skippers have had three poor years on the run here in Warwickshire with numbers declining significantly at some sites. I had seen a couple here last year and was looking out for them today so was particularly pleased to find at least 4 different different individuals with maybe a couple more seen at different spots around the site.

Grizzled Skipper - Bishops Hill 19.05.2018

Grizzled Skipper - Bishops Hill 19.05.2018

Grizzled Skipper - Bishops Hill 19.05.2018

Grizzled Skipper - Bishops Hill 19.05.2018

A few day flying moths were also seen including a nice fresh Mother Shipton.

Mother Shipton - Bishops Hill 19.05.2018

Other butterflies seen but not mentioned already were a few Green-veined and Large Whites and singles of Speckled Wood, Holly Blue and Green Hairstreak.

A cracking afternoon with all three target species seen. The Small Blues and Dingy Skippers were flying in good numbers and the 4 grizzled Skippers although not a large number was a 100% increase on my visit last year.

Bye for now,

Neil

[Goldie M]

Lovely Butterfly shots Neil, unfortunately we don't get the Small Blue here in the North, it's just one more Butterfly we've to come South for Love the Grizzled Skipper shots has well, still to see that one. Goldie

[Wurzel]

Thank you for my special shot Neil A greats sequence of shots and those Small Blues are cracking , the second shot in particular is a joy to behold

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Pauline]

I couldn't agree more with Wurzel but my personal favourate is that Grizzlie, 3rd from last

Sorry Neil, things are moving on so fast at the moment I missed those fabulous moths but I love that pair of mating Speckled Wood - lovely shot

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Goldie, I am sure I have read somewhere that there are a scattering of Small Blue sites in Cumbria.

Cheers Wurzel, despite the mid afternoon sun they were surprisingly co-operative.

Thanks Pauline, I know what you mean about things moving fast, trouble is at the moment I seem to be spending half my time in the evenings trying to identify various moths.

Sunday 20th May

With a couple of hours to spare on Sunday afternoon I decided to pop round to my local spot at Castle Hills near Solihull and see if things had moved on much since the last time I visited which I was surprised to note was three weeks ago, I can't believe how quick the past few weeks have flown by.

Anyway, it soon became apparent that, despite yet another hot and sunny day, we are still firmly in mid spring mode here with pretty much the same species seen as last time. Orange-tip males were still patrolling the hedges with females about in roughly equal numbers, both sexes being very active in the warm afternoon sun with just the occasional brief refueling stop. There are quite a few Cuckoo Flower plants in one spot here and nearly every one I checked had at least one Orange-tip egg on it.

Orange-tip female - Castle Hills 20.05.2018

Orange-tip female - Castle Hills 20.05.2018

Orange-tip male, note egg on the cuckoo flower - Castle Hills 20.05.2018

A couple each of Commas and Peacocks were contesting favourite perches along one stretch of hedgerow, all of them looking worse for wear now which is not surprising really considering how old they would be now.

Peacock - Castle Hills 20.05.2018

Peacock - Castle Hills 20.05.2018

Peacock - Castle Hills 20.05.2018

Comma - Castle Hills 20.05.2018

Comma - Castle Hills 20.05.2018

Plenty of Green-veined Whites were seen plus a few Large Whites, and Speckled Wood numbers had increased along the paths through the more wooded sections.

A few day flying moths were seen including Latticed Heath,

Latticed Heath - Castle Hills 20.05.2018

I have only ever seen a couple of Small Yellow Underwing Moths around here and none in the past couple of years but by a strange co-incidence with both Millerd and Callum Mac posting photos of these lately I found two today. Difficult little s*ds to get a photo of though.

Small Yellow Underwing - Castle Hills 20.05.2018

Given the warm and dry weather we have had recently I was wondering if I would see Common Blue and Small Heath here today but despite a good check of the usual spots I failed to find any of these, maybe next weekend if I get a chance to have a look.

Bye for now,

Neil

[millerd]

Just catching up, Neil - lovely selection of Small Blues from Bishop's Hill and very encouraging to note that the two Skippers are having a much better year this year as well. I must try and get up there if I can as it's a lovely spot.

Dave

[Goldie M]

Hi! Neil, I've not seen any reports of Small Blue in Cumbria, it would be good if I found them so near, I'll have to find out if I can where about 's they are.
Orange Tips are always a welcome sight, lovely shots Neil Goldie

[CallumMac]

Great shots, Neil. That Latticed Heath is really smart!

Goldie - the Cumbrian Small Blues are on the coast at Maryport and Workington. Grid refs per BC Cumbria here - http://www.cumbria-butterflies.org.uk/s ... mall_blue/.

[Andrew555]

Great selections Neil, those Small Blue's look fantastic.
I also very much like your Latticed Heath, a fine specimen.

Cheers