April 2019

[David M]

Popped in to Welshmoor on the Gower in the mid-afternoon yesterday to see if Green Hairstreaks had emerged.

The answer was yes, but only this one individual was found:

[Allan.W.]

43 Small Coppers today at Dungeness ,mainly along the power station fence and the moat ,also 20 + Peacock ,5 Small Tort ,
my first Green -veins (4) and Large Whites (3) ,later at the RSPB Reserve a further 8 Small Coppers ,including a stunning fresh "Radiata "
which just wouldn,t settle ,I was hoping that it was going to be a male (and it may have hung around !) but it was a female.
In the beer garden ,later at the "Woolpack" Brookland ,I added another new for year ,a Speckled Wood and my second Holly Blue.
While At Dungeness we were pleased to bump into Hoggers (who we haven't seen for a while ) and compare notes . Good to see him again !
Pictures to follow. Regards Allan.W.

[Allan.W.]

A few pictures to go with the above post from today. Regards Allan.W.

[NickHull]

A couple of Brimstone, from this week, in the garden

[Allan.W.]

That's an excellent Shot of a Brimstone pair Nick ……………….nice one !!
A couple of hours looking at a couple of Grizzle sites ,to see if anyones awake yet ! but no . Moved onto another remotish site which I thought looked good for Dingy Skippers but again no ! (at least not yet ) While I was out I did see plenty of Brimstone ,Peacock ,Orange -Tips ,but in my local woodlands there seems to be very little for the butterflies to feed from and those that did feed were feeding from puddles !

Regards Allan.W.

[Rivoldini]

I waited 2 hours to get a resting Orange Tip at a north Durham site and they just would not settle until home time when I came across these ones.

[lee3764]

What a fantastic & beautiful afternoon at Struddicks near the Monkey Sanctuary, near Looe, south Cornwall!! 1:15pm - 4:00pm.......35++ Pearl-bordered fritillaries (all lovely & fresh), 8+ Speckled Woods, 10+ Holly Blues, 3 Peacocks, 1 x Comma, 1 x Small Tortoiseshell, 3+ Small Coppers, 6+ Orange Tips, 2 x Green-veined whites, 1 Small white, 1 or 2 Hummingbird Hawk-moths including watching a female egglaying on bedstraw, 6+ Speckled Yellow moths. Temperature 23 degrees C & 100% sun. It is quite overgrown but the loose slate clitter under the inner cliffs is still the best area. We didn't even go into the ravine or further west to look for more Pearls. Cheers.....Lee, Lisa, Robert & Michael Slaughter. [img]

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[David M]

A couple of Brimstone, from this week, in the garden...

Sublime, Nick....and your Bowles Mauve is far more advanced than mine!

[Jack Harrison]

Rivoldini. Which one of your Orange Tips is called Elton?

Jack

[Jack Harrison]

your Bowles Mauve is far more advanced than mine!

Perhaps Bowles Mauve should be used as a climate indicator.

Mine is better than yours Nick

Jack

[David M]

Grizzled Skipper now out in Wales with two seen at Merthyr Mawr, near Porthcawl, on Friday 19th April:

[Allan.W.]

Mine are coming Jack !! Regards Allan.W.

[Allan.W.]

Today we managed two trips out either side of a bootfair and a visit to an Aged aunt ! First at Dungeness ,where we managed to find
58 Small Coppers (all standard Coppers...………….but still stunning !) 4 Peacocks ,2 Small Torts ; and a few Whites (large and small ),Still no Grizzles as yet ,and they are usually reported at Dungeness by now.
Bumbed into Hoggers again ,and swapped notes ,he was having a break , but his dog,looked as though he was ready to get started again !
A proper live wire !!
later we visited a local Duke site ,but with Green Hairstreaks in mind ,too early for the Dukes here , not too much on the wing ,but we did manage 3 Green Hairs ,all high up in a pine shelter belt ,no Dingies ,Dukes or Small Heath or Small Coppers here yet either.
A stunning show of Primroses and Cowslips ,on the slopes and was pleased to find two clumps of the naturally occurring Primrose/Cowslip
hybrid ,False Oxlip(pictured ) Regards Allan.W.

[David M]

Not quite sure what's going on at Whiteford Burrows on the NW Gower coast, but early this afternoon I saw 20-30 Brown Argus fluttering about the steep bank of the highest dune on this site:

Quite extraordinary that they are out in these numbers prior to Common Blue & Dingy Skipper appearing.

[Allan.W.]

that's a hell of a count of Brown Argus David especially this early ! and as you say before Dingies and Common blues.
Extraordinary !! Regards Allan.W.

[MrSp0ck]

Things are early but in a warm year they are due about now

Brown Argus 22-Apr-09 01-May-10 18-Apr-11 01-May-12 16-May-13 26-Apr-14 19-Apr-15 04-May-16 23-Apr-17

other things are also appearing on time for a warm year.

[David M]

Things are early but in a warm year they are due about now

Brown Argus 22-Apr-09 01-May-10 18-Apr-11 01-May-12 16-May-13 26-Apr-14 19-Apr-15 04-May-16 23-Apr-17

other things are also appearing on time for a warm year.

Yes, Sp0ck, I noted those timings earlier today.

Remember though, these are for first UK sightings, not first Welsh ones.

Normally, this part of the country is several days behind those optimum spots in the south of England.

[MrSp0ck]

We did have a cold spell before this weekend, I think wales missed that more, as the cold wind was more eastern, but things are now catching up here in the south east all at once.

Dingys still not appeared on our warm site either, although we had a good number last year.

Grizzleds hatched earlier in the week.

[David M]

We did have a cold spell before this weekend, I think wales missed that more, as the cold wind was more eastern, but things are now catching up here in the south east all at once.

True. What it doesn't explain though is why Brown Argus are out in numbers here before Dingies and Common Blues. Granted, the bird's foot trefoil has yet to flower, but then nor has the rock rose!

[David M]

Dukes are out at Rodborough Common in Gloucestershire.

Saw about half a dozen, although all were located at the bottom of the sheltered dip to the west of this vast site.