philm63

[David M]

Shame the weather's been a bit grim for you, Phil; hopefully there's still some warm, sunny stuff to come.

I really like your fresh Small Heath above, and the Small Skipper shot is perfection!

[Old Wolf]

Hello Philm63,
I am catching up on diaries. I am loving the photos of all the birds in your area, especially the owls. Such a large selection you have bagged so far. I look forward to seeing what you come up with next

[Wurzel]

Cracking shots Phil - good to hear about the good numbers of Small Torts and Small Heaths Also great to see the bird shots- especially the like the juvenile Redstart

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[philm63]

Goldie. I find that is the case with Ringlets for me, especially when they have recently emerged. Trying to get angles through all the grass stems is awkward at times
Dave M. Cheers
Old Wolf. I also have a soft spot for owls. It is high on my list to get some decent shots of local Short-eared and Barn Owls at the first opportunity
Wurzel - Cheers. I really enjoyed the 2 or 3 juvenile Redstarts as I wasn't expecting them at that time and place. Luckily one or more posed nicely for the shots I got

Phil

[philm63]

Part 1

Despite all my well-intentioned plans the year did not pan-out as I had hoped, too many conflicting family v work demands, but enjoyable none the less
This is a catch-up since early July. We did eventually have some decent weather, but not as good as 2018 was. It always seemed to deteriorate when I got to the weekend and could get out for longer, but did manage to put in some summer evening walks to make up for lost time


Aristos
By far the most obvious thing locally was the Painted Lady numbers, better than 2009 I think. Most walks produced good numbers, and they frequented the buddleia in the garden on most days. The difference between here and lower ground was evident when I took my great grandsons to Flamingo Land in August; I counted 50 there without even trying. The last one seen by me locally was in early October
Like 2018 Red Admiral had a good late summer. The buddleia in the garden stayed in bloom till well into October and I had a few most days till the middle of that month
However, both Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell started the summer well but soon sightings tailed off. I think it was one of my worst years for Peacock sightings
Comma is irregular here at the best of times, so I would say it was a poor to moderate year
The image with a Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock and Comma on the same bush is from the visit to Flamingo Land, where all the aristos were about in good numbers
All of the above results could well have been factored by the reduced number of outings , the weather and the choice of where I went; but the garden sightings were also down and I think that was a reasonable indicator numbers were lower than expected

[philm63]

Part 2

Browns
Ringlets had a good season and showed well during the flight period, however Meadow Brown numbers were definitely down in places I expected them
I only managed to get out a few times during The Wall period, but the numbers seemed stable in the expected places
Speckled Wood, certainly from my perspective, did not do well. Odd singles on days I expected good numbers, and the first year I have not had one in the garden for years

Blues and Coppers
I am limited to Holly Blue locally and it was an average year, 2018 had spoilt me I think
Small Copper did not feature too well either, but the best periods usually for me to see them were times I could not get out

Whites
Was this a backlash from 2018, because the numbers of both the Large and Small White locally were very poor? Green-veined White did a bit better but still down on the past few years

[philm63]

Part 3

Skippers
Another mixed bag with on the whole I suppose average numbers. Again I was not out at the best time locally, but did catch the start and end of the flight season

Fritillaries
The highlight of the year, and certainly not something I expected to talk about. I was out in the garden on the 8 August and shooting some aristos on the buddleia when an unusual butterfly landed on the buddleia, I managed to get two shots before it took off, not to be seen again. Initially I had no idea what I had seen, could not wait to download the shots. Looking through my various guides I am sure it was a Dark Green Fritillary, unless someone can point me at another choice. This was my first fritillary ever and was totally unexpected. After rooting about on the internet I can see they have appeared on the borders of Leeds but could find no references to them being seen recently in the Bradford area. Had I gone out 10 minutes later I would never have known they could occur locally

Other images
Have included a selection of local bird shots from the period

Cormorant in Myrtle Park

Study of a Dunnock

Juvenile Goldfinch

Greenfinch

Study of a Grey Heron

Local Little Owl

Male Blackcap

Late Meadow Pipit on the moors

Nuthatch

Spotted Flycatcher on passage

Swallow

Whinchat on passage

Red Grouse

Phil

[Wurzel]

So much stuff Phil it's hard to know where to begin Interesting assessment of the numbers - particularly the Small Torts and cracking photos - Spotted Fly, Red Grouse, Whinchat from the birds and the Small Coppers and mixed bag of Aristos caught my eye. As for the Frit - it must be greta to add DGF to your garden list

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

What a riot of colour in those sequences, Phil! Thanks for sharing. Of the butterfly images the one of the Small Copper on the creeping thistle stands out, whereas amongst the birds it has to be the Cormorant standing very incongruously on a tree branch.

[philm63]

Cheers Wurzel, Dave

I would love to know where the DGF came from. is there a small colony around here somewhere, was it a release, did it hitch a lift on a passing vehicle. It was so unexpected, and if not seen that day I would never have looked for that species locally

Phil

[essexbuzzard]

Interesting report, if slightly different from my own, more southern observations. Peacocks , Small Tortoiseshell and Small White did well here,but Large Whites were well down, and Painted Lady, though common, were not in the same league as 2009.

Fascinating stuff!

[philm63]

Thanks for the comments essexbuzzard
We seem to buck the trend up here with both Small Tortoiseshell and Wall doing well when they were fading in numbers elsewhere. Some compensation for the much reduced number of species on offer. It will be interesting to see if the reductions for some species this summer are reversed next year
A number of the better sites locally for Small Copper and skippers have now gone under development, and a new housing development down in the valley has got the go-ahead despite a lot of local opposition. When that starts a large area of fields next to the canal will disappear entirely

Phil

[essexbuzzard]

An all too familiar story, Phil. Where I live, the pressure for development land is immense. Apart from nature reserves, almost nowhere is safe.

[David M]

..A number of the better sites locally for Small Copper and skippers have now gone under development, and a new housing development down in the valley has got the go-ahead despite a lot of local opposition. When that starts a large area of fields next to the canal will disappear entirely

That's disappointing to know, Phil. For all these 'pledges' by the politicians, nothing seems to stop the encroachment of human dwellings on green space.