February 2020

[David M]

I don't think I've ever been so happy to see the back of January. It has seemingly hung on like a limpet this year.

In 2019, February was spectacular. I doubt we'll see anything like those unseasonably mild conditions this year, but as the sun rises ever higher in the sky, I'm confident there will be a few sightings to look forward to.

[Vince Massimo]

Off the mark today with 3 Red Admirals at a reliable spot for early sightings in Tilgate Park, Crawley, where they were taking advantage of nectar from Daphne shrubs. The first one was seen at 11.05 and the third had arrived by 11.25 and there was very little interaction between them.

Red Admiral 1 - Crawley, Sussex 6-Feb-2020

Red Admiral 2 - Crawley, Sussex 6-Feb-2020

The air temperature was 8C at the time and the wind was calm.

Vince

[Padfield]

I too looked for red admirals today, without success. They rarely make it through the winter on the east coast of Suffolk but as they were flying into December last year I thought there was a chance.

Instead, I saw two peacocks. The first was in my garden ...





... and the second in local woods:



Guy

[Padfield]

Despite bitter winds, another peacock appeared in our Woodbridge garden this morning - a different individual from yesterday's:



Guy

[David M]

Fabulous, Guy. You were posting images of Red Admirals in December and now you have Peacocks in early February. I guess you wouldn't expect to improve much on that were you to still be in Switzerland?

Nice to see a bit of early action, though I presume these atrocious storms will put paid to any further possible sightings for a fair few days?

[Chris Jackson]

Just to boost your moral up there in the UK with the bad weather you're having today, here are some February sightings from the south of France this afternoon.
The 9th of February is a week or so early for this hibernator to put in an appearance, but there was no wind, it was sunny and the temperature reached 15°C at 1.30 pm local time. I got lucky but I knew exactly where to look - some butterflies have predictable habits generation after generation.
I have a photo from last year of its predecessor in the same conditions on the same branch at the same hour.
Nettle-tree Butterfly today:

Its context:

Also seen recently, Holly Blue, Cleopatra, Painted Lady, Red Admiral.
This is not the start of Spring - I'm sure there will be a cold blast before March is out.
Chris

[Padfield]

You're right, Chris - it's not spring. Nevertheless, a second species appeared in my garden today - a red admiral.

In fact, it appeared in the porch, trapped between the glass and some geraniums:



I caught it, popped it in a cardboard box and took it out to the garden, intending to let it crawl deep into ivy. Instead, it flew up into the trees. I hope it has found somewhere to shelter from the winds.



Guy

[David M]

Great start to 2020 you've had, Guy. I guess it's not too surprising that the odd butterfly is on the wing. In between the wet spells, it's extremely mild for the time of year in spite of the wind.

[Padfield]

I hope it's a great start, David - that is, I hope the butterflies I've seen have profited from their winter emergence.

I saw another red admiral today, also in the porch, and I released it, too, into the garden. That was in the morning, when it was sunny.

This afternoon, in pretty dark conditions, I managed to relocate one of the white-letter hairstreak eggs in my local meadow. The difficulty is that all the eggs I found last year were at about head height, so now the leaves have all fallen they are way above head height. I had to work the branch down carefully, then hold it with one hand at a safe place while holding the camera and trying to photograph the egg with the other hand. The result was not great, but I think I have established that the egg has hatched, and in a good way (through the micropyle - eggs hatched through the side are parasitised).

This was last August:



And these are shots of the same egg, today:





The elm flowers have been out for a couple of weeks. This was 5th Feb:



I wasn't able to locate a caterpillar today, but will try again in better light.

Guy

[MrSp0ck]

The well studied Glanville Web at Hutchinsons Bank has produced some interesting pictures the last 2 days, todays one is really useful.

Tuesday 18th Feb

The larvae were out Sunning themselves on the sunroof of their adapted recenty winter shelter web.

They have fixed guide silk strands to the leaves to keep them in place.

Wednesday 19th Feb

In todays rain the entrance holes to the umbrella shelter they have built, and in the top right of the picture they have fixed a dead hawthorn leaf and can be seen under it keeping dry from the rain.

what a difference a day makes in the life of a Glanville Larva

[MikeOxon]

Saw my first Brimstone today, around noon in a relative's south-facing garden in Andover.

Mike

[David M]

Saw my first Brimstone today, around noon in a relative's south-facing garden in Andover.

Excellent, Mike. My colleague at work saw one in Swansea yesterday but my own searching generated nothing....except for a bat which was hunting during broad daylight! Never seen that before.

[Padfield]

my own searching generated nothing....except for a bat which was hunting during broad daylight! Never seen that before.

Bats emerging in early spring (this is very early spring for a bat) often hunt in daylight, for the simple reason that there aren't enough insects around at night and they need to fatten up after hibernation.

I'm guessing that was a noctule, though it's difficult to tell from a single picture, without reference to size. I've seen noctules (despite the name) in daylight even in the summer.

Guy

[bugboy]

my own searching generated nothing....except for a bat which was hunting during broad daylight! Never seen that before.

Bats emerging in early spring (this is very early spring for a bat) often hunt in daylight, for the simple reason that there aren't enough insects around at night and they need to fatten up after hibernation.

I'm guessing that was a noctule, though it's difficult to tell from a single picture, without reference to size. I've seen noctules (despite the name) in daylight even in the summer.

Guy

I've seen bats flying in mid winter in recent years at work, normally at dusk but occasionally in the middle of the day.

[David M]

Thanks, chaps. I did a bit of reading when I got home and yes Guy, you are right - bats will hunt during the day when they come out of hibernation given that there are few insects flying during the colder nights at this time of year.

It was fascinating watching it fly effortlessly and silently around in a manner quite different to any bird. It certainly compensated for the lack of butterflies.

[Wurzel]

Small White in Pewsey, Wiltshire about 20 minutes ago - butterfly number two for me

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

I've seen bats flying in mid winter in recent years at work, normally at dusk but occasionally in the middle of the day.

This recent episode has sparked my fascination. Bat behaviour isn't something you read about every day but I guess most of what IS out there makes perfect sense.

I didn't want to undergo a scientific indoctrination so I tried to find information largely in layman's terms and chanced upon this, which I found interesting:

https://www.acerecology.co.uk/bat-diary/

[millerd]

Small White in Pewsey, Wiltshire about 20 minutes ago - butterfly number two for me

Have a goodun

Wurzel

I did see one a year ago, Wurzel, but the weather was just a tad warmer...

That's quite a sighting really. Nothing in these here parts, sadly.

Cheers,

Dave

[downland boy]

I yearn for a taste of some proper spring weather and so if, like me, your heart sinks at the prospect of another named storm waiting in the wings, here is a photograph of some breeding toads that I took yesterday in a downland dewpond in East Sussex. Our first sightings of Small White, Speckled Wood and Holly Blue really aren't that far away.


http://eastsussexwanderer.blogspot.co.uk