millerd

[Goldie M]

Great shots of the Orange Tips Dave, and I love the Ducks Goldie

[Wurzel]

Great set of shot Dave - even the Large White which is very reminiscent of my annual first attempts at an OT photograph I reckon there will soon be oodles of Holly Blues gracing your PD once you start your whispering ways I too thought that was a large clutch for a Mallard and wondered if the duck had adopted a few stray Ducklings so I goggled it and apparently they have a clutch of between 6 and 13 and won't tolerate, even killing, other ducklings that stray to near to their brood So I was wrong on both counts

Have a goodun and stay safe
Wurzel

[trevor]

Somehow I missed your post from 7th April, Dave, so a retrospective for the mating GVW's.
It's good to read of plentiful Orange Tips in your area, so far my sightings are of singletons.
Holly Blues are showing well along the old railway, but refuse to land, they always seem
as though they are about to touch down, then promptly swoop up to the tree tops!.

Some great reports and images recently,
Stay safe and well,
Trevor.

[millerd]

Thanks, Goldie - the ducks were too cute to ignore!

Cheers, Wurzel. I was told today that the clutch started off as fourteen ducklings, an astonishing number. Duck eggs a wee bit larger than hens' eggs, so you do wonder how fourteen could be accommodated all at once in one mother duck before being popped out over a relatively short period.

...I reckon there will soon be oodles of Holly Blues gracing your PD once you start your whispering ways ...
Wurzel

Depending on the exact definition of an oodle, things may have started to pick up today...

Many thanks, Trevor - the Holly Blues I've seen so far have been behaving exactly as you describe, until one or two today.

Thursday 9th April. Yet another day of strong sunshine, and it warmed up very quickly today, probably reaching 24 degrees this afternoon. I was out much earlier today and did another shorter variation on my usual circuit. I then stretched a point slightly and nipped out very briefly at the end of the afternoon and covered a bit I'd missed earlier. I managed to see ten species today, counting nearly 90 individual butterflies. A third were Peacocks as you might expect, but they are beginning to move from basking on paths and hedgerows to flying freely over the areas of grass and settling on nettle clumps. They still look very fresh.

I suspect there are quite a few gravid females out there now sizing up the nettle beds. I have also seen a few female Commas doing this too, but haven't yet set about looking for their eggs characteristically laid on the pointy bits of leaves.

Several more Speckled Woods have emerged now, and in relatively close proximity to one another leading to many prolonged dogfights.

However, I was most pleased to find that Holly Blues have also started appearing properly now, with a dozen seen altogeter. Most were patrolling the hedgerows, mostly from top to bottom of the trees and back again, but one or two did stop briefly.

One decided to settle and nectar from willow flowers, but awkwardly immediately above me, leading to some interesting backlit shots.

While the weather is so warm they are not going to be very sluggish, nor will they open up much or often, but when it cools down next week, things may improve.

Dave

[Wurzel]

I don't think that's 'oodles' yet Dave, I'd say that was definitely more than a 'Smidge', possibly a 'bundle' of Holly Blues? Interesting that the Peacocks seem to be doing so well this spring although round my way they're still not around in the same numbers as the Small Torts were but that species seems to be on the wane now

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[David M]

...I spotted a Large White again, almost certainly the same male as yesterday, and grabbed an "in-motion" snap as it careered past me, confirming the ID...

I think I'm going to have to employ that tactic, Dave. There are plenty of Whites on the wing now but this warm weather means they just won't stop.

Maybe next week, when it's supposed to go cooler, one or two will begin to co-operate!

[Goldie M]

Love the Holly Blues Dave which they'd pay my garden a visit Goldie

[millerd]

Hopefully I'll get up to oodles in the next few weeks, Wurzel - numbers of Holly Bues are on the up! Peacocks outnumber Small Tortoiseshells on my patch this year by a factor of ten to one, something I don't think I've seen before. Astonishing really as I only saw a handful between August and October before they went into hibernation.

To find a settled white butterfly, David, it has to be early in the day or possibly early evening (if you can't spot one tucked into a roosting spot for the night! ) This is certainly true of the spring broods, though they are more inclined to nectar later in the year.

Thank you, Goldie - more Hollies today! I hope some do find their way to your garden: it seems to attract a lot of other butterflies.

Friday 10th April: More glorious warm sunny weather. I went out early again, to avoid the heat as much as anything, and found that half eight was only just early enough to find things still warming up. Almost immediately I spotted the tell-tale silver triangle of a Holly Blue sitting in a spot where I find them every year - a large wild buddleia bush nowhere near flowering but which this species seems to find attractive for early basking. After a few side-on shots, the butterfly flexed its wings open for a second or two before taking to the air.

I saw 15 of this species overall today, but none of the others was as obliging.

No big surprises today, just variations on the theme that has emerged during this week's sunshine. I did find a few Small Toroiseshells, dispersed now into the open field areas along with increasing numbers of Peacocks moving away from the paths and wooded bits.

The Commas stay behind and stick to their territories along the paths and bask on the brambles.

Orange Tip numbers remain high, though I've not seen many females. This one was unusual as it had distinct black spots in the middle of its hindwings.

Speckled Woods are beautifully fresh at the moment, the spring brood being distinctly brighter than those at the end of the summer. Here are two - one from this morning, and a second from late in the afternoon which as well as being vibrant in the yellower light also has markedly scalloped borders to its wings.

Also seen late on was a Brimstone nectaring before retiring and amazingly well-camouflaged against the foliage.

Finally, a Small White had settled down, but had unusually dusky scaling on its underside. Unfortunately, I disturbed it while trying to get a clearer shot.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Great stuff Dave That Holly Blue is an excellent shot gurt lush and tat Small White is unusually dusky I'll have to try the early exercise tomorrow as we're in for another scorcher

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[bugboy]

Good to see your Holly Blues are out and about. I've seen one so far who looked like she'd had a close shave with a strimmer!

[millerd]

Cheers, Wurzel and Buggy - that male was only open like that for a second or two so there was some luck involved there! Good to see the Hollies out and about again, and with luck they'll be flying here on every decent sunny day for the next six or seven months. A constant joy.

Saturday 11th April. A curious patch of cloud evolved and covered the sun for a couple of hours first thing this morning, but by the time the sunshine came through at around ten, it had become very warm and one or two butterflies were already flying. For the first time in a week, Peacocks were not the most frequently seen as I actually counted more Orange Tips - and nearly as many Holly Blues. Between them those three species accounted for two-thirds of all the 90-ish sightings today (ten species altogether).

Females have started to appear amongst the Holly Blues. Easier to follow than the males (they don't patrol endlessly, nor do they make soaring excursions into the trees and back) and if conditions are right, perhaps a bit more inclined to open up. I found a couple this morning which did oblige a little, but it was just too warm for them to open up to any greater extent. The angle of the wings fine-tunes the amount of heat reflected onto the butterfly's body incredibly sensitively, and even a bit of passing thin cloud can make a difference. Today, the optimum angle appeared to be 30 degrees or less, which doesn't make for brilliant photos...

White butterflies behave similarly (apparently the reflective scales of white butterflies are an incredibly efficient mechanism), hence the rareness of seeing them with wings wide open.

This must apply to female Orange Tips as well.

Small Tortoiseshells have none of this sophistication and soak up the sun...

...but Speckled Woods, being dark, absorb a lot of heat and close their wings to diminish this input instead.

Dave

[trevor]

Great Holly Blue shots, Dave. I agree about the males, from experience I would say
that Purple Hairstreaks were an easier target!. Maybe the cool weather forecast
for Monday might induce better Holly blue behaviour ( from our perspective ).
Also good to see your female OT, not seen one yet.

Keep safe and well,
Trevor.

[Wurzel]

Great shots and really interesting information there about the temperature regulation Dave - something I'd not really considered Looks like you've reached 'oodles' level of Holly Blues

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[millerd]

Cheers, Trevor! I have to disagree, though - I find Holly Blues much easier than Purple Hairstreaks, though as David M. said somewhere, they do behave quite like Hairstreaks at times.

Thanks, Wurzel - yes, I think I reached oodle magnitude today as I counted over 20 Holly Blues for the first time this year.

Sunday 12th April. A fair bit of intermittent thin cloud to start the day, and when I went out just before nine, it turned out to be ideal conditions to demonstrate that temperature regulating behaviour again. The first butterfly encountered was a female Holly blue, sitting winding her wings in and out as the sun varied in strength. She was a cracker.

Moving on, within a minute or two I found a male behaving similarly.

Shortly after that, there was another male, even more obliging.

Eventually (and over a hundred photos later) I prised myself away, and discovered that it was already getting very warm. All the remaining Hollies I came across were very mobile. Strangely, the Peacocks which I had thought had started to decline slightly in numbers had bounced back a bit and I counted around 30 altogether.

Small Whites and Orange Tips were the most frequent other sightings (aside from Holly Blues!). In amongst the Small Whites were a few of the Green-veined persuasion, spotted by their more feeble flight and greater propensity to stop and nectar or settle on low plants.

I did find a particularly new-looking Small White resting at one point though...

...and a Speckled Wood almost invisible against the dark of the path.

All told, around 100 butterflies of eight species today. The stars of course though were those initial three Holly Blues at the start of the day.

Dave

[Wurzel]

A cracking set of Holly Blues again Dave - looks like you're back on form with your whispering ways Early morning does seem to be a good time for getting Holly Blues that 'open up' I recall last year at Martin Down there were several males and females and all desperately wanted to sit low down with wings open wide

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[trevor]

There's no need for you to take any more Holly Blue shots, Dave.
Your shots of the female are as good as it gets , with the male images close behind.
We didn't get the early morning high cloud, it was blue sky and warmth from the start.

All you need to find now is three mating pairs in one day!.

Superb stuff!
Trevor.

[Neil Freeman]

Wow to those Holly Blue photos Dave

I have to wonder what kind of Faustian Bargain you must have made in order to get so many shots like that

Cheers,

Neil

[Stevieb]

Superb Holly Blue shots.

[David M]

I see normal Holly Blue service has resumed, Dave.

Beautiful, fresh set of individuals (although your Small White is rather attractive too).

[millerd]

Many thanks to everyone for your appreciation of the Holly Blues. Every year they appear here in good numbers and adopt the same habits in the same spots as their ancestors did in previous seasons. Looking back I have yet to record any appreciable dips in numbers that relate to the interaction with their parasite - abundance seems remarkably consistent year on year. Neither have they apparently suffered from squeezing in a third brood every autumn, though to be fair this is never in large numbers, and really just features as a bonus when everything else (except Red Admirals!) has disappeared. They are a particular joy every spring and 2020 is no exception - especially when the world is currently so full of alarm, gloom and sad events.

Monday 13th April. As confidently predicted by the forecasters, today saw a cloudy and windy start and an astonishing dip in temperature of nearly fifteen degrees. However, sunshine reappeared in the afternoon, and though the wind dropped a little, only the bravest of butterflies were out and about. For the first time since the start of the month, I failed to find a Peacock - though there were three Commas around. A few Orange Tips and Small Whites responded to the sun (which seems to be more important than temperature for them)...

...one or two Speckled Woods basked in sheltered nooks, and even a few Holly Blues braved the conditions.

Only 18 butterflies of six species were seen today.

One point of interest - only one small part of my local patch has any cuckoo flower, the Orange Tip's favourite larval foodplant and the one from which it gets its name (cardamine pratensis). Here I found the first egg of the year.

Dave