millerd

[Wurzel]

Cracking shots Dave - I love that you've captured the metallic lustre on the fresh individuals - is this where Metalmark comes from? So is Dunstable Downs a National Trust site? Does this bode well for Collard Hill as I hear that Daneways is closed (just thinking ahead )?

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[millerd]

That's an interesting theory, Wurzel - I've often noticed that sheen on the brown of new Dukes in the past and never thought that they might share attributes with their more colourful tropical relatives.

Dunstable Downs are NT, yes, as is Collard Hill. I receive the newsletter from Collard and the site is open, as is the car park, but there won't be a "Large Blue Ranger" this year, nor will they actively publicise the butterflies as they normally do with daily updates on numbers. A couple of locals will, however, monitor how the species is doing in order to maintain continuity of recording effort. As you might expect, the weather will have had an impact - an extraordinarily wet February, then very little rain since mid-March plus record sunshine and a good deal of warmth ever since. However, it is uncertain exactly what the impact of all this might be - the key issue is the thyme flowering at the same time as the females are looking to lay.

Friday 22nd May. A bit cooler (23 degrees) and rather cloudier today. I stayed local and as expected the same trio of species as before provided the bulk of the 80-odd butterflies seen (Common Blue (27), Brown Argus (16) and Small Heath (15)). However, other species actually provided more interest. Firstly, Holly Blue females continue to lay on the goats' rue.

They have also started nectaring on the newly opened bramble flowers, a particular favourite of the summer brood to come.

Speckled Woods are starting to appear again.

I counted six different Red Admirals, the highest total for around a month.

However, the most eye-catching were the brilliant orange flashing flybys of two new Small Tortoiseshells. They were very hard to approach and this is the best I could manage.

I also managed to get my eye in and started spotting Orange Tip caterpillars.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Cheers for the info Dave - I saw that singletons have been seen at Collard now so it's good to know that a visit is still possible even if it looks like it'll be hard work Is it just me or do the fresh Small Torts always seem to have a more muted orange to them - the hibernators often seem to be bright almost reddy orange by comparison?

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[millerd]

Large Blues in May sounds unheard of! It would be nice to see them, but I'll have to think about that one...

The new Torties seem distinctly bigger and more vigorous than their forebears, and brighter too - I think the hibernators have a greater intensity of colour, like worn blue butterflies tend to have.

Saturday 23rd May. Still sunny for the most part, but distinctly cooler (only just 20 degrees today) and windy too. I didn't see a great deal on a rather shorter walk than usual. The first thing I saw was a Green-veined White, which I had thought was between broods at the moment.

There were quite a few Holly Blues, but all were sitting tight in bits of shelter, looking uncomfortable.

One of them was the most faded example of the species I have ever seen.

Right down in the grass, also trying to get out of the wind, was a Common Blue.

It closed its wings, showing it had the pale yellowish lunules on the underside characteristic of ab. flavescens. To be honest, the colour of these spots varies quite a bit, especially with age, but this butterfly was relatively new.

A Red Admiral was down on the nettles, and I suspected it was a female resting between egg-laying forays.

Finally, there was a nice new Speckled Wood.

Dave

[Goldie M]

Hi! Dave, Not seen any Holly Blues here yet only the couple that shot through the garden I'll have to wait for later in the year now and see if they visit again. Goldie

[millerd]

I hope the summer brood Hollies come and visit you, Goldie!

Sunday 24th May wasn't too sunny and though reasonably warm, I didn't see very much. I did find another Brimstone caterpillar though...

...and then later when looking for Orange Tip caterpillars on the garlic mustard, found these little chaps instead.

I'm so used to seeing them on nasturtiums, it took an extra second for the penny to drop.

A male Holly Blue then surprised me by settling right in front of me and immediately opening up a bit - I've been seeing almost all females lately. It showed the characteristic intensification of the blue colour that male blue butterflies seem to develop as they age.

Dave

[Wurzel]

"I think the hibernators have a greater intensity of colour," I'm glad it's not just me
That new Specklies is cracking - such a great sheen/lustre to it
I think I'm giving Large Blues a miss this year - Collard is open but the site is really fragile so they're discouraging people form going, mind you I don;t know what Green Down is like

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[millerd]

Yes, I think the Large Blues may manage better without our attentions this year, Wurzel. There may be others in trouble too - I discovered the SSB site at Thursley in Surrey had suffered a major fire at the weekend after receiving large numbers of trippers and is cordoned off by the Police. Add that to the frost damage to the heather flowers at Fairmile removing almost all the nectar sources for the SSB population there and the same thing at Dawney's Hill (as I discovered today)... The weirdness of the weather plus more direct stupidity by us humans will impact on the butterflies for certain.

Monday 25th May. Back to hot sunshine again (26 degrees and 14 hours at Heathrow). An early start on my local patch was the only way I was going to see anything staying still. More caterpillars appeared on the menu - firstly an Orange Tip...

...and then a whole host of Peacocks in various stages of development. I'm guessing that a relatively small area of sunlit lusher nettles must have attracted four or five egg batches at least.

Brown Argus numbers are definitely tailing off now, but one or two are stll in reasonable condition.

However, today I concentrated on the Common Blues whilst the first brood are still relatively new. They are having a good year here and I counted 33 individuals this morning. The colourful females are now appearing in good numbers, but keep close to the ground and often lurk in the shade when it's hot.

The males were more forthcoming, at least before it got really warm.

At their freshest, they can nearly approach Adonis Blues in intensity of shiny blueness.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Brilliant Brown Argus Dave - they're great when in good nick and he light catches them
Sade news about the heather - hopefully the coastal heaths might have just escaped the frost

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[millerd]

Cheers, Wurzel - I hope your SSB sites have fared better. The trouble is the sandy soil, which cools down more at night. I think Hurn Airport (not that far from Slop Bog I think) is a bit prone to frost for this reason.

Tuesday 26th May. The day matched Monday for weather - and largely for butterflies, though I did see two more new Small Tortoiseshells...

...and a couple of battered old Peacocks.

Also in the battered category was the Small Copper I've been seeing regularly for at least three weeks now. He has established a territory in a small area where the grass has been flattened a bit because of my regular walks past. This has created a sheltered niche with more robust plants standing upright in the middle which make ideal vantage points for an aggressive Small Copper. All other Coppers have been long since chased away, but he still gets to bully Small Heaths and Brown Argus instead.

The only Holly Blues I'm currently seeing seem to be burying themselves in the new bramble flowers...

...and whilst looking at one of these I was distracted by a bright lemony flash diving into the foliage. This turned out to be a Brimstone moth, a very attractive insect.

Today's main item of interest was finding two different sets of mating Common Blues within a few metres of each other. There must have been something in the air today...

female (L) - male (R)

male (L) - female (R)

Dave

[CallumMac]

Sorry to hear about your SSB site Dave. Up here we have a similar story, with an ongoing fire at Hatfield Moor (one of the Large Heath sites on the Humberhead Peatlands) having been burning for the best part of three weeks already. Probably over 600 ha of the site has burned (~40% of the SSSI). Today's rain is very welcome!

[millerd]

That's all very concerning, Callum, particularly if it's suspected that human carelessness is behind the fire. At least you have rain - so far down here today there hasn't been enough to dampen the ground.

Later on 26th May, I popped down for the first time this year to see how things were at Bookham Commons. Looking at both open meadows and a bit of the woodland, I found only a very small number of butterflies: One Small Copper, one Speckled Wood, a couple of Peacocks and an elderly Comma which came and unexpectedly landed on my hand.

Things were redeemed somewhat by the appearance of a single new Large Skipper, which struck some good poses.

Obviously it must be between spring and summer here at the moment, though the complete lack of Small Heath, Common Blue and Brown Argus in the fields on a warm sunny day seemed worrying.

Dave

[millerd]

Wednesday 27th May: just as warm, though not quite as sunny. On my local patch today I recorded the highest number of different species on one day so far this year - 14. This was boosted by the appearance of two new ones, the first Large Skipper and first Painted Lady of the year. I did my best to count the butterflies today too, with the following results:
Common Blue 18
Small Heath 16
Brown Argus 9
Speckled Wood 8
Holly Blue 8
Red Admiral 5
Small White 2
Small Copper 2
Small Tortoiseshell 2
Green-veined White 1
Peacock 1
Comma 1
Large Skipper 1
Painted Lady 1
A selection:

Dave

[Goldie M]

What can I say Dave!!!! what a great selection Goldie

[Wurzel]

A cracking selection Dave and a great count of Common Blues - nice to see them living up to their name
I visited Slop Bog and it didn't escape the frost damage - hopefully the butterflies will just get on and do the 'business' before their energy supplies run out or they can find their way to the few remaining florets

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[Chris L]

Lovely photos to peruse Dave. Some real gems there and an interesting narrative.

I was interested in that Brimstone Moth and I hope to see one of those now (on my ever growing list).

[David M]

Your butterfly count of 27/05 very much reflects what I'm seeing on my patch, Dave - a good sized range but with low numbers of most species.

Hopefully these cooler, damper conditions might change all that.

[millerd]

Thank you, Goldie! Yes, it was a day with a lot of variety.

Cheers, Wurzel - those Common Blues are doing much better this year than last for some reason. The next brood could be really good too, as the dry weather has suppressed the grass growth and the trefoil, medick and clover has been flourishing. The females have had no shortage of places to lay. Sorry to hear that Slop Bog has also suffered in the way my local SSB sites have. It could be the case across all their habitats, which would be very worrying indeed.

Thank you too, Otep. Yes, the Brimstone moth is pretty striking and it takes a bit of doing to track it to its hiding place if you disturb one - I was a bit lucky here!

It will be interesting to see what effect the change in weather has, David. Before the heat ended, things were already subtly different with Meadow Browns beginning to rise to the ascendant very quickly. A week can see big changes.

Dave

[millerd]

Mentioning Meadow Browns... On Thursday 28th May (not quite a week ago) I saw my first one of the year, out on my local patch. As always, it proved very difficult to approach - these early males almost invariably are! However, in the end it stopped for refreshment...

Also of note was finding a Small Heath very close to home, rather than out on the main open field/meadow area between the M25 and the River Colne. One or two seem to turn up here every year, and either they stray from further afield or there is a tiny resident population.

Earlier in the day, I had been out elsewhere to look for another species I suspected would be early this year. I was right, but I'll save that for another post.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Lovely Meadow Browns Dave As you say they are right pains at this time of year and then when they're all tatty, faded and/or ripped they sit around posing brilliantly

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel