millerd

[millerd]

One way and another, it has been an interesting season Wurzel, with quite a few highlights. Every year is different - and completely unpredictable as well, which is what makes the whole thing so addictive! Still, it is by no means over yet, and as of the time of writing I have seen 11 species on my local patch since the start of October (and not one Comma amongst them...). 25 for the year is very satisfying, though it doesn't include anything more unusual or exciting than the Cloudies really!

You're right about third broods, David. Holly Blue, Common Blue and Brown Argus (and Small Copper of course) routinely produce a few third brood individuals here these days. In 2020 (as in some other locations) the notable one has been the Common Blue - which has had a terrific year overall on my patch, becoming the most frequently seen butterfly after Meadow Browns and Small Whites. That third place accolade usually goes to the Holly Blue which by contrast hasn't done so well here this year. Once the season has finally come to a close, I'll produce a few stats - there will be some quirks in there I'm sure.

However, the 2020 season is by no means at an end. After the cold (only 11 degrees here) and wet of Sunday 4th, Monday 5th October couldn't have been more different. There was sunshine (four hours of it) and it was warm (18 degrees as a high today).

Clearly one day of distinctly adverse weather does not have a significant effect on the butterfly species currently around. On a local walk today between 1030 and 1300, I counted 33 individuals from seven species. Today's tally:

Common Blue 11
Small White 10
Clouded Yellow 3
Red Admiral 3
Small Copper 2
Peacock 2
Speckled Wood 2

The warm sunshine meant the Cloudies were almost unapproachable, but by dint of seeing two in a bundle in front of me while a third whizzed past my legs the other way I was able to establish that three were around. They all appeared to be males. Todays shots were nothing special...

a rare nectar stop

a nice warm stone to sit on and wait for the sun to come out again

another male flypast

A variety of Small Whites, including one that was almost completely white.

a very white individual

a normal male

a female

Among the Common Blues were a couple of females, but they proved impossible to find settled. The males here soon seem to lacerate themselves on the vegetation, but some were largely in one piece.

I found a Small Copper in the usual spot, but looking at it I think it may not be the same male as I saw there a week earlier. It also had a companion - a female was flying not far away, and it was unlikely given their proximity that they had not yet encountered one another.

male

female

There were a couple of Speckled Woods around, looking very much the autumn butterfly in this sort of pose.

I was also surprised to see two Peacocks flying vigorously around fairly high up, and only stopping to bask pretty well inaccessibly in the trees. A record shot only here...

Finally, a hitherto largely missing ingredient of the autumn was added to the mix - three different Red Admirals on the ivy.

A very good morning, given the date and the weather of the day before.

Dave

[Neil Freeman]

...Still, it is by no means over yet, and as of the time of writing I have seen 11 species on my local patch since the start of October...

Well done Dave, that's 11 more than I have seen. That is a cracking local patch you have there .
The first week of the month here was horrendous with 5 days of almost continuous rain.

Cheers,

Neil.

[millerd]

There has quite a bit of rain here too, Neil (enough to make the River Colne overflow again as it did last February), but in between there have been a few sunny mornings. I have been surprised how well the butterflies have been holding up, even though they have not been quite the ones I would have expected to see.

Tuesday 6th October: not as warm, nothing like as sunny, and a bit of a stiff breeze. Nevertheless, a few things were flying locally - a couple of Speckled Woods and two hardy Common Blues.

During the sunny interval when that particular Common Blue appeared, one of the resident Clouded Yellows nipped past with the wind. I watched it as it reached the end of the bit of hedge it was following and returned back towards me, fighting against the breeze. The sun promptly went back in and the Cloudie soon headed to the ground where I caught up with it.

I soon realised that it had now settled for the duration, and while it remained cloudy and cooler it would be possible to entice it onto my finger.

After it had posed for its portrait I looked for somewhere suitable, more out of the wind, to put it back down. The grassland here (especially in October) lacks any prominent photogenic foliage so I made do. I was not assisted by the fact that the butterfly initially resisted being decanted from my finger - I've encountered this before, and suspect that they enjoy the warmth radiated in the same way that they often choose bare patches of warm ground to wait for the sun to reappear.

It settled down further, with its antennae now closer together - a sure sign of impending torpor.

I can quickly see from the markings that this is not the one I photographed on 5th or 3rd, and probably not the one from 29th September either - that underside hindwing spot is almost like a fingerprint. I will need to study the photos more closely once the species is over for the year to establish just how many there were.

For a summer migrant from warmer climes, Clouded Yellows are a very resilient species.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Brilliant Cloudy shots Dave The fly-past one is great too. The male Small White from a post back is quite interesting - that's the kind of Small White I'd expect to see in the spring brood Very unusual looking We've had it a bit rougher over our way so the season is finalizing a bit more quickly - also Mrs Wurzel has produced paint brushes and tins of paint recently...

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[David M]

...Once the season has finally come to a close, I'll produce a few stats - there will be some quirks in there I'm sure.

I shall look forward to those, Dave.

Very regularly I note that the area round Heathrow has posted the UK's warmest temperature of the day so if third broods are likely to become commonplace, then it's understandable that they do so round your way.

Unfortunately, unlike the southern half of France, November is a huge obstacle for early stages to surmount, with night-time frosts and cool, wet and often stormy days quite prevalent. Much as I like the idea of additional broods, I fear the consequences if our climate changes much more. Even here in south Wales, we barely have frost or snow any more during the late autumn and winter.

I'm impressed at your scrutiny of individual Clouded Yellows. I'd love it if we could make sufficiently light GPS trackers to see where these migrants go. Maybe one day...

[millerd]

Cheers, Wurzel - the varied weather (the mix of sunshine and cloud really) has made Cloudy shots a bit easier to come by than usual, especially considering that all those found locally appear to be males. Females tend to be less active. I think we've been reasonably lucky with the recent weather in having a few fairly warm sunny(ish) mornings and a bunch of very hardy butterflies undaunted by sitting out the old day of cold and wet! You never seem to be without a tin of paint to hand - have you secretly built a life-size model of the Forth Bridge in some trans-dimensional part of your back garden and now have to keep painting it? (You can tell I watch too much sci-fi... ).

End-of-season stats sometimes have surprises, David - perceptions don't always equate to the hard reality the figures bring out. Local temperatures are included and the point you mention about Heathrow being frequently the UK hotspot is most certainly borne out. 2019/20 was a snowless winter too.

Tracking individual butterflies with GPS would provide an amazing insight into the movement of migrant species. Capture-mark-and-release schemes are very hit and miss with anything that flies any distance. However, it seems that the local Cloudies have decided to stay put - maybe because they are males waiting for a wandering female to stray into what they consider to be good breeding habitat (which is quite possibly accurate as there are currently decent amounts of birds-foot trefoil and clovers available for egg-laying).

Wednesday 7th October was a bit sunnier, especially in the morning, and I managed to find 15 butterflies of 8 different species today. The more consistent sunshine kept the two Clouded Yellows seen from settling for long.

another "moment of take-off" shot

Rather curiously I saw no white butterflies at all today, despite the sunshine, and the commonest species was the Common Blue with six seen.

The only other species seen twice in fact was the Speckled Wood.

The other five were all singletons. Small Copper:

Red Admiral:

A very old Small Heath, probably towards the end of its last day in the sun:

A new-looking Peacock, avidly feeding on the last wild buddleia flowers - a second brood individual, perhaps:

Finally, sitting quietly in a sunny spot amid the brambles, a new third-brood Holly Blue:

Even in October, new things can still appear...

Dave

[millerd]

Thursday 8th October was actually a bit warmer (18 degrees again) but sunshine was in short supply. Nevertheless I set off round my usual local circuit and managed to track down a handful of butterflies: two Common Blues and one each of Clouded Yellow, Small Copper, Holly Blue and Red Admiral.

The Common Blues (both males) were quite fresh and as yet scarred by their environment. This is one of them.

I think the Small Copper is the same one seen on previous days - it was certainly in the same place exactly.

The only Red Admiral was surprisingly not on an ivy flower (basking instead low down on the brambles)...

...but the Holly Blue was (a fresh male), though high up and tricky to get a clean shot of.

The sole Cloudie seen today was of course rather subdued by the lack of bright sunshine. I managed to locate it in this area of habitat where it and its cohorts have been flying for at least ten days, and where they have frequently gone to ground.

LHR T5 in the distance...

This one still looks remarkably whole, though a little more worn now.

Dave

[Wurzel]

More cracking reports Dave - excellent Cloudies and Holly Blues but my favourite shot has to be the open wing shot of the Common Blue with the spots showing through the wings I'll have to try and gwt out an look for some of those hardy butterflies sitting out the cold, I just hope they hang around for 10 days or so...fingers crossed!
WRT to painting I reckon the Forth Bridge would be a doddle compared to my two up two down terrace house - you see the girls are a bit spacially unaware of their bags and coats and shoes To be fair it has been a year or two since the last coat

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[millerd]

Many thanks again, Wurzel - that Clouded Yellow was very compliant in the relatively cloudy conditions. I've noticed how some Common Blue males seem to have a lighter dusting of scales than others, allowing the underside spotting to show through even when not backlit. They show up quite well in both upperside shots of the one in that last post. Let's hope the butterflies continue for a bit longer...

They did on Friday 9th October, despite a cooler day. To be fair, there was more sunshine, and today's Clouded Yellow was correspondingly much more active and difficult to approach.

The bit of wing damage identified this individual as one I'd seen before.

I found 14 other butterflies, including six Common Blues today, some of which were still quite fresh.

After a five day gap, three Small Whites appeared - and then (the first one since mid-September) a male Large White.

Checking back, this appears to be the latest I've seen this species here.

A familiar Small Copper was waiting for me in its usual spot (I shall miss it when it finally disappears)...

...and here is one of two Red Admirals seen, clearly having suffered the attentions of a bird. A pronounced bialbata variant, though.

To round off the walk, there was another Peacock nectaring on late-flowering buddleia. Certain wild bushes are producing quite a strong second burst of flowers.

Seven species today (and eleven for October so far). How much longer will the season carry on I wonder?

Dave

[millerd]

Saturday 10th just didn't make the cut, weatherwise, but Sunday 11th October was much better - some sunshine and light winds in the morning, and reasonably warm. I was at Bushy Park again for my son's rugby training, and had another walk in this extensive green space in West London suburbia.

The first thing I noticed were lots of folk brandishing long lenses, followed by quite a bit of loud bellowing. It then clicked - the renowned herd of deer in the Park were now into their rutting season. There were some impressive antlers on display, but I didn't see any battles, just a lot of standing around really.

Having just taken these shots, I became aware of something fluttering around my feet. Peering down, I saw that it was a Small Copper investigating some sorrel plants.

I was surprised to see it as it was not yet 10 o'clock and the temperature was only just into double digits.

I wandered on and it became a bit warmer. The goddess Diana was still wearing her collection of cormorants in the middle of the lake.

I headed for a fence facing the sun and sure enough a Red Admiral appeared, making the most of the warm and sheltered location. It was by no means a fresh individual...

After further wanderings, taking in a rather handsome parasol mushroom...

...I made my way back to the clubhouse for a coffee. The area immediately adjacent to the cricket field (this is actually Hampton Cricket Club) is a flat expanse of ground - I say flat, but though generally level it is covered in the rounded low mounds of anthills.

I was reminded immediately of Staines Moor, and close examination of these anthills revealed another similarity - they were covered in small sorrel plants.

No sooner had the connection been made than another flash of orange caught my eye - a second Small Copper.

Before the lure of a coffee became too much, I saw four altogether in this area. Considering the look of the habitat, there could be quite a reasonable population here overall. It is after all essentially the same as Staines Moor - both are within a mile or so of the Thames, very much part of the original flood plain, and have not been under cultivation any time recently.

By the time I was home again, the sunshine had become distinctly half-hearted and it was not worth going out locally. Never mind, it had been an interesting morning.

Dave

[millerd]

There followed two more days of unsuitable weather, and I wasn't able to go out on my local patch again until Wednesday 14th October. Five days had passed since my last look around, and at this time of year with every day shorter than the previous one and sunshine and warmth at a premium, a lot can change. However, in what sunshine there was today I managed to find 13 butterflies of six species - though there was no sign of a Clouded Yellow for the first time in just over a fortnight.

A couple of male Common Blues looked familiar and one at least was increasingly ragged.

There was also a female, but she was flying fast and low and I quickly lost track of her.

I found two Small Coppers again. The first was a rather tattered female, but the second one (a male) was once more exactly where I expected (does it sit and wait for me, I wonder? ).

A couple of Small Whites wafted through, allowing themselves to be carried between flowers by the breeze, or into the hedge when the sun went in: a tactic that certainly saves energy. This was a female (the other one was male).

In an area where several buddleia bushes still sported flowers, I spotted two Peacocks. One was annoyingly high up and out of reach, but the other was better situated.

Though numbers are far lower than usual for October here, I did also count three Red Admirals. This one was also enjoying an impressive spray of buddleia - a shot that could just as easily be from July.

There was also a single Speckled Wood, but it was flying alongside a main road where there was no path so a closer approach would have been somewhat foolhardy!

Some sunshine is forecast for the next two mornings, so it's definitely not time to call a halt to proceedings yet.

Dave

[Wurzel]

I was quite surprised to see that Peacock Dave - I always thought they headed off to 'bed' very early Still good to see butterflies but I think you've been a bit luckier weather wise than us over in the west but hopefully a few more sunny days will produce the goods, I'm finding the dreaded "W" word keeps getting in the way There was one really fresh looking Common Blue from your most recent posts that keeps springing to mind - it looks great and even had a few black spots near the hind wing margins

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[millerd]

I think the one or two Peacocks I've been seeing lately may be second brood examples, Wurzel, with a pressing need to feed up before heading for hibernation. The weather has been slightly better than marginal here, in the mornings at least, and a bit of sun is all the handful of remaining butterflies seem to need.

Thursday 15th October was a couple of degrees cooler, but there was still a bit of morning sunshine. However, my local patch could only conjure half a dozen butterflies today - though one was the welcome reappearance of a Clouded Yellow.

One of the Common Blues was back in the same area, and kept chasing the Cloudie if it came close.

It was still warm enough for the usual Small Copper to be active...

...and one Red Admiral was around as well.

There were just a couple of Small Whites, one of which was a fresh male which sat in the hedge at one point with its wings in an unusual position, the forewings angled below the hindwings, so that the leading edge of the latter was in front of the former.

It then relocated to a more conventional pose on the ground, where a burst of sunshine showed its underside to be quite a strong shade of lemon-yellow.

Without so much sun, it looked a bit less dramatic.

A small dark insect then darted from the grass, but in a pattern that didn't fit any butterfly I'd expect to see - not surprisingly it turned out to be a newly-emerged Silver-Y moth.

Last of all today was the chance to cover myself in embarrassment my misidentifying a caddis fly as "some kind of moth". I'm grateful to Bugboy for attempting to dilute my faux-pas by pointing out that there is a common ancestor back in the mists of time...

Dave

[Wurzel]

Cracking Cloudy and Small White - that is an unusual posture it must be doing some form of insect yoga I've been caught out by the Caddis Fly before - the shape of the wings is very reminiscent of lots of the micro moths

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[David M]

They all seem to be hanging in round your way, Dave, even though the vegetation looks distinctly autumnal (bar the buddleia flowers).

I'm delighted you've seen third brood Holly Blues again, and what chance is there of a November Cloudie? If things stay mild it's a distinct possibility.

[trevor]

Hoping to have a few more days out, like you I don't want to give up yet.
David M. mentions a November Cloudie, Nov 18th is my latest a few years back.
We have been spoilt so far this Autumn with plentiful LTB's and Cloudies, and as yet no frosts.

A festive Holly Blue this year?.
Stay safe and well,
Trevor.

[Goldie M]

WoW! your'e still seeing Butterflies Dave, nothing here, even the Bee's have vanished Love your shots of the Cloudies , at least they come every year and don't seem to mind the rain too much now. It would be great if I could move house in the Spring then I could catch up on the Grizzles Goldie

[millerd]

Thank you everyone - it's good to still be seeing butterflies, though I'm beginning to suspect that they are quite often the same ones each day! That Small Copper certainly is, and I expect the Cloudies are as well. I'm still waiting for them to finish for the year so I can look at the (many!) photos and see just how many there have been.

Aside from the couple seen ten days ago, Holly Blues have been sadly lacking - though I have to remind myself that the last sightings of recent years have always been in November... I'm not particularly hopeful, though.

Dave

[millerd]

Thanks for supplying me with another excuse for that misidentification of the caddis fly, Wurzel! It did indeed look very mothlike to me...

Clouded Yellows seem pretty robust, David, but I suspect the ones I've been seeing have already been around for about three weeks. However, they still appear largely intact so given enough sunshine to enable them to nectar and an absence of frosty nights they may last another week or so. The lifespans of adult butterflies (aside from hibernators) don't feature a great deal in species accounts in the books I have. We shall have to see!

Yes, Trevor, it's certainly worth a few more excursions when the weather's favourable. These days, down here in the south of England you really can't declare the season over until we're into November. And not always then! 2nd December is the latest I've seen things locally...

Fingers crossed for you moving in time for spring, Goldie! Grizzlies can last into June sometimes, so you have a little breathing space! You'll always see Cloudies in Kent too.

Dave

[millerd]

Friday 16th October was a bit warmer than the previous day, and produced a sunny morning again. There was a bit less wind and I ended up seeing 13 butterflies altogether around my local patch with six species represented.

I will start with Old Faithful, the Small Copper that has weathered everything October has thrown at him so far...

There was also a Speckled Wood today - I thought it was two, as the sightings I had were not that close together, but the photos show it was the same butterfly.

I spotted two different Small Whites (they really were in very different areas... ), but neither were close enough for photos. Red Admirals were more obliging - and there were actually three today. Still unfortunately nowhere near what I usually see at this time of year.

By contrast, Common Blues are not usually a feature of the middle of October, but there were four flying today, including a nice new female.

This left one further species, one which has become a familiar and almost routine sight this month - the Clouded Yellows. Plural today, as there were at least two males around again. The conditions today meant that though they performed their usual patrols back and forth along their customary routes, they stopped frequently to nectar. I assume that as the days shorten they need to maximise their fuel intake to cope with the longer cooler nights and shorter hours of daytime sunshine. Time spent looking for females reduces accordingly. However (unfortunately for these males) I have yet to see a female here this year - if any appeared with them, they must have moved on.

I managed a backlit shot or two - quite difficult as the butterflies were mostly settling on flowers up against the hedge leaving no room to squeeze behind them.

There was another of those "caught at the moment of take-off" accidents. I was a bit too close for there to be any chance of much of the butterfly to be in focus as it was edge-on, but the speed at which it moved is still amazing. The photo was taken at 1/1600th of a second.

Finally, there is the confirmation that I had been watching more than one butterfly. I saw one approach, and then another came from behind me and the pair started to circle each other. As a chase began I just pointed the camera at them and hoped. The unzoomed result amounted to a couple of bright yellow dots, but enlargement revealed that somehow I had caught them both with wings fully open towards me as they had flown past. I'm not sure that such a result could be achieved deliberately - a very happy accident, and despite the lack of detail from such distant and unfocused shot, one that evokes the whole atmosphere of watching Clouded Yellows making the most of the autumn sun.

Dave