millerd

[Wurzel]

More lovely shots Dave although the butterflies are starting to look a little battle worn (understandably) I don;t know about you but I relish the butterflies that are around later in the season more than those that appear in the spring - trying to take in enough to get me through the winter I suppose

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[millerd]

Cheers, Wurzel - being the last of the year, those individuals were a bit worn - however, earlier in the month there were some better ones.

Small Coppers looked far better at the start of the month...

...and on the 5th I saw the one that made its last appearance on 22nd

Common Blues as mentioned before did really well, and there were some nice examples flying before they damaged themselves on the various thorny flowers that they have to frequent at this time of year here.

In terms of numbers, the other notable species in October was the Small White. There was quite a bit of variety...

More usual fare for the month were a sprinkling of elegant Red Admirals...

...and some rather scruffy Speckled Woods.

One or two late Peacocks were a more surprising addition...

...and the last few Small Heaths hung on in there.

One further species remained, and one that made the whole month particularly memorable - the Clouded Yellow. Seeing one or two (and possibly more) on almost every walk locally in October was a joy, and they were fairly obliging in terms of being photographed. In view of this, I shall devote a separate post to them.

[trevor]

[millerd]

As promised, a selection of local Clouded Yellows from the first three weeks of October. They were all males: if there had been any females, they no doubt had moved on before I got to see them. Males by contrast tend to stick around in the same spots, becoming attached to particular areas that they patrol in long circuits and figures-of-eight. The favoured area I found was a southish-facing relatively gentle slope with flowers. I noticed that as the days shortened markedly over the three weeks, the butterflies spent more time nectaring and less time patrolling, presumably because they needed more and more fuel to keep going and to last them through the longer (and cooler) nights.

The most I saw for certain on any day was three, and two were present almost every time I went out. However, there may have been more, and I still haven't studied the photos in sufficient detail yet to establish whether this surmise is accurate.

I do like them backlit...

With so many opportunities, I had some luck with glimpses of open wings.

The last of these, with two individuals caught mid-chase and hugely luckily catching both with wings full open, was the icing on the cake.

Unfortunately, the weather went downhill during the last week of the month, and the Cloudies (and almost everything else) did not reappear in November. However, one or two things did, including two species that hadn't shown up in October at all.

Dave

[Wurzel]

A fantastic set of Cloudy images Dave I was looking through them trying to work out which was my favourite and I got a bit over zealous with the cursor wheel and ended up on in the previous post Really glad that I did though else I'd have missed that brilliant male Common Blue - the one on the Ox-eye Daisy like plant with the underwing spots showing through - love it

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[trevor]

N1ce CL's.

[millerd]

Cheers, Wurzel and Trevor. October was a pretty satisfactory month for all it being spent entirely locally, and the Cloudies were the icing on the cake.

November 2020

Not by any means an exceptional month weatherwise locally, though it started very mild (17 degrees on both 1st and 2nd, with the intervening night falling no lower than 16 degrees). There was only one air frost, on the night of 27th, and the average daily maximum was 12.5 degrees. Sunshine was disappointing again, with only one and a half hours daily on average - but this is November!

However, these days, November would be very disappointing if there were no butterflies at all, and 2020 managed to come up with six species - though strangely two of these hadn't been seen in October at all. These were a Brimstone and a Comma both seen on the 2nd.

15th was the last day of the year I saw a butterfly, another Comma being joined on that day by a more predictable Red Admiral.

The other last sightings of species were one final Common Blue (2nd - no photo unfortunately), Speckled Wood (4th)...

...and Peacock (7th).

And so the year concluded - aside from a Small Tortoiseshell released having woken from hibernation in December.

Dave

[millerd]

With the 2021 season now actually underway, I'll conclude the look at 2020 with a quick summary of what appeared during the year on my local patch.

In terms of individual butterfly sightings, 25 different species were seen locally. The Top Ten species list was unsurprisingly headed by the Meadow Brown. As the numbers backing this list are not very scientifically gathered, I'll leave them out, but it's still interesting: the list includes both species seen throughout the season and a couple whose season is much more restricted.

1. Meadow Brown
2. Small White
3. Common Blue
4. Holly Blue
5. Peacock
6. Small Heath
7. Gatekeeper
8. Orange Tip
9. Red Admiral
10. Comma

The Top Five most often seen (i.e. on most different days) were:

1. Small White
2. Red Admiral
3. Holly Blue
4. Speckled Wood
5. Common Blue

Without a doubt the success of the year was the Common Blue, with good showings in three broods. Probably the most disappointing season was had by the Brown Argus, which would have placed on both these lists in 2019, and ahead of the Common Blue as well.

Onward now to 2021!

[millerd]

Having finally finished off 2020's look back, 2021's season began over the last few days of February.

Though once the spell of very cold weather gave in overnight to something much warmer, it wasn't accompanied by much in the way of sunshine until Friday 26th. Temperatures were actually a bit lower, but it was sunny and calm, and my local walk turned up the first sightings of the year - two Brimstones. By coincidence, the very first of these was initially seen patrolling the same piece of hedgerow as the one appearing in the November photo above - and I mean within a few metres of the exact same spot. A second was seen later on, much closer to home.

On Saturday, the sun shone again and a walk this time down the path to Staines Moor produced four more Brimstones, though I strongly suspect one was a repeat sighting on the return journey home.

The constant sunshine on both days kept the butterflies active and out of reach, and no photos worth the name were achieved, but the sight of these classic early spring insects was genuinely uplifting. My sister in York also sent a shot of two Small Tortoiseshells in here garden nectaring on purple crocuses, and a friend in Naseby reported Torties enjoying the sunshine as well.

There has been more sunshine over the last couple of days, but it has been distinctly chilly with it, and clearly conditions were not quite good enough for anything to fly. I have hopes for the next couple of days, however...

[Wurzel]

Good to hear that the season has started for you Dave I was just getting into the swing of things but now were set for plenty of cooler weather - I don't know if butterflies will bother venturing out in the forecast 7 degrees?

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[millerd]

Since those February sightings, things have been very frustrating in these here parts. Days have been warm, but cloudy and/or wet, or they have been bright and cold (and probably windy too!). A few better days last week coincided with a spell of isolation as a close friend went down with COVID and despite failing completely to pass it on (thankfully) ten days of enforced inactivity is not fun. (She has recovered, by the way!)

Monday 29th March

However, that's all over now, and suddenly after an indifferent weekend, today we were plunged into an early summer. Temperatures locally climbed above 20 degrees and the sun shone. The clocks have thoughtfully changed too, prolonging the afternoons. The butterflies hereabouts must have been sitting poised for this, as over an hour or two at lunchtime I found 20 individuals at least, of no fewer than six species.

There were three Commas - beating the aggregate total I saw during September and October last year, which suggests they too are hibernating earlier these days.

Talking of early hibernation, it was good to see two Small Tortoiseshells (probably the first sightings since July).

I hardly ever see Brimstones in the summer either, but at least six appeared today, including two females.

One of the latter was very white at a distance, but identified itself properly close too - another similar sighting turned out to be a Small White, but it didn't stop.

However, another white butterfly did persistently stop to nectar, and I was surprised to find it was a male GVW - possibly the earliest I've seen one here.

The most numerous of all, predictably, was the Peacock - but I didn't get that close to many of them. However, there was one which did pause for a while on some muddy ground and proved to be well worth a shot or two. Obviously months of hibernation takes its toll, and some individuals emerge into the spring sunlight distinctly faded and worn, but this one was a bit more extreme. It was as if the printer had run out of bright blue ink - This led to the closest I've ever seen to a "blind" Peacock. I wish I'd encountered this individual back in the summer.

All in all, a proper start to the season now.

Dave

[trevor]

I thought you had gone quiet, pleased you are OK.
Spring seemed to kick off last weekend, but you are right, most days have been plagued
by a cold breeze despite strong sunshine, plus a lot of cloud build after arrival at a site!.

Plenty to look forward to.

Stay well,
Trevor.

PS. A mrgreen for that Peacock , quite a find.

[bugboy]

Glad you and your friend are all fit and well . Ab. iocaste looks like a good fit for your Peacock
http://www.britishbutterflyaberrations. ... berrations

[millerd]

Cheers, Trevor and Buggy - yes, all well here and spirits lifted mightily by the unusually warm and sunny early spring weather. Vitamin D levels are being thoroughly topped up. That Peacock ab. was a bit of a surprise bonus too (thanks for the ID, Buggy - I've not heard of that one... )

Tuesday 30th March was even warmer than Monday (over 23 degrees), and a walk around my local patch in the middle of the day before it became really warm produced 25 butterflies: 14 Peacocks (all the standard version) and 8 Brimstones (all males today) made up the majority, but there were singletons of Comma and Small White, plus another newcomer for the year - a male Orange Tip.

Later on, I had a stroll down to Staines Moor. Thankfully the path is no longer under water or even inches of mud as it has been, though it wouldn't take much to submerge it again. Even though it was late for them, there were a couple more Brimstones flying down here, plus two Commas, two Peacocks and a Small Tortoiseshell.

More sunshine still to come, though it starts to cool off on Thursday.

Dave

[Neil Freeman]

Great to see the Orange-tips are starting to emerge Dave, I have heard of a couple reported up here today so hopefully not long for me now.

That Peacock ab. from yesterday is a cracker too

Cheers,

Neil.

[Wurzel]

Glad to see you back in action Dave (and glad to hear that your friend is okay too), that's what I'm dreading - being forced to stay in an isolate as one of the pupils has contracted it Mind you what a cracking way to bounce back - Green-veined White, OT and a partially sighted Peacock

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[David M]

Sad to hear about your enforced isolation, Dave, but what a way to emerge from it!!

That's a fabulous Peacock ab, and to complement it you saw a ridiculously early Green Veined White followed, the next day, by an Orange Tip.

I guess with temperatures at near record levels for the month of March it was inevitable that butterflies would respond in numbers. Looks like we have two or three days more of these warm conditions too.

[millerd]

Cheers, everyone - I was very pleased with that Peacock ab. (iocaste seems a good fit as Bugboy suggests) plus everything else after the long dark months.

After the heat of 30th, the forecasters promised more on Wednesday 31st March. However, though it was still very warm (21 degrees locally) the sun was extremely hazy, apparently because a plume of Saharan dust had been swept up on the southerly winds. The diminished levels of sunshine kept the butterfly count down: I managed to find 15 Peacocks, mind, but only single examples of Small Tortoiseshell, Comma and Small White - and nothing else.

The day felt a bit odd to be honest, with a uniform white sky, almost oppressive warmth and no wind. Certainly not how March usually feels.

Thursday 1st April was cooler (16 degrees or so) but the sun was stronger despite the haze lingering a bit to start with. There were more butterflies too: 12 Peacocks, 6 Commas, 5 Small Tortoiseshells, 2 Orange Tips and a Small White.

Friday 2nd April was cooler still (11 or 12 degrees at most), but from midday there was a lot of strong spring sunshine. However, a brisk northeasterly wind was blowing, and the combination produced just one butterfly on my local patch, a Peacock. Later on I wandered down to Staines Moor and had a little more luck. There was another Peacock, but I spent most of an hour watching a courting pair of Small Tortoiseshells. I was hopeful that the female might succumb to the male's persistent advances and lead him into the depths of the nettles, but no amount of wing fluttering and battering on her hindwings with his antennae had any effect while I was there.

Sunday 4th looks like a reasonable day, but after that I hope everything will be well tucked away for a while.

Dave

[Goldie M]

Fantastic find Dave that ab, your certainly off to a good start, your also seeing the Orange tip and the Small White, they've not put in an appearance here yet in spite of the weather being so nice. Hope fully they will soon Goldie

[millerd]

Thank you Goldie - yes a good start to the year, but it's progressed in a rather stuttery fashion since!

Saturday 3rd was cloudy and cool, but Easter Sunday 4th April turned into the forecasted lovely sunny and reasonably warm day (15 degrees). I walked some of my local patch (before the bikers took over the rest again) and also down to Staines Moor, seeing decent numbers of Brimstones, Small Whites, Peacocks, Commas and even Small Tortoiseshells. No further Orange Tips, though.

Easter Monday was breezy and cold, with sleety showers, but the occasional sunshine didn't tempt me out. However, on Tuesday 6th April after a frosty night, the sun shone more consistently and I ventured out at lunchtime. The temperature was around the six degree mark and I was amazed to find three butterflies. First of all was a Small Tortoiseshell, flying between dandelions out in the open and at the mercy of the icy breeze.

There were also two Peacocks, more sensibly tucked closer to the warm sun-baked path and sheltered by dense bramble hedges.

Later in the day there were light snow showers - I am certain that I have never before seen butterflies flying and snow falling on the same day.


Dave