David M

[David M]

Wednesday 14th April – Moving forward…..

At last! After several abnormally cool days (including morning frosts and even some sleet), today was much more like mid-April.

I spent nearly two hours at Cwm Ivy until unexpected cloud rolled in just prior to 2pm and it felt great to be back out.

Orange Tip numbers had risen quite nicely; I reckon I saw around 20 (although I’ve yet to see a female). During the cloudy spell, I spotted this male roosting in the woodland glade:

Holly Blues were numerous again, with probably a dozen and a half in total. I wasn’t able to find any mating pairs (no females at all, in fact) but the males were perching regularly and some of them were still in very good nick:

Probably the highlight was my first female Large White of the year. She was nectaring from willow catkins which is something I’ve never witnessed this species doing before. She was regularly harassed by male Brimstones & Orange Tips though, and the last I saw of her was when she flew into the upper branches of a tree to escape this unwanted attention:

Eight Brimstones, half a dozen Speckled Woods and a solitary Peacock were also seen, along with two Red Admirals. The first kept flying up and down a track without settling, but the second one perched for a while in the glade allowing me to get a couple of distant images:

[millerd]

A particularly fresh and delightful Holly Blue, David, plus two species I haven't seen yet (Large White and Red Admiral). It's most definitely warmer in your neck of the woods at the moment and probably sunnier too.

Cheers,

Dave

[bugboy]

Those images LOOK far more spring like than anything I've experienced so far this year!

[Goldie M]

Beautiful Images David, I've seen a Speckie, a Large White, a Orange Tip today, sadly no photos Goldie

[Chris L]

A good day for you David. It is so nice to spend 2 hours lost in butterfly spotting, so good for the soul.

- You have Holly Blue in abundance. There are none where I am at present.
- You have seen a Large White. I haven't.
- You have seen 2 Red Admiral. None seen here.
- You have lots of Orange Tip. I have seen 1 this year.
- You have Speckled Wood in decent numbers. I have seen 2 this year.

[David M]

Lovely Small Coppers, David - I always like that burnished sheen fresh individuals have, and that caeruleopunctata individual is a splendid little insect.

Thanks, Dave. Yes, it's a common enough butterfly but an especially beautiful one, particularly when fresh, with an interesting regular degree of variation.

Hopefully there'll be a few (hopefully many) round your way very soon.

[trevor]

A very fine image of that male Holly Blue, David. None seen locally yet.
It will be good to lose the cold mornings, which have been constant for weeks now.

Stay safe and well,
Trevor.

[Benjamin]

Thanks for delivering spring to us David - great selection. Large White female would’ve been my highlight too - really stunning butterflies when fresh.

[Pauline]

I've been feeling a little envious of the array of species you've been seeing David (not the only one it seems) so I was pleased to see my first Holly Blue of the season in the garden today. Lovely photos too.

[David M]

Thanks, Dave/Paul/Goldie/Otep/Trevor/Benjamin/Pauline.

It's been like living in a protected microclimate here on the Gower this last few weeks, but that appears to be about to change with temperatures rising over the next few days, so I suspect that further south and east will see normal service resumed quite soon.

Lots to look forward to.

Saturday 17th April – Double figures…

Visits to Dan-y-Graig cemetery followed by Crymlyn Burrows finally saw me hit double figures for species on another sunny but rather cool day.

There were again lots of Small Whites flying around at the bottom of Kilvey Hill. I investigated the scrubby field where I had seen plenty a couple of weeks ago and it became obvious why, since the growth in the vegetation revealed several wild cabbage plants growing there.

I was pleased to see four male Large Whites but couldn’t find any Green Veined. I did, however, see two more Small Coppers, in much the same spot as I saw one on 3rd April:

A couple of Holly Blues, three Speckled Woods and about half a dozen Orange Tips were also seen before I moved on to the Burrows, where Brimstone, Peacock & Comma were all encountered (as well as more Orange Tips), but my most satisfying moment came when this male Green Veined White settled for a few seconds allowing me to grab an upperside:

[David M]

Monday 19th April – Woodland bonanza…

Cwm Ivy is proving irresistible at the moment. Last year's lockdown put it out of bounds, but given it’s the best early spring site I’ve ever known I’m determined to make the most of it this year.

Today’s Holly Blue count was again off the scale. It’s hard to describe the level of activity – there are often half a dozen swirling around in one’s line of vision, with others basking on the ground shrubs. The numbers are impossible to keep pace with, but certainly there were in excess of 60 in the woodland glade today, including this mating pair:

Whilst all this is going on, there are Brimstones, Orange Tips, Whites, Speckled Woods and the odd Peacock, Comma & Red Admiral joining the party, making for a glorious riot of colour, especially now the blackthorn blossom is at its peak:

This little, sheltered dip is a real hotspot:

This male Large White kept me company for about an hour. He was in no mood to leave and kept settling regularly:

Even the Speckled Woods were going for the blackthorn:

Out on the dunes there were fewer butterflies, but I caught up with my first female Orange Tips of the year (two in total):

My first definite female Green Veined White of 2021 also appeared, although with the gusty wind I couldn’t get a decent image:

On my way out, this male Orange Tip was irresistible whilst nectaring from the blackthorn (nice, broad black wing margins too):

I suspect in a week’s time things will be calming down in this woodland area, but at the moment it is a butterfly paradise.

[Goldie M]

More fantastic shots David , that looks a nice sheltered place for the Butterflies, Ideal, Goldie

[Katrina]

Wonderful, I have never seen a pair of Holly Blues and your orange-tip on blossom gets some

[Benjamin]

Paradise indeed David - what a beautiful spot. I know we’re all missing foreign trips but when you get a day like that, in such a beautiful place, it’s a welcome reminder of just how lucky we are to have these places on our doorstep.

[David J]

Great pics as always David. Great catching up with you at at CI. Many thanks for the heads up,
pity I missed the mating pair of HB! but did see everything else.

[David M]

Thanks, Goldie/Katrina/Ben. Yes, this spot is virtually sacred such is its productivity at this time of year. I feel very fortunate to have found it.

David J - Good to bump into you and I trust you saw plenty to keep you occupied after I left you. You won't need any hints next time you visit.

Tuesday 20th April – Merthyr Mawr Dunes…

Woke up to cloudy skies on the Gower, but the forecast for Porthcawl was for sunshine, so I decided to drive to Clyne Common and look across the bay to see if that was true.

There certainly seemed to be blue sky in the east, so I made my way to Merthyr Mawr dunes to see if my local Grizzled Skippers had emerged.

I was surprised to find seven of them, which led me to believe they had been out a few days. I later discovered the first had been sighted there on 15th.

Here is a view of the main area for them:

And here is a shot looking towards Ogmore-on-Sea:

The first individual I photographed appeared to be a female:

The others, I think, were all males:

Not many other butterflies about. A solitary Small Copper, a couple of Orange Tips and a few Whites.

[David M]

Friday 23rd April – Butterfly therapy…

I’d booked today off work given that it was forecast to be the warmest day of the week. That it was, at around 17c, but it was also very windy, meaning that the only sensible choice was to pay another visit to the sheltered woodland glade at Cwm Ivy.

I took my neighbour along as she’s been virtually housebound since having an operation last month. We brought along her garden chair and once in the glade she just sat down and watched the blitzkrieg of Holly Blue action whilst I ventured onto the dunes for 20 minutes or so.

When I came back, she’d spotted something – another mating pair of Holly Blues:

Plenty of other species passed through the glade: Large & Green Veined Whites, Brimstones, Speckled Woods & Orange Tips, the last of which were the commonest butterfly after the ubiquitous Holly Blues, with about 20 seen, including this relatively docile individual:

After 1.30pm, we both spent half an hour watching the insect activity around the main area of flowering blackthorn, which can be seen in the distance in this image:

There were 5 Red Admirals in total buzzing around this area, along with a solitary Peacock meaning that aerial skirmishes were commonplace, and inbetween these they would all come back down to carry on nectaring:

A single Small Copper was seen briefly on the dunes, along with a female Orange Tip

[David M]

Sunday 25th April – New arrivals…

Another sunny but windy day forecast, though when I arrived at Cwm Ivy the wind was nowhere near as bad as I had anticipated, so I thought I’d venture out onto Whiteford Burrows.

I first passed through the woodland glade which is about 150 yards from one end to the other. In that time I counted 22 Holly Blues, whilst there were also Orange Tips, Speckled Woods, Green Veined Whites and a Brimstone present.

Once I reached the dunes I headed for the western facing side of the largest dune and was delighted to find 5 Brown Argus active there:

For some reason, they seem to emerge extraordinarily early at this location – I’ve never seen them anywhere else on the site during April. Here’s the favoured spot:

Walking towards the other side of the dune crater, I thought I’d spotted a sixth, but the flight pattern was all wrong for Brown Argus, and when it came down I realised it was a Dingy Skipper:

It landed in a nest of long grass and when it took flight I lost track of it, but this is the first I’ve ever seen out on the dunes here. Previously, I have only seen this species in very small numbers on the grassland around the limestone crag from which this image was taken looking north east towards Llanelli:

Other butterflies seen were Large White, Red Admiral, a Small Tortoiseshell and this Peacock nectaring on the blackthorn:

[millerd]

Lovely new Brown Argus, David, with that iridescent sheen that fresh brown blues seem to have (if you see what I mean). That bit of coast is very favoured by the look of things this year - I also imagine that "Cwm Ivy" is appropriately named, leading to the abundance of Holly Blues there.

Cheers,

Dave

[Chris L]

A great day out David. Lovely photos. Thank you for sharing. Those Brown Argus are indeed extremely early.