May 2021

[Roger Gibbons]

I don't want to make you jealous, Pete, but I have also seen a Small White.

Roger

[Bertl]

Weather been pretty miserable this week north of the border. However it was a balmy 12 in Clackmannanshire at the weekend and managed to get some decent sightings.

[David M]

...In desperation, I am beginning to think I might do a study on the frequencies of the presence or absence of the post-discal spot in spring brood male G-V-Whites...

I don't want to make you jealous, Pete, but I have also seen a Small White.

Lol!

You two really are suffering, aren't you?

[bugboy]

A day at Mill Hill amassed an impressive 15 species today...sorry Roger and Pete, (and thats without seeing any Speckled Wood or Holly Blue which you can normally count on making up part of the support act). Most notable for me were my first Walls and Common Blues of the year. Only males of the latter seen but a female Wall was already busy sorting out the second brood. Dozens of Dingy and Grizzled Skippers made up the bulk of what was about. Another batch of freshly immigrated Red Admiral littered the slope and also the gardens to and from the site to add to the dozen I saw at Abbots Wood on Wednesday. Full details in a week or so.

Edit: 14 species, not enough fingers

[Padfield]

East Suffolk is well behind you, Buggy! It was 50% sunny today so I went to see if any green hairstreaks were on the wing yet. The first thing I noticed was that the broom was not yet in flower. This is my top green hairstreak site on 19th April 2020:



This is the same spot today:



Similarly, the hawthorn is not in flower. Unsurprisingly, I didn't confirm green hairstreak, though I did catch a glimpse of a possible tumbling over a tree. It may have been a small copper, of which the first are now on the wing.

I counted 8 orange tip eggs on the garlic mustard in the garden:



Here's (perhaps) the happy dad:



I think the female small white that hatched in my cage two days ago has found love:



I saw this pair meet and mate in the garden this morning. They remained in cop about an hour.

The only other species I saw today, in the garden and out on the heath, were peacock, speckled wood, small copper and holly blue. The holly blue was only my second this year.

Guy

[dave brown]

It reached a scorching high of 13 degrees as we arrived at Samphire Hoe (near Dover) today. With periods of overcast skies at times we were not expecting too much, but pleasantly surprised to see a Clouded Yellow at the Folkestone end where the concrete wall ends adjacent to the cliff. Apparently we were not the first to notice it today. No chance of a photograph as it whizzed up and down the base of the cliff, preseumbaly looking for a mate. Also 3 Wall Brown, Small Copper and the usual Large and Small Whites.
For anyone interested in Orchids the Early Spider Orchids here appear to be having a very poor season. We only counted 47 close to the footpath, there may be others further inland, in areas where we normally see hundreds, if not thousands. The grounded is very dry and almost rock like. None were in very good condition for photographs with many either finished flowering or unlikely to flower.

[Allan.W.]

Hello Dave ,
I was at Samphire Ho , last Friday and managed an hours visit before the heavans opened ,my findings were very similar to yours Orchid wise ,but i did find two leucistic plants in nice condition ........................but not a single butterfly !
Also of interest ,i had a flyover White Stork (over the workshop in Ellingham ) a few days back , and a Peregrine around the Charter building yesterday.
Regards Allan.W.

[Roger Gibbons]

A trip to Bison Hill, Whipsnade, this morning yielded absolutely no butterflies despite warm sunshine and no chill wind (11C). It is normally good for Dukes this time of year but despite Cowslips abounding in large numbers, the vegetation generally was more reminiscent of March than May.

So we moved on a few miles to a sheltered spot near Ivinghoe Beacon. The weather was now clouding over but it was possible to find a few males roosting (with thanks to the person that pointed them out to me). Here is one roosting and another that had just opened up in a brief spell of sunshine just before taking off.

Roger

[millerd]

Some glorious sunshine at Rewell Wood this morning, and despite a reported frosty start there were good numbers of Pearl-bordered Fritillaries - plus a few other things (Grizzlies, Red Admirals, Small Coppers).

The mating pair of Coppers was a bonus.

Full report in my PD in a day or two.

Dave

[David M]

Great to see those mating Small Coppers, Dave.

[David M]

Cwm Ivy/Whiteford Burrows, Gower, 6th May:

Holly Blue 20-25
Orange Tip 10-15
Speckled Wood 10-15
Brimstone 3
Brown Argus 2
Green Veined White 2
Red Admiral 1
Dingy Skipper 1
Large White 1

[Essex Bertie]

Brentwood, Essex today - I counted 6 Orange-tip ova on a single Cuckooflower plant (5 on another). I know Garlic Mustard can support more larvae, but I don't remember ever seeing more than 2 previously on Cuckooflower. I wondered whether others had seen this, or whether it was indicative of a local shortage of foodplant. (I think the larvae is of another species)

[Padfield]

6 ova and a cat, by the look of it [EDIT - just seen your reference to the cat - yes, maybe it is a looper], Bertie! I've never seen anything like that. Are the cuckoo flowers in short supply, or poor condition?

I was out hunting white-letter hairstreak caterpillars again tonight. In addition to the 3rd instars (biggest about 8mm long, so maybe soon to graduate into 4th instar) I found a tiny 2nd instar, tucked in the curls of the leaves at the end of a spray:







It was very difficult to get photos of something so tiny at night, especially as it was about a foot above my head, so I had to hold the branch, a light and my camera.

For comparison, here is a 3rd instar tonight:



I think I saw my last caterpillar last year on 8th May, as one by one they disappeared off to pupate.

Guy

[Essex Bertie]

Padfield, I think the cuckooflower in this particular small wood are healthy, but there are never more than about a dozen sporadic plants there anyway.
I thought it might be either indicative of the cool conditions and the inability to travel far and/or the lack of any garlic mustard yet

[Essex Bertie]

Padfield, great work with the White-letter Hairstreak larvae. Not something I've ever attempted, but willing to give it a try. Thanks

[aeshna5]

Looked a reasonable forecast yesterday with plenty of sunshine if not particularly warm, so took a train down to Dorking & visited Denbies hillside. Unfortunately there were only brief sunny interludes & largely cool, overcast conditions by early afternoon so few insects around. Butterflies seen did at least include my target species with:

1 Green-veined White
2 male Orange Tip
1 Green Hairstreak
2 Small Heath
4 Grizzled Skipper
6 Dingy Skipper.

Also a Small Purple-barred & a faded Pyrausta aurata.

[David M]

Welshmoor, Gower, 6th May:

2 Green Hairstreaks and an Orange Tip seen in cool but sunny conditions:

[zigzag_wanderer]

Starting to see a small range of butterflies behind polytunnel 5 at work whilst I'm tucking in to my packed lunch. This area has been left to go its own way a bit and has a small range of part natural, part man-made habitat (e.g. spoil heap "rockeries") with a mix of wild and some escaped flora.

So far I've seen Peacock (max 3 at a time), Brimstone, patrolling male OTs, Small White, a single Comma and Speckled Wood, and yesterday my first Small Copper.

I've not seen a Holly Blue or GVW there yet, but I'm only there for a limited time each day (if weather decent for al fresco dining). Would love to do a longer study but not sure the boss would buy it......

I've also seen a large white flying about inside one of the greenhouses. The boss doesn't share my view of them.

[Testudo Man]

Great to see you back, TM. Those Grizzled Skipper images are first class.

Thanks for that David, good to start taking pics again. Apart from 1 session with "Adders" back in late February, it was the 1st time i'd had a camera in hand(out in the field) since back in October 2020!!

So, yesterday (7/5/21) i finished work early, an made my way to a site where i hoped there would be some Dingy Skippers. It was hard going, but i sighted 6+. Also 2 GH, 1 fresh looking Red Admiral, 1 Small Tortoiseshell, an 3 Brimstone...but once again, a poor showing for butterflies.

Several pics, none of these images are cropped, cheers Paul.

Location - Kent.

[David M]

That last image totally epitomises this species, TM. Lovely capture.