David M

[David M]

What a fabulous chain of voyeurism! I wonder if you were the terminus, or if there might’ve been another pair of eyes on you from the bushes - Heaven forbid!

Very interesting observation David, although looking closely at that pic there does seem to be a rogue proboscis flicking about - are you sure he was just watching?!

Trust your well-trained eye to spot that proboscis, Ben.

I hadn't noticed it myself but I shall commit it to memory and watch out for it next time I witness this behaviour (although that'll probably be next spring now).

[Pauline]

Despite the poor weather and cool temperatures you have managed to find an enviable range of species David Enjoyed your report on the Holly Blue - was there anyone watching you?!!!!

[David M]

Rubbish weather here David, I see your not doing too bad for the Butterflies though

Equally rubbish here too, Goldie. I'm nipping out in those short breaks in the cloud/rain and fortunately I've not far to travel to see things but even so they are around in very small numbers.

Despite the poor weather and cool temperatures you have managed to find an enviable range of species David Enjoyed your report on the Holly Blue - was there anyone watching you?!!!!

Thanks, Pauline. I’m lucky in that I have several good sites close by which are host to a good range of species, so it's not too much of a risk if weather conditions are marginal.

As for the Holly Blue menage-à-trois, my neighbour was watching!! In fact, it was her that spotted the pair while I was looking for something else.

[David M]

15th to 25th May – Dire period….

After my visit to Whiteford Burrows on 14th May, the weather worsened to the point where there was no point planning anything in advance. I took to nipping out very locally whenever the skies appeared not to threaten any heavy cloud or rain for at least an hour.

With temperatures constantly between 10 and 12c, even light cloud was sufficient to completely suppress butterfly activity, and when the sun did shine (which wasn’t often), it coincided with breezy conditions which chilled both the air and the butterflies alike.

I doubled my Green Hairstreak tally on 16th, with three seen on Fairwood Common, one of which was posing nicely on this bluebell:

The following day, I found my first female Common Blue in Dan-y-Graig cemetery, and she was pretty much uniformly brown, which is something a little unusual these days:

On 22nd, I found this lovely, fresh Small Copper on Pennard golf course:

Whilst it was frustrating to encounter so few butterflies during this period, I reminded myself how lucky I am to live in a part of the country with such beautiful coastal views:

Every now again I would stumble across desirable, non-butterfly wildlife, such as orchids, birds of prey and this friendly Chough, which landed 30m or so away from me on Southgate Cliffs:

[David M]

Wednesday 26th May – Little respite….

At last! A decent weather forecast, so my intention was to ascend Kilvey Hill to track down some Wall Browns.

As I left home the sky appeared clear but incredibly, as I was approaching the city centre, there was a large, dark cloud right over my destination which made me change my mind and instead drive on to Kenfig Dunes, a few miles down the M4.

Once there, my first butterfly was a female Brimstone, and given that I hadn’t hitherto taken a photograph of one so far in 2021, I decided to get my camera out:

Irritatingly, it was getting cloudier by the minute in spite of the forecast. Although there was a fair onshore breeze blowing in from the west, the dark clouds were encroaching from the EAST, meaning that I was running out of time before the sunlight got swallowed up. Kilvey Hill was still shrouded in cloud though, so I made the right decision:

Thankfully, I managed to find three Wall Browns prior to this happening, although all three were flighty and I wasn’t able to get too close to any of them:

Other butterflies seen were a handful of Whites, several Small Heaths & Common Blues, two Speckled Woods, two Small Blues and a Small Copper.
Once the cloud arrived, with temperatures only 12c, butterfly activity ceased, although there were plenty of orchids to see:

[Benjamin]

A frustrating day running from clouds David! Glad to see you track down your target species at least though. Looking forward to seeing your results with the now vastly improved weather......

[David M]

A frustrating day running from clouds David! Glad to see you track down your target species at least though. Looking forward to seeing your results with the now vastly improved weather......

Thanks, Ben. Yes, things have improved lately and I'm already seeing an increase in general numbers.

Nature responds very quickly and I'm looking forward to at least another week of optimal conditions, as I'm sure are most other butterfly aficionados on here.

Saturday 29th May – Safe to travel…..

Travelling any distance to find butterflies has been off the agenda during May, not due to Coronavirus like last year, but due to the appalling weather and the equally appalling forecasts.

It was time to take a chance however, so, with 20c temperatures and light cloud predicted, I set off for Rodborough Common in Gloucestershire, arriving at around 11am.

I parked at the bottom of the hill and found 3 male Dukes of Burgundy in the hollowed-out grassland in this area:

Two males fighting over a prime perching shrub were the first of the day; this is the one in better condition:

Another male was found higher up the slope nectaring from the Hawthorn blossom:

This Duchess was seen away from the main leks:

All told, 16 of this species were recorded, which is a decent return given the largely cloudy conditions.

One of the reasons for visiting on a cloudy day was to be able to get a bit closer to normally hyperactive Adonis Blues. As it happened, I only saw one individual, and he was away from the main area where I generally see this species. He certainly looked fresh out of the bag though:

There were several other species – Dingy Skippers, Small Heaths and Common Blues all numbered into the dozens, while there were around 10 Brown Argus around too:

Two Painted Ladies were seen; my first of the year:

Peacock, Orange Tip, Green Hairstreak, Speckled Wood and Green Veined and Small Whites were recorded in small numbers as well.
After such a dreadful few weeks, it was pure joy to spend time in such a lovely part of the country with butterfly numbers in three figures.

[Pauline]

Lovely images David - looks like you managed to get all the shots I aimed for and missed this week!

[trevor]

An excellent and worthwhile trip, David. Your Adonis is stunning.
Along with the Dukes you must have returned home happy.

Stay well,
Trevor.

[David M]

Lovely images David - looks like you managed to get all the shots I aimed for and missed this week!

Thank you, Pauline. I only got the images because I chose to go on a cloudy day!!

An excellent and worthwhile trip, David. Your Adonis is stunning. Along with the Dukes you must have returned home happy.

Thanks, Trevor. Yes, it was extremely satisfying to see lots of butterflies again after such a dire period, especially with Dukes and Adonis in the mix.

Sunday 30th May – Common assault….

After several hours driving yesterday, I decided to stay local this morning and check out the Gower Commons close to where I live.
This was the first time I’ve really felt warm all year as the sun was out and temperatures ended up around 21 degrees!

I spent just over an hour in the hotspot where I see most of my local Small Pearl Bordered Fritillaries, and I managed to rack up half a dozen:

They were tricky subjects as they darted about, flying low over the track, so I was especially delighted to find a female, who was behaving far more amenably:

In 2020, I recorded this species on 9th May, so this year it is three weeks behind!! I’ve no doubt that numbers will soon respond to the prolonged warm, dry spell though. It’ll be interesting to see how many there are at their peak.

[David M]

Monday 31st May – Wall Brown….

Every spring, it seems one particular species leads me a merry dance. Last year, it was Green Veined White, but this year Wall Brown is the hands down winner.

The weather is largely responsible. This butterfly turns up in small numbers in various coastal locations round my way and excessive wind and cloud with suppressed temperatures means they can be hard to find (and during May we’ve had all three almost permanently!!)

I finally ascended my best site for them today, Kilvey Hill, but saw only one in over an hour. This was a pristine female, but she only settled briefly on one occasion before flying down the hill and out of sight.

I decided to check to see if any were flying in the cemetery at the base of the hill. Conditions were perfect: warm, sunny and the grass on the upper slope had not been cut. I walked along the length of this section and saw a few Common Blues, one of which was this extremely blue female:

I was about to leave when I spotted a male Wall near the exit. However, whilst he kept returning to the same two gravestones to bask, due to the warmth he would close his wings within seconds. This was the only part-open wing image I was able to get:

I had more success with the undersides, which I always find fascinating:

Still, at least I know the colony is still going. Every year the hill seems to get burned (usually deliberately) which risks wiping this population out. They’re safe for another year at least!

[David M]

Monday 31st May – Marsh Fritillary….

After leaving Kilvey Hill, I opted to check Fairwood Common near where I live for Marsh Fritillaries.

I’d seen one there the previous Wednesday, and another at nearby Welshmoor the next day. Given how warm and sunny it was I expected there to be quite a few (especially after I’d recorded 6 Small Pearl Bordered Fritillaries in a different area of the Common 24 hours earlier).

I could only find three, however, although this fine individual stopped around long enough for an image or two:

[David M]

Thursday 3rd June – Forest of Dean….

Been a few years since I went looking for Wood Whites in the Forest of Dean, so given I was staying in Abergavenny, I thought I’d take the relatively short trip to Cinderford, especially seeing the weather forecast was for cloud to gradually thin and dissipate in the early afternoon – ideal conditions for photographing normally skittish sinapis.

For once, this forecast was spot on, and I had a thoroughly enjoyable couple of hours in a very small area of the woodland, centred on a man-made lake in a clearing:

It didn’t take long to pick up my first Wood White, and I counted twelve in total during my time there:

When the sun broke through, I thought I’d try a bit of in-flight stuff, most of which turned out abysmally blurred. This was probably the clearest image:

The whole area was covered in birds foot trefoil, and Common Blues numbered around three dozen, including this pristine specimen:

There were a fair few Dingy Skippers as well; probably around 20 in total, most of which were looking pretty fresh:

A Large White and a Small Copper were the only other butterflies seen.

[Benjamin]

You’ve really clicked through the gears recently David, some special species and great reporting. That couple of hours by the lake with wood whites sounds magical.

[David M]

Friday 4th June – Wiltshire Glanvilles….

When fellow forum member, Stevieb, posted a collection of Glanville Fritillary images from Wiltshire at the end of May my curiosity was raised.

This is a butterfly I hadn’t seen in the UK since the Sand Point colony died out in 2013, and Steve was kind enough to provide further details and meet me at the site to maximise the chances of finding a few of this precious species.

I’d been staying in Abergavenny, which was handy as the journey barely took 2 hours and I could immediately see why this location had been chosen for another clandestine release of this butterfly:

For the first hour, things were slow as the cloud took time to lift. However, once it did there were several Small Heaths, Dingy Skippers and Adonis Blues to be seen, as well as a Grizzled Skipper and a Small Copper.

Eventually, just after 10am, one Glanville appeared immediately followed by a second, with another three being found a little further along the hedgerow boundary:

I reckon by just gone midday I’d seen 7 different individuals, and in addition there were a handful of Green Hairstreaks pottering about in the shrubs as well as a Peacock and a Large White.

I’m not sure how viable this colony is likely to be long term. From what I gather their numbers are small here, but irrespective of one’s opinions regarding these types of releases, it was nonetheless a great delight to spend time watching them on a pleasant morning in good company.

[trevor]

Glanville's seem to be popping up all over the place.
The ones I saw on Saturday were introduced, but have been there for years.
I was told that this years brood are all survivors from last year, and have not been ' topped up '
from home bred stock, as sometimes happens.

You'll be into High Browns soon

Stay well,
Trevor.

[David M]

You’ve really clicked through the gears recently David, some special species and great reporting. That couple of hours by the lake with wood whites sounds magical.

Plenty happening all of a sudden, Ben, so it would have been folly not to have spread one's wings a little.

Yes, that small area which was home to Wood Whites and a few other species was very precious. Always good to see abnormally high concentrations of desirable species in a restricted area.

[Katrina]

I love the last Glanville shot

[Neil Freeman]

That's an impressive array of species you have seen recently David

I have recently seen that Glanvilles have been appearing at a few odd locations in Wiltshire and Dorset. I wonder if this is down to the same individual that has been releasing all the Marsh Fritillaries (The Marshie Dumper).

Cheers,

Neil.

[David M]

Thanks Trevor/Katrina/Neil.

Yes, this phenomenon shows no sign of abating with there now being TWO types of Fritillary being introduced to new locations. If they prove to be self-sustaining then I haven’t any great objections, although I don’t like the idea of the populations being ‘topped-up’ every year.

Trevor – the first Dark Green Fritillary was recorded yesterday at the High Brown site so I expect adippe to be on the wing by this weekend.