December 2021

[David M]

With this run of northerlies I fear few will get a sighting unless the wind drops and temperatures climb.

[millerd]

Having seen Guy's remarkable Red Admiral in near-freezing conditions a couple of days ago, and taking on board the (prophetic) words of the man himself at last Saturday's social that it should not be assumed that the season was over, I headed out hopefully onto my local patch today.

On Monday at midday, it looked like this, with overnight frost and even some snow lingering in the shade.

However, just two days later after a much warmer but cloudy day on Tuesday, on Wednesday morning it became sunny and the temperature may even have reached the dizzy heights of 9 degrees.

Not far from where the above photo was taken (though not in the shade), I spotted a female Red Admiral basking in the sunshine.

Having warmed up a bit, she started to fly back and forth between the young nettle plants at the foot of the hedge, stopping occasionally.

I glimpsed the fact that her abdomen was slightly curled in the above shot, and when she had moved on I found the result of her exertions - a fresh egg.

I'd say from her abdomen that she had a few more to lay, and it was good to see that she appeared in pretty good nick for this point in the season: having already shown she can survive some noticeably adverse weather, I'd say that given a bit of sun she'll be out again continuing her egg-laying mission.

Cheers,

Dave

[Padfield]

It was good to meet you at the social, Dave. Let's all keep an eye on these newly laid eggs and see if anything comes of them. It seems female red admirals all over the country are not going to let anything stop them laying their precious load.

Guy

[David M]

Excellent find, Dave. I may well pay a visit or two to the coast to check if we have any local ones over the next few days. Clearly, this butterfly is not put off by a touch of snow or frost!

[millerd]

It was good to meet you at the social, Dave. Let's all keep an eye on these newly laid eggs and see if anything comes of them. It seems female red admirals all over the country are not going to let anything stop them laying their precious load.

Guy

It was great to finally meet you too, Guy - and of course Minnie too. Speaking as someone who is generally not at all dog person, I found her an absolute delight. Red Admirals seem to be amazingly durable - does this mirror your experience of them in Switzerland?

Excellent find, Dave. I may well pay a visit or two to the coast to check if we have any local ones over the next few days. Clearly, this butterfly is not put off by a touch of snow or frost!

Good luck with at, David - you never know what you'll find in sheltered coastal pockets. There was more snow on the ground here this morning and a biting chilly wind, so despite some sunshine I found nothing more today. I was amazed though to see the local council actually cutting some of the grass and hedges in the area so I hope they don't trim back any of the young nettle growth with the eggs on. I'll be out for a recce tomorrow.

Cheers,

Dave

[Stevieb]

Red Admiral yesterday (2nd) at Bewley Common, Wiltshire.

No photo though as it surprised me and I surprised it at the same time and off it flew!

[David M]

Red Admiral yesterday (2nd) at Bewley Common, Wiltshire.

No photo though as it surprised me and I surprised it at the same time and off it flew!

Doesn't surprise me, Steve. I'm fairly confident of seeing one or two myself if this weather is south Wales stays mild.

[Padfield]

I popped out tonight after dark to pick curly kale for supper, and only when I got back inside did I notice there were two healthy, non-torpid large white caterpillars on one of the leaves:







I repatriated these to lovely, fresh kale and proceeded to prepare the supper. Then I noticed another, tiny caterpillar making a bid for freedom across the chopping board:



I took him back to the kale patch too. He was about 5 mm long.

So it wasn't only red admirals and speckled woods laying eggs in mid-to-late November ...

Guy

[millerd]

While out walking locally this morning (Monday 13th December) I decided to have a little bit of a look at the low-growing nettles that seemed to have escaped both the frost and the attention of the local vegetation tidy-up.

After a short while in rather dim light I managed to spot a tiny dot on one of the leaves. Even with my reading specs on, the light was too poor for me to be sure, but by taking a few photos and zooming in a bit I confirmed that what I'd found was indeed a Red Admiral egg.

It was in the same general area as the one I'd seen laid on the first of the month, but was not the same one. I'd guess the same female had probably laid it, but when is difficult to say. I'd have looked for more, but my hands were getting rather cold, so I'll try again another day. Too get any half-decent shots required a bit of flash (softened by a couple of layers of clean handkerchief).

My efforts with a UV torch shone on the leaf were very blurred and inconclusive - it wasn't dark enough for that! The egg looked whole, and uniformly a healthy green, so if that is any indication of viability I suppose it may hatch at some point.

Cheers,

Dave

[Matsukaze]

Purple Hairstreak egg on fallen oak branch, Glenthorne, Exmoor, 14 December 2021.

[David M]

Purple Hairstreak egg on fallen oak branch, Glenthorne, Exmoor, 14 December 2021.

Did you take it home to rear yourself, Chris?

[Vince Massimo]

All very quiet here, understandably. However when I was sweeping leaves today, I noticed that my Acer had one leaf that had not dropped. Closer inspection revealed the eggs of a Vapourer moth on the underside.

Vapourer moth eggs - Crawley, Sussex 18-Dec-2021

The flightless female of this species lays her eggs on the outside of her cocoon.
As the branch that held the eggs was dying back, I moved the whole bundle to another plant, in order to see out the winter.

Vince

[Matsukaze]

Purple Hairstreak egg on fallen oak branch, Glenthorne, Exmoor, 14 December 2021.

Did you take it home to rear yourself, Chris?

I have it at home, but have a couple of months now to think over whether it would be better if I try to rear it or attach it to one of the local oaks before the caterpillar emerges.

[David M]

I'd definitely rear it, Chris. Had you not found it then it would have perished so you've earned the right!

[Wurzel]

Made a quick trip to Mottisfont on Monday 20th and found a Small Tort and Peacock roosting in the Cellarium and a second Peacock roosting just inside the Ice House. So that's 12 months of butterflies in 2021

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[David M]

I'd definitely rear it, Chris. Had you not found it then it would have perished so you've earned the right!

....and you now have a template to assist

viewtopic.php?t=11224&start=0#p167783

[Medard]

Wow! it's warm in here, must be spring, photo raken 21-12-2021
https://jamesgibbs6929.zenfolio.com

[David M]

Wow! it's warm in here, must be spring, photo taken 21-12-2021

To be honest, Jim, it's almost warm enough outside right now (10c at night here in south Wales).

Was that one in the house or in a shed?

[Medard]

Was that one in the house or in a shed?

Hello David , I've offered it rent free luxury accommodation in our house just until spring, in the coolest place in the house.
https://jamesgibbs6929.zenfolio.com

[David M]

Nice gesture, Jim.

I hope it vacates safely at the appropriate time.