April 2022

[SarahM]

At last, a male Orange Tip flying around the front garden this afternoon as the sun finally got out. Nature's Prozac indeed Neil.

Then a short walk around Cliburn Moss Nature Reserve. 5 very fresh Green Hairstreaks, the first for Cumbria. A day worth the wait!

[zigzag_wanderer]

No Hairstreaks or Skippers for me yet, but great to see all your pics to prove they're out there.

There were good numbers of butterflies about locally today - not too much of a surprise given the weather.

Orange Tip 10, Peacock 8, Holly Blue 5, Speckled Wood 5, Brimstone 4, Small White 4, Comma 1, Small Tortoiseshell 1

Slightly disappointed at just one Small Tort as I'm seeing one or two at work most warm lunchtimes, but I never take seeing any for granted.

Did spot both a Common Carpet and a mint moth - pretty sure latter was P. aurata rather than P. purpuralis. Also it looked like something had started its Easter egg a bit early (the remaining yolk still looked fresh - I think of a pheasant's egg). Something (maybe me) must have scared the culprit off before it could finish the lot.

[David M]

At last, a male Orange Tip flying around the front garden this afternoon as the sun finally got out. Nature's Prozac indeed Neil.

Then a short walk around Cliburn Moss Nature Reserve. 5 very fresh Green Hairstreaks, the first for Cumbria. A day worth the wait!

Very nice, Sarah. Your Green Hairstreaks are earlier than mine here in south Wales!!

[David M]

Saturday 16th - heaps of butterflies at Cwm Ivy, NW Gower, after a run of cloudy days:

Holly Blue 40-50
Speckled Wood 30-40
Brimstone 20-30 (3f)
Green Veined White 15-20
Orange Tip 15 (1f)
Peacock 3
Red Admiral 2
Small White 1
Dingy Skipper 1

This was the earliest Dingy Skipper I've ever seen in the UK:

[David M]

Sunday 17th - Hazy cloud and 15c temperatures persuaded me to drive down to Merthyr Mawr, near Porthcawl to get my annual fix of home-grown Grizzled Skippers.

Five were seen, along with 6 Orange Tips, 3 Brimstones and singletons of Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell & Speckled Wood:

[Stevieb]

Easter Sunday with family at home but managed to see at least 4 Holly Blues in the garden. Melksham, Wiltshire

17th April

17th April

17th April

[Chris L]

Holly Blue 40-50
Speckled Wood 30-40
Brimstone 20-30 (3f)
Green Veined White 15-20
Orange Tip 15 (1f)
Peacock 3
Red Admiral 2
Small White 1
Dingy Skipper 1

That is a superb mid April haul David. Great numbers on Holly Blue, Speckled Wood, Brimstone and GVW. That's more Holly Blue than I have seen in my life.

Interesting male-female Brimstone ratio. I have seen 36 Brimstone in 2022 and 1 or 2 were females.

[Chris L]

Circa 450 butterflies seen in 2022 and I finally got my first butterfly headbutt of the year yesterday. The previous holders of the much coveted trophy was the Peacock in 2020 and 2021. However, the trophy now heads to the cabinet of the Holly Blue, the winner for 2022.

Saturday: 42 - Small Tortoiseshell (11), Speckled Wood (9), Brimstone (7), Orange Tip (6), Peacock (6), Green Veined White (2) and Holly Blue (1).

Today: 31 - My first butterfly day out of the year, to see Green Hairsteak at Cannock Chase. I saw 28. I also saw a couple of Peacock and a Small Tortoiseshell.

[David M]

...My first butterfly day out of the year, to see Green Hairsteak at Cannock Chase. I saw 28.

Fabulous return, Otep. I checked one of my local sites today after returning from seeing Grizzled Skippers but no sign as yet. Hopefully only a day or two now.

[bugboy]

I spent the Easter weekend escaping the hideousness of London on a sunny bank holiday. Mill Hill and surrounding areas on Saturday saw me finally catch up with Grizzled Skippers, only 2 though. Dingies were also out there with perhaps 10 seen. Peacocks were ever present and my first Large White of the season fluttered nonchalantly past.

On Sunday I escaped to Surrey with my first trip to Denbies. Once again only a couple of Grizzlies seen and as at Mill Hill they were significantly outnumbered by Dingies. I also managed to find my first Green Hairstreaks of the year, although for a while I did feel like I was losing a game of hide & seek with them! The final sighting there was of an egg laying female so they've certainly wasted no time!

[Chris L]

Rubbish day for me, with 10 butterflies in total seen. I drove to Northamptonshire to a site where there are Grizzled Skippers apparently. I didn't see any, which suggests that they are not out there yet. I did see my first Dingy Skippers of the year (3), an Orange Tip, a Small Tortoiseshell and a Peacock. So my day out in Northamptonshire yielded 6 butterflies, with 4 seen locally. Some you win, some you lose.

[SarahM]

Rubbish day for me, with 10 butterflies in total seen. I drove to Northamptonshire to a site where there are Grizzled Skippers apparently. I didn't see any, which suggests that they are not out there yet. I did see my first Dingy Skippers of the year (3), an Orange Tip, a Small Tortoiseshell and a Peaock. So my day out in Northamptonshire yielded 6 butterflies, with 4 seen locally. Some you win, some you lose.

I know you are disappointed Otep but try not to lose heart. I don't know where you are based but you have seen more species than I have in Cumbria. I haven't seen Brimstone, Dingy Skipper, GVW, Holly Blue or Speckled Wood yet. It's hard isn't it when some people are enjoying really good numbers of butterflies. With patience, we will see them soon hopefully. We have both seen Green Hairstreak which some others haven't managed yet.

Good luck,
Sarah

[Bertl]

All i have seen thus far in Aberdeen are peacock and tortoiseshell. This pair today. Hopefully won't be too long before others appear.

[millerd]

Some recent sightings from here and there:

GVW pairing seen at Kiplingcotes (E. Yorkshire) on 17th. No Dingy Skippers out at this site yet.

On arrival back home later the same day, an early evening walk on my local patch turned up a mating pair of Orange Tips.

On Bank Holiday Monday 18th, I popped down to Noar Hill and after a lengthy wait for the sun to come out from the early haze and warm things up, several Duke Of Burgundy appeared - all looking very fresh.

There was considerable variety: this one had very dark hindwings with no spots apart from the borders.

This one was more typical...

...and was so new that it had to be rescued from a knot of dried grass at one point.

A more brightly marked individual.

My favourite of the bunch was this distinctive female.

A single Dingy Skipper was also seen, but strangely no Green Hairstreaks.

(A fuller account to follow in my PD soon.)

Dave

[PhilBJohnson]

Orange-tip, near Lincoln, Lincolnshire April 18th 2022
Wild emergence from pupa had started from the warmer micro-climates where those pupated, but nearly full emergence might be slightly delayed, depending on local temperatures. I thought that the next two weeks might be the best Lincolnshire's local opportunity, to find Orange-tip butterflies mating, shortly after most females have emerged. Last year, it was noted, with a frosty April and inclement May, some female Orange-tip, were more successful egg laying at the end of May, or the start of June, near the end of their flight period.

I have been monitoring, about 5 viable Orange-tip pupa outside for the last approximately 10 months. None have emerged yet, but it's looking like soon:

April 18th 2022 near Lincoln (pupated June 24th 2021), this one was male, as the Orange wing tip formation could then easily be seen and antenna becoming more defined.

Kind Regards.

[David M]

...My favourite of the bunch was this distinctive female.

An absolute beauty, Dave.

[Chris L]

I know you are disappointed Otep but try not to lose heart. I don't know where you are based but you have seen more species than I have in Cumbria. I haven't seen Brimstone, Dingy Skipper, GVW, Holly Blue or Speckled Wood yet. It's hard isn't it when some people are enjoying really good numbers of butterflies. With patience, we will see them soon hopefully. We have both seen Green Hairstreak which some others haven't managed yet.

Good luck,
Sarah

Thank you Sarah. I am in South Derbyshire. I am more fortunate than some with butterflies, less fortunate than others. To date I have concluded that I can see 22 species in walking distance of my house. No-one would travel to my part of the world to see the cluster of species that I have. However, the Purple Emperor is getting nearer and nearer to my area with each year that passes. It has been seen only a few miles away in neighbouring Leicestershire.

This hobby is good in that in the season, the disappointment of yesterday is replaced instantaneously the following day with either a success, or a new disappointment.

[Chris L]

Grateful as ever for the butterfly upskilling that you always provide me with. I saw a Holly Blue flying about and I followed it. It was seemingly trying to find somewhere to hide away. I got up close to it and it was oblivious to my presence. As you can see, its wings are very crumpled. Is that the appearance of a freshly emerged butterfly?

[millerd]

Hi Otep - I'd say that the butterfly was disturbed in some way during its emergence so that it was unable to inflate and dry its wings properly. This then led to them hardening in the rather crumpled form you photographed. Luckily the damage was not severe enough to prevent the insect from flying. Judging by the completeness of the fringes of the wings, it was probably still quite new when you saw it, but unfortunately it will remain in its crumpled state now.

Cheers,

Dave

[Chris L]

Thank you Dave. More learning for me in the bank. The story as to what has happened is rather sad. However, as you wrote, it was flying when I first saw it so maybe it will go on to live its life as normal.