April 2022

[David M]

Wednesday 20th - quick visit to Cwm Ivy produced the following:

Speckled Wood 17
Holly Blue 11
Green Veined White 8
Orange Tip 5 (1f)
Brimstone 3 (1f)
Dingy Skipper 2

[millerd]

Butterflies were out in force in the sunshine on my local patch near Heathrow today, with nearly 150 counted of 12 species. Highlights included a sudden rise in the Holly Blue population with 30 seen, a rather ragged Red Admiral...

...and my first Small Copper of 2022.

Dave

[aeshna5]

At Hartslock, Oxon yesterday saw:
2 Small White
10+ Brimstone (slightly more females than male. Up until now I'd only seen males near home in outer west London)
6 male Orange Tip
2 Speckled Wood
6 Peacock
2 Holly Blue
4 Green Hairstreak
8+ Dingy Skipper

Also first Mint Moth of the year.

Masses of Cowslips, Milkwort, some fabulous Pasque Flowers & a stunning hybrid Lady Orchid at the only location for it.

Overhead 15+ Red Kite, c6 Buzzards, 2 Kestrels & a Raven.

Other insects of note included a Bloody-nosed Beetle & Kidney-spot Ladybird.

[Charles Nicol]

things are stirring in the Bedfordshire Chilterns

these are from this morning... i only saw one of each

[Medard]

Along the track at the south drain, Shapwick Moor ,Somerset.

Warm sunshine brought the winged wonders out, my observations turned out better than expected, the most unexpected was a single Holly Blue, two Orange tips, two Peacocks, one Speckled Wood, Male and female Brimstones, and good numbers of Dark green Whites

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden dandlions.

https://jamesgibbs6929.zenfolio.com/

[SarahM]

Otep wrote
"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."

I can see 14 species in my garden but have to travel by car, usually to South Cumbria, to see several other species.

Good luck with Purple Emperors this year. I am hoping to see Swallowtails in June and if I get chance go for Purple Emperors later on. Fingers crossed!

[millerd]

My first Small Heaths of the year, seen down at Denbies today. At least half a dozen were flying, but they were very tricky to approach in the strong wind.

Also flying down there were Brimstones, Peacocks, Orange Tips, GVW, Green Hairstreaks, Grizzled Skippers and a generous number of Dingy Skippers.

Full report in my PD fairly soon...

Dave

[David M]

Things moving on apace down at Denbies, Dave. There's no entry as of tonight for Small Heath on BC's first sightings of 2022 page so those may be the earliest.

[aeshna5]

Yesterday at Hutchinson's & Chapel Banks:

20+ Brimstone
8 Orange Tip
6 Small/Green-veined White (none settled!)
Large White (FOY)
10 Speckled Wood
5 Holly Blue
Green Hairstreak
10+ Peacock
Small Tortoiseshell
2 Grizzled Skipper (FOY)
2 Duke of Burgundy (FOY)

When I got home noticed somebody had photographed a Small Blue there. Will no doubt be back mid May!

[Ian Pratt]

My earliest small heath in over 20 years on the Isle of Wight and one of my earliest green hairstreaks both seen yesterday.

[Jack Harrison]

Comma in north Scotland 21 April
Saw my first of the year at Cawdor in exactly the same place I saw one last year. They seem to have been colonising since 2020.

Jack

[PhilBJohnson]

April 22nd 2022, Lincolnshire
Another male Orange-tip butterfly, emerged from pupa today, in a garden. 14°C by 1:20pm but breezy, so butterflies remaining low, where they can find shelter:

April 22nd 2022. A female Orange-tip pupa, butterfly might emerge soon..

22nd April 2022. A male Orang-tip pupa being inspected, that had remained outside, since last June, very close to emerging. Habitat cages might be helpful for close encounters with butterflies, for someone who had a visual impairment, like my Wife.

Kind Regards

[Kip]

Our local Swaledale Green Hairstreaks are emerging .....

[Chris L]

34 butterflies for me today. Full sunshine for most of the day but very windy.

8 Speckled Wood, 5 Orange Tip, 5 Holly Blue, 4 Small Tortoiseshell, 3 Brimstone, 3 Large White, 2 Peacock, 2 Green Veined White, 1 Small White and 1 Red Admiral.

The Red Admiral took me by surprise. The first one that I saw last year was on 8 June.

That's 12 Holly Blue for me this year. I should see more than the circa 20 seen in both 2020 and 2021.

[Deborah]

Whilst hoping for Orange Tips to sit still - which they didn’t. Something caught my eye. Two freshly emerged Spring generation Map butterflies in two separate parts of the field. And, unlike the Orange Tips, these stayed still for a photo.

[zigzag_wanderer]

Certainly is LBAM. I've reared the larvae from scabious, valerian, broom, osier, possibly one or two other things.

Very interesting and thanks for the confirmation. It seems to enjoy a bed where we moved all the unsold herbs, grasses and some euphorbia etc in autumn last year. I found it sunning itself on top of a pungent old Folgate lavender earlier this week, and spotted one outside yesterday too so I think it's safe to say they're enjoying themselves in and around the nursery.

There has been a massive increase in insect life along the hedgerow behind House #5 in the last week or so. To slightly misquote Julie Andrews - the hedgerows are alive with Sulphur Tubics. I'm seeing a lot of Nettle Taps and if I'm not mistaken Incurvaria masculella (Feathered Leaf-cutter) which possibly even outnumber the Sulphur Tubics. In order to try and track these micros I'm having to adopt the same relaxed-eyed approach as when I tried to view a"Magic Eye" picture (remember those ?). If I try and focus on one in flight I invariably lose it. But there are loads flying at lunchtimes right now. Great that these micros have some interesting features - white contrast bar across the antennae or feathered ones in the case of the male leafcutter.

In terms of butterflies, I haven't seen any Small Tortoiseshells this week which follows on from me only seeing one over the Easter weekend. This would be situation normal for me most years, but I've been spoiled so far this year. I have seen Orange Tip most lunchtimes around the garlic mustard, plus a pair of duelling Speckled Woods most days, Peacock and Small White. Quite a few individual butterflies about, but not many species in my sarnie-eating spot....hence me taking a close look at the hedges. Not sure what my fellow workers think I'm up to.

Oh and am jealous of Deborah's stunning Maps. Pity they don't fancy flying across the Channel.

[Chris L]

I first saw the name Map butterfly a few weeks ago in passing Deborah and didn't look at any pictures. Thank you for introducing me to it with your photo. What a fascinating looking butterfly it is. Very striking. I did a bit of reading and saw this:

'The Map was unofficially introduced to the UK in 1912 when the butterfly became established in the Forest of Dean in Monmouthshire and Symond's Yat in Herefordshire. An entomologist at the time, A.B. Farn, was so opposed to the introduction of a foreign species that, in 1914, he collected and destroyed every butterfly he could find. However, the ultimate demise of the colonies is believed to be the result of additional (and unknown) factors'

[OwenE]

A visit to Merthyr Mawr near Porthcawl today. My first ever Grizzled Skipper as well as my first Green Veined White of the year. Also a few orange tips

.

[Deborah]

Thanks Zig Zag and Otep for your kind comments about the Map butterflies. They really were both pristine and beautiful and the numbers seem to be stable in Brittany.

[David M]

Whilst hoping for Orange Tips to sit still - which they didn’t. Something caught my eye. Two freshly emerged Spring generation Map butterflies in two separate parts of the field. And, unlike the Orange Tips, these stayed still for a photo.

Lovely images of a lovely butterfly, Deborah. You are so lucky to have it in your part of the world.