Another gap until the next butterflies - it wasn't until
9th November that I saw any more. 15 degrees and 6 hours of sunshine locally was the key! I also realised a little belatedly that I now had seen butterflies in 22 consecutive calendar months, starting in February 2021 - quite astonishing and no doubt down to the warming climate at least in part.
Three species appeared on the 9th: A Comma, a Red Admiral and a Holly Blue.
The Comma was basking just above the nettle patch where there were more Red Admiral caterpillars, including one which had not secured its tent very well yet - maybe it had just turned over a new leaf.
On
11th November, I looked a little more closely at this nettle patch (as there didn't seem to be any adult butterflies around). It's not a huge area but is very sheltered and catches pretty well all the sunshine that the darkest months of the year offer, facing due south as it does.
The nettles continue in a thin strip along the bottom of the hedge round the corner at the top right of the picture, and I have found eggs along here but no larval tents as yet. However, there was quite a bit of larval activity on the main nettle patch today.
Tearing myself away from the munching caterpillars, I wandered out onto the large meadow/grassland areas that are full of butterflies in midsummer but have been very quiet lately despite still being covered in flowers. Having seen no butterflies anywhere today, I was quite surprised to find a male Small White.
This beat my previous latest sighting of the species here by over a week (2nd Nov 2021).
Looking back from 27th November (when I'm typing this) it looks as if the Holly Blue on the 9th and this Small White would be my last sightings of these species for 2022.
Dave