March 2023

[David M]

After a rather frustrating last week of February, surely all we now need is one calm, sunny, mild day to tempt the hibernators out...

[David M]

Thursday 2nd: Red Admirals seen at both Dan-y-Graig cemetery and Limeslade Bay on the Swansea coast:

[badgerbob]

The BBC weather says it is only 5 degrees out there today in north Seaford, and it does indeed feel very cold, so it was a bit of a surprise to spot a Peacock flying around the garden. Needless to say, the poor butterfly soon found a place in the vegetation to go back to sleep. 5/3/2023.

[jonhd]

Got a Pieris Rapae imago (male, I think - closed wings) in our utility room. Been there at least 24 hours, immobile, on a window pane. No idea how it got there - there's a door to the outside, but it's rarely & briefly opened over winter... Guess the caterpillar must have come in at the end of autumn, to pupate.
Reason for posting: can't find any mention of Small White hibernating, anywhere. It's 8ºC outside (lucky me, down on the south coast). Should I put it outside in the garden (no nectar sources, currently, apart from a couple of crocii & snowdrops)? If it's not in the diapause state, then it won't last long where it is!

Cheers, Jon

[David M]

Could have pupated indoors, or could possibly have come in as a larva on brassica that has been bought (especially if it's organic).

In any case, whilst I don't generally recommend keeping butterflies inside heated houses, I'd personally be reluctant to release it if the weather forecast was such that to do so would mean a near-guaranteed death sentence.

A sunny, reasonably mild morning would be the best time to let it go. This species is happy to fly good distances so releasing it in your rather nectar bereft garden won't stop it moving on to find something suitable nearby.

[Padfield]

Adding to what David said (and as you probably know), it should be kept somewhere cool and out of the sun before the day you release it. Small whites are not long-lived butterflies and you want it to conserve its energy. I would release it on the first potential flying day, perhaps after letting it get properly warm somewhere inside first so it is ready to fly. That way, it can travel greater distances and work out its own destiny. It probably won't find a mate at this time of year but it can at least enjoy a semi-natural life trying.

Guy

[jonhd]

Thanks David & Guy. As it turned-out, we had a mild afternoon yesterday, so I took it out & placed it on a daffodil head. Seemed happy there. Checked an hour later, and it had gone. (There wasn't much in the way of bird activity in the garden, so hopefully it will have a few days of [somewhat lonely!] freedom.)

Jon

[David M]

Wise choice, Jon. Let's hope it can perhaps meet some of its own later in the month.

[Benjamin]

a few days of [somewhat lonely!] freedom.

otherwise known as blissful peace and quiet

[Maximus]

First Brimstone of the year for us today. Nice warm sunny morning (for a change ) although it was very windy. The butterfly flew a couple of circuits around the field before diving into the grass to get out of the wind. It's now torrential rain again so hope he found somewhere to hide.

[David M]

Good for you, Mike. Those words "nice, warm sunny morning" are ones I'd like to be able to use to describe conditions over here but we're stuck in a long run of murk and damp at the moment.

[Stevieb]

A little bit of respite from the gloom this afternoon brought out this Red Admiral enjoying the flowering Blackthorn. Bewley Common, Wiltshire

14th March

14th March

14th March

[Maximus]

Another sunny but breezy morning brought out these two hibernators in our garden today.

First Comma of the year and the Large Tortoiseshell were a welcome sight. I was able to fetch Cathy so that she could enjoy the LT too

I know what you mean about the weather this winter, David, it's been really grotty here too

[Maximus]

Another Large Tortoiseshell today, clearly a different individual from the one seen yesterday. Only a quick record shot before it was away into the distance, I think that the wind was unsettling it.

[Maximus]

Our first non-hibernator of the year today, in this very fresh looking Green-veined White

Early flowering viburnum providing the nectar source.

[David M]

You suddenly seem to be on a roll, Mike. Can you send some of your weather over the Channel, please?

[PhilBJohnson]

March near Lincoln. 2016-2023 Seasonally Climate Changed.
The first half of March 2023 near Lincoln, Lincolnshire, was I thought, recorded to have been one of the coldest, in recent years.
I moved to Lincoln in 2015 and the early Spring butterflies seen 2016-2022, were always the more common, native hibernators:
Comma, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock and Brimstone, with the occasional White family member, braving the cold, having pupated in a warm place.
These were joined by Speckled wood, Holly blue and Orange-tip, about mid April, as they over-wintered in pupal state.
From memory, I had not seen a Red Admiral in March, near Lincoln, until this year.
On top of that (and this was a bit peculiar), I had not seen a common, native, hibernated butterfly yet this Spring, disturbed by seasonal warmth.

A Red Admiral in my back garden on March 17th 2023, displaying some territorial behaviour, in a warm sheltered location, for about an hour or so, in the afternoon.
I will keep my eye in, for another, in a different location, to try and better understand, this over-wintering species, that now appears to overwinter, a bit further north of Vince!
The last Red Admiral butterfly I saw, was near the end of November 2022 and was a genuine sighting in a private garden, before winter cold snaps. That was also later than my latest seasonal sighting, by about a month.

Kind Regards

[Medard]

First Brimstone of the year yesterday in my Somerset garden, spring is on its way.

https://jamesgibbs6929.zenfolio.com

[Matsukaze]

They are back!

Small Tortoiseshell today nectaring on winter-flowering heather for prolonged periods, interrupted by short flights and periods of basking.

A male and a female Brimstone through the garden as well. Neither has quite got the hang yet of being a Brimstone in springtime. We have effectively two hedge-lines in the garden; the male was searching the upper hedge-line repeatedly and determinedly, but couldn't see the female in the lower hedge-line. I'd guess that the female had already been mated, as she was equally determinedly searching through the shrubbery as if looking for foodplant to lay her eggs, but the buckthorn is all in the other hedge...

Anyway, here are photos. When the sun went in, she settled in a variegated shrub, where it took some minutes for me to find her, hidden in plain sight.

[David M]

Nice to see a few sightings coming through after such a dearth thus far in March.

Was 14c in Swansea today so I'm not surprised butterflies were about elsewhere.