July 2023

[David M]

Monday 17th, Fermyn Woods:

Ringlet 500-750
Hedge Brown 200-300
Large Skipper 100-150
Meadow Brown 60-80
Purple Hairstreak 50-70
Green Veined White 40-60
Comma 40-60
Silver Washed Fritillary 30-40
Red Admiral 20-30
Speckled Wood 20-30
Small Skipper 20-30
Large White 10-20
Small White 6-10
White Admiral 6
Peacock 5
Brimstone 2
Purple Emperor 1
Holly Blue 1

[Jack Harrison]

There used to be Marbled Whites at the edge of Fermyn Wood by the gap before Lady Wood further south.

And there used to be MANY Purple Emperors but I guess it's a bit late in the season now (and in any case, I gather the habitat has been ruined)

Jack

[David M]

I would have found the Marbled Whites had I not been so engrossed with the Purple Hairstreaks, Jack. I ended up spending most of my time on the bridleway at the other entrance to the wood.

I knew there wouldn't be any Emperors on the ground; it's too late in the season for that, but I was lucky to see one flying above an intersection of tracks which, given its size, I deemed likely to be a female.

[Vince Massimo]

Swallowtail update:

After the sighting in my Lancing garden on 7th July, I have seen reports of two Sussex hill-topping individuals near the coast on 10th and 17th, plus an egg-layer in Brighton on 18th.

Of the two eggs laid in my garden, one was found to have hatched by 19th July, but the larva seems to have died shortly after emergence.

Dead Swallowtail larva - Lancing, Sussex 19-July-2023

Egg No. 2 seems to have rolled whilst being laid and was upside down. It failed to colour-up and subsequently shrivelled.

Non-viable Swallowtail egg - Lancing, Sussex 13-July-2023

Other sightings today during a long walk around Lancing and Shoreham:

65 Large White, 400 Small White, 22 Green-veined White (estimated), 1 Brimstone, 1 Clouded Yellow, 96 Red Admiral, 18 Peacock, 6 Painted Lady, 2 Comma, 94 Gatekeeper, 33 Meadow Brown, 1 Common Blue, 1 Holly Blue plus 4 Humming-bird Hawk-moth.

Vince

[Pete Eeles]

Oh no - that's a real shame, Vince, and I'm absolutely gutted for you. Still, quite an incredible record nonetheless.

Cheers,

- Pete

[sifenn]

..23 species is probably my best ever British total...

That's right up there, Sifenn.

Anything topping 25 is worthy of a newspaper article!

Hold the front page.....after a '4 site saga' today at Rodborough and around Wotton under Edge I counted 27 species
Whites; Large, Small, Green-veined, Brimstone
Blues etc; Holly, Chalkhill, Common, Small, Brown Argus, Small Copper, Purple and White-letter Hairstreak
Nymphs; Peacock, Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral, Comma
Browns; Meadow, Marbled White, Gatekeeper, Ringlet, Speckled Wood and a very tatty Small Heath
Frits; Dark Green, Silver-washed
Skippers; Essex, Small

exhausted but happy

[David M]

Ah, but that involves multiple sites, sifenn.

If anyone can rustle up 25 species at any one site, or 30 or more on a single day at a variety of sites, then I will consider that to be worthy of entry into the 'Panthaeon'.

Of course, if you visit France, Italy, Spain, Greece, etc, you can expect that number within less than an hour, which begs the question - why are we Britsh so enamoured with butterflies?

[Ian Pratt]

Lovely small copper ab. caeruleopunctata seen today inter alia,and a very fresh brown argus.

[Medard]

Tiger in the garden.
Today in the garden ,my first Red Admiral of the year and a surprise visit by a Jersey tiger
https://jamesgibbs6929.zenfolio.com

[millerd]

My local patch continues to provide surprises.

A stone's throw from J14 of the M25 today I was watching the Red Admirals and Peacocks again as they nectared on one of several wild buddleias in the area. There were one or two Commas in the mix, and I thought I'd spotted a particularly large one on one of the fronds. I was wrong - it was a male Silver-washed Fritillary, the first I've seen here in fifteen years of watching butterflies.

I wonder where it originated? I shall have to see where the nearest known site is... The old adage about butterflies remains apt: always expect the unexpected.

A full report will follow at some point.

Dave

[Allan.W.]

Been spending a lot of time recently looking for scarce dragonflies in our local woodlands with some success and been trying for a reasonable shot of the scarce (but spreading !) Southern Migrant Hawker ,mainly a Blue full coloured male ...................a beautiful insect ,and after 2 females ,an immature male ,one afternoon i managed to find 2 mature males ........................quite made my season .
Every so often i found myself looking through the masses of Gatekeepers on the wing ,and was amazed at the variation ..............heres a few of them .

And what i was really looking for .......................Male Southern Migrant Hawker.

Allan.W.

[David M]

Wednesday 19th - my first UK Painted Lady of the year, seen in my neighbour's garden!!

[Matsukaze]

Dave - I've had SWF in the garden here a few times - if there's a colony within a few miles, even a small one, they will wander outside it to quite some degree.

[David M]

Friday 21st - Very pleasant surprise to have two beautiful Large Whites in my garden having seen precious few of this species domestically in 2023:

[David M]

Sunday 23rd, Swell's Hill Bank, Glos:

Meadow Brown 80-100
Chalkhill Blue 60-80
Hedge Brown 40-50
Small Blue 20-30
Brown Argus 15-20
Small/EssexSkipp 10-15
Large White 5-10
Small White 5-10
Marbled White 6
Dark Green Fritillary 2
Red Admiral 1
Comma 1
Peacock 1

[Ian Pratt]

Arreton Down on the Isle of Wight is a great place to see chalk hill blues. Photos below.
Also at Newtown there were some very fresh peacock butterflies, one of my favourites.

[millerd]

Aston Rowant on the Chilterns was awash with butterflies this morning, with many hundreds of Brown Argus outnumbering everything else by miles. However, I was still unable to track down any Silver-spotted Skippers: surely they can't be far off emerging. There were decent numbers of Chalkhills and Common Blues, Small Coppers into double figures, plus all the other species you might expect (except for Small Heath).

There were several opportunities for three-species-in-a-shot, some in an attractive setting...

...some not.

And I have no idea what these two male Common Blues were doing.

Dave

[essexbuzzard]

Plenty of Graylings at Kynance Cove currently, and stupendous numbers of Gatekeepers. No second generation Small Pearl-border Fritillaries yet, they will emerge next week. A sprinkle of rain seems to have finished off my ageing LUMIX, so no pictures.

[Wolfson]

Plenty of Graylings at Kynance Cove currently, and stupendous numbers of Gatekeepers. No second generation Small Pearl-border Fritillaries yet, they will emerge next week. A sprinkle of rain seems to have finished off my ageing LUMIX, so no pictures.

Small Pearl-bordered were flying at coastal sites in West Penwith last week

[David M]

...and stupendous numbers of Gatekeepers.

Same here. They're having a second superb summer in a row!