Cheers, Wurzel. I reckon there's a fair bit of so-called established lore about a whole raft of species that needs a bit of a re-write! Some of it will be because the species' phenology has indeed changed over time, but some will be down to one Victorian's observation on a sunny Sunday in 1867 being taken as gospel for the next 150-odd years...
And yes, it was a good cloud...
17th July, and back to my home patch, where as expected the Big Mow was just being completed when I went out for a look. I had decided to count butterflies to see what difference had been made: in the end it was mostly as I expected. The Essex and Small Skippers had been knocked for six, Brown Argus and Common Blue emergence had been stopped in its tracks, Meadow Browns were somewhat reduced and everything else... was surprisingly largely unaffected.
All the big Nymphalids are to be found on the edges, nectaring on brambles and buddleia, so they were unaffected. Peacocks do bask in the grass, and they continued to do so on the crew-cut sward but had lost their cover. Gatekeepers were also mostly in the hedgerows and were now more concentrated here, especially where wild flowers like fleabane had escaped the cut. Holly Blues pupate on the ground, and those that had earlier been feeding on the goats' rue as larvae presumably had the mower go right over them as pupae. They tend to nectar on bramble rather than meadow flowers, so again would have been unbothered. The butterflies of other species whose habitat had been drastically reduced were strangely concentrated in the small remaining areas with flowers and long grass. Overall, the main loss was in the vast array of nectar sources being much reduced, in any emerging butterflies being caught in the mow, along with any early stages active on their food plants.
Ironically, my count produced the highest total of the year, at nearly
600 individual butterflies, with
18 species represented. At the top of the tree came Red Admirals again, with
118 butterflies, closely followed by Peacocks with a perhaps more staggering
113 individuals. The former species had probably been augmented by immigration from Europe, but all the latter would have been home-grown: the total far exceeds any maximum count I've recorded in previous summers. Quite a contrast with the Small Tortoiseshell - using the same foodplant, and the same batch-laying strategy - so what made the difference?
Holly Blues also produced a high count -
42 butterflies today, almost all males, and many of them puddling on the numerous patches of damp ground. I found them singly...
...in twos...
...threes...
...fours...
...and even fives.
Broader areas contained over a dozen individuals, but not close enough to be photographed together in one shot.
With around
80 each of both Meadow Browns (a big drop on recent days) and Gatekeepers (slightly higher), and highish totals for all three Whites, the vast majority of what was seen today has been covered. In the "reserves" where flowers were left, there were the few Brown Argus and Common Blues...
...Small Copper, Small and Essex Skipper.
Other standouts? A nice Painted Lady...
...Comma...
...and a female Large White.
Dave