September 2023

[millerd]

Plenty of Peacocks...
Allan.W.

It's entirely possible your local Peacock abundance could be the result of a second brood, Allan. A few years back, I found a nest of fully grown caterpillars in late August which produced a lot of new adults in the second week of September. Just a thought...

Cheers,

Dave

[Allan.W.]

Funnily enough Dave ,a couple of days back i found two fully grown Peacock larvae ............wandering ....looking for somewhere to pupate . I had an hour late afternoon today on the same beat as yesterday and although i didn,t count them ,there were certainly around 20 (Peacock ) flying. Allan.W.

[millerd]

...a couple of days back i found two fully grown Peacock larvae ............wandering ....looking for somewhere to pupate... Allan.W.

That very much points to a second brood, Allan. Unusual, but not unheard of. Looks like there will be some continuing warm weather to allow them to feed up and successfully hibernate alongside their uncles and aunts which have been slumbering since July...

No Peacocks for me on my local patch, but as well as several more Small Coppers today...

...the third brood Common Blues were well under way - into double figures, with both males and females and some very new examples.

Dave

[aeshna5]

A walk in Osterley Park, west London produced Small & Large White, Speckled Wood, Small Copper, Peacock (my first for a while), Red Admiral & a fresh Painted Lady & a bonus Hummingbird Hawkmoth.

[Matsukaze]

At least 7 Red Admirals nectaring up on ivy, amidst clouds of honey bees, in central Glasgow today.

[Allan.W.]

Late afternoon today decided to do a proper Peacock count in my local woodland (Orlestone forest ,Kent ) just the one section ,i would guess that the route is probably just under a mile give or take . I only counted those that were in front of me and around three or four metres either side . I counted 42 Peacocks in total ,with over thirty of those in one small section of say 4- 500 metres . Other species seen were several Green-Veins, 5 Comma ,3 Red Admiral and single Large White , Brown Argus, Painted Lady,Small Copper , and Small Heath . I wonder where the Nettles are in this section ,can,t say i,ve noticed too many good Nettle stands in this particular section of the forest.

Allan.W.

[Testudo Man]

Saturday just gone, an a repeat of the previous weekend, except i visited Queendown Warren (Kent) 1st, before ending up spending the afternoon at Bluebell Hill (Kent). Chasing mainly Small Coppers, but a few other species seen!
Unusually, 3 Wall Brown were found at Queendown Warren!! which is only the 2nd time in over a decade ive seen this species at that location. 3 sets of mating Meadow Brown were also seen. I sighted a very pale Small Copper (that looked to be in good condition) but no pics taken. However another person there, spoke of the same Small Copper, an he showed me some pics of it on his camera, an it looked to be in good condition (not worn).

On to Bluebell Hill then, an 6+ Small Copper were once again showing very well, so i spent the afternoon bagging some nice images of these little beauties. No images are cropped, cheers Paul.

This male chased this super fresh female, for several minutes, but no mating occurred between this pair (despite his efforts).

A couple of images, that show the same worn (I think maybe a female?) basking high up on a small Rose Bush? Shot at 2 different distances, using the same camera settings at f/2.8. The lens being a MFT's, Olympus 60mm macro 2.8.

A fair distance from subject.

Then closing the distance some.

[downland boy]

White Admiral (Limenitis camilla). Partial second brood male seen on 15.9.2023 in East Sussex

[millerd]

Another very warm and sunny day in my locality today, and to be honest I see more butterflies here at this time of year than I would if I ventured north or south to the various bits of nearby downland. Small Coppers appeared regularly again, with recognisable males guarding their usual territories...

...and also a few newer females popping up more randomly.

There is another round of Speckled Woods too, including this fresh female.

As well as a few Common Blues, there are still a handful of Brown Argus...

...and Red Admirals of course.

While casting an eye over a large clump of ivy for the latter, I found a Peacock. This one looked a little worn, so I guess it had been roused from hibernation by the warm weather rather than being a second brood individual.

The same bit of ivy was covered in bees and hoverflies, with a few wasps in there too plus a handsome hornet intent on nectaring and paying the other insects no regard whatsover.

On the moth front, I saw examples of both Silver-Y and Hummingbird Hawk, but neither were prepared to pose for me.

Dave

[David M]

Late afternoon today decided to do a proper Peacock count in my local woodland (Orlestone forest ,Kent ) just the one section ,i would guess that the route is probably just under a mile give or take . I only counted those that were in front of me and around three or four metres either side . I counted 42 Peacocks in total...

I wonder what's making them hang around in your neck of the woods at this late period in September, Allan?

Just the odd singleton around here.

[bugboy]

Late afternoon today decided to do a proper Peacock count in my local woodland (Orlestone forest ,Kent ) just the one section ,i would guess that the route is probably just under a mile give or take . I only counted those that were in front of me and around three or four metres either side . I counted 42 Peacocks in total...

I wonder what's making them hang around in your neck of the woods at this late period in September, Allan?

Just the odd singleton around here.

As Millerd said earlier in this thread, almost certainly results of a second brood which is becoming increasingly typical down in the south now.

[David M]

Can't realistically be anything else, Paul. No evidence of a third brood round my way, although Common Blues are regularly fitting in a small, additional emergence these days.

[Ian Pratt]

Loads of red admirals on Bournemouth sea front today.

[Stevieb]

Loads of red admirals on Bournemouth sea front today.

I counted 16 Red Admirals in my small back garden this morning but there were undoubtedly more, all in mint condition. Melksham, Wiltshire

29th September

29th September

29th September

[Allan.W.]

The third brood of Small Coppers is now in full swing at Dungeness (Kent ) .I arrived around 9.30 am , the weather wasn,t playing ball at first with fairly thick but high cloud ,but it was still pretty warm (19c) after about twenty minutes of wandering ,and as the clouds parted and the sun appeared I started seeing a few Small Coppers, and for the next half hour i reckon i saw around 40 (give or take !). I reckon around 95% were very fresh 3rd brood specimens.

Unfortunately the weather changed once more ,and for the next hour plus it became completely overcast and breezy ,still the odd diehard Copper about but very few !
As i wandered across the shingle ,past the old schoolhouse site the weather started to improve ,and by the time i reached "The Moat" the sun was once again shining ,and the Small Coppers reappeared ! I found another in cop pair (my third of the year ) ............. I reckon there were around 50+ in the moat area .

After picking up some new Specs from town ,thought i,d have another look at the Orlestone Peacocks and see how they were fairing ,still around 15-20 flying ,including this very worn specimen , I rarely see them quite this battered ..............I wonder ,could it possibly be a survivor from last years overwinterers ?

Allan.W.

[millerd]

Having only seen a handful of Red Admirals every day this week on my local patch, I then read about them turning up in numbers along the south coast. I went out today in warm sunshine again, though with the wind now more westerly - and counted 27 of them. One patch of ivy where I had been seeing just two or three was now adorned with around twenty, often in little groups.

I'm guessing that we're now seeing a return southward migration after the major northward influx at the start of July - an idea reinforced by the presence among the throng of Red Admirals of a single Painted Lady.

A Peacock was on the same bit of ivy - the one I'd seen on the 25th, still feeding up a bit more before returning to hibernation (though here it took a break from competing with the Red Admirals and basked on the nettles).

Also flying today were seven other species: Holly Blue, Common Blue, Brown Argus, Small Copper, Comma, Speckled Wood and Small White.

Dave

[essexbuzzard]

Hi Alan,

In that state, surely it must be? Quite extraordinary.

[Jack Harrison]

My first large White of the year. It's not a common butterfly in this part of Scotland, most often seen as larvae on Nasturtiums.
I don't have any plants this year but neighbour has big patches of Nasturtiums. I presume that's the origin of this fellow on my shed.

Jack

[Vince Massimo]

I had a report from Rachel Bicker, the ecologist at Gatwick Airport, that she observed a number Red Admirals flying south this afternoon. I then went down to the local playing field, which is a known butterfly migration corridor and saw 11 Red Admirals in total over the course of an hour. Eight were in-flight and heading in a south or south-easterly direction. The conditions at the time were a sunny 18C, with an 11mph north-westerly wind which then became a westerly. Also seen were 1 fresh Painted Lady, 2 Comma, 2 Large White, 6 Small White, 1 Small Copper and 10 Speckled Wood.

Vince

[David M]

...I found another in cop pair (my third of the year ) ......

Lovely pair of Coppers, Allan.

Not sure Peacocks can reach 14 months of age!!