Just wondering what people are seeing more of or less of this year.
I am in Harrogate North Yorkshire and have seen a lot less small Tortoiseshells an Peacocks than usual this year.
Maybe the cool wet spring to blame. Seen plenty of Comma, meadow browns, small copper, gate keepers and orange tips. plenty of small whites but not so many large.
I have seen more Red Admirals than ever this year and they have been the most frequent visitor to my Buddleias by far and still seeing loads out feeding on my walks especially on the windfall apples along with quite a few Comma.
butterfly count
Re: butterfly count
Undoubtedly, Clouded Yellows have been the winners here in south Wales, with record numbers seen (although this is a migratory species, so their numbers depend on factors specific to weather patterns).
Wall Browns have continued their downward slide, whilst Marsh Fritillaries have struggled too.
Wall Browns have continued their downward slide, whilst Marsh Fritillaries have struggled too.
Re: butterfly count
Haven't seen a single Clouded Yellow in England this year, normally see several. Painted Ladies, another migrant species, low numbers-maybe 15 for the year.
Peacocks had a bumper emergence in July & I had record numbers in my garden. Red Admirals have been as abundant as any year I can remember. Sadly Small Tortoiseshells have been far & few; probably saw fewer of these than Painted Lady.
I was expecting fewer browns & skippers this year after the extreme drought in the south-east last year, but pleasingly numbers held up well.
Brown Hairstreak very much expanding around here.
Excellent year for Holly Blue & Brown Argus; less so for Common Blue. Small Copper also had a good year locally.
Small Whites had an excellent season, while Large Whites did pick up later but not huge numbers. Brimstones seemed to be in reasonable numbers but saw less Orange Tips, probably due to unfavourable conditions in their main flight period.
Peacocks had a bumper emergence in July & I had record numbers in my garden. Red Admirals have been as abundant as any year I can remember. Sadly Small Tortoiseshells have been far & few; probably saw fewer of these than Painted Lady.
I was expecting fewer browns & skippers this year after the extreme drought in the south-east last year, but pleasingly numbers held up well.
Brown Hairstreak very much expanding around here.
Excellent year for Holly Blue & Brown Argus; less so for Common Blue. Small Copper also had a good year locally.
Small Whites had an excellent season, while Large Whites did pick up later but not huge numbers. Brimstones seemed to be in reasonable numbers but saw less Orange Tips, probably due to unfavourable conditions in their main flight period.
Re: butterfly count
That synopsis near enough exactly mirrors my own here on the fringes of west London. I would only add that Commas seemed to do better here in 2023 than in 2022, and that overall butterfly numbers have held up further into Autumn than usual across several species.aeshna5 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 12, 2023 6:01 am Haven't seen a single Clouded Yellow in England this year, normally see several. Painted Ladies, another migrant species, low numbers-maybe 15 for the year.
Peacocks had a bumper emergence in July & I had record numbers in my garden. Red Admirals have been as abundant as any year I can remember. Sadly Small Tortoiseshells have been far & few; probably saw fewer of these than Painted Lady.
I was expecting fewer browns & skippers this year after the extreme drought in the south-east last year, but pleasingly numbers held up well.
Brown Hairstreak very much expanding around here.
Excellent year for Holly Blue & Brown Argus; less so for Common Blue. Small Copper also had a good year locally.
Small Whites had an excellent season, while Large Whites did pick up later but not huge numbers. Brimstones seemed to be in reasonable numbers but saw less Orange Tips, probably due to unfavourable conditions in their main flight period.
Dave
Re: butterfly count
Hi Dave- I'm also in west London suburbs, so pleased to see your corroboration. Agree about Commas too.
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Neil Freeman
- Posts: 4434
- Joined: Fri Jul 23, 2010 6:25 pm
- Location: Solihull, West Midlands
Re: butterfly count
This is going to be very subjective depending on whereabouts in the country you are. The weather was very up and down this year and quite often I saw people posting from areas in the south or south east which had decent weather when we were sitting under layers of dark cloud around my part of the midlands.
I have not seen a single Clouded Yellow this year and only two Painted Ladies. Peacocks were thin on the ground around here in both spring and again in the summer whereas I saw Small Tortoiseshells in reasonable numbers albeit not as numerous as the past couple of years. Commas had a decent year, outnumbering Peacocks but not as numerous as Small Tortoiseshells. Red Admirals had a better than average year but I did not see the large numbers around here that were seen elswehere.
Gatekeepers had a very good year locally but Meadow Browns seemed to be down in number with Speckled Wood numbers being average at best.
Large Skippers were a bit thin on the ground but both Small and Essex did well although they both seemed to have a rather short flight period this year.
Small Coppers and Brown Argus both had one of their better years around my patch but Common Blues did not fare so well.
I will post more details and comment on other species when I do a 'look back' at my season towards the end of the year.
Neil.
I have not seen a single Clouded Yellow this year and only two Painted Ladies. Peacocks were thin on the ground around here in both spring and again in the summer whereas I saw Small Tortoiseshells in reasonable numbers albeit not as numerous as the past couple of years. Commas had a decent year, outnumbering Peacocks but not as numerous as Small Tortoiseshells. Red Admirals had a better than average year but I did not see the large numbers around here that were seen elswehere.
Gatekeepers had a very good year locally but Meadow Browns seemed to be down in number with Speckled Wood numbers being average at best.
Large Skippers were a bit thin on the ground but both Small and Essex did well although they both seemed to have a rather short flight period this year.
Small Coppers and Brown Argus both had one of their better years around my patch but Common Blues did not fare so well.
I will post more details and comment on other species when I do a 'look back' at my season towards the end of the year.
Neil.
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NickMorgan
- Posts: 907
- Joined: Sat Jul 31, 2010 5:07 pm
- Location: Scottish Borders
- Contact:
Re: butterfly count
Here in the Scottish Borders this year we had a dry spring, but much of the year has been cloudy and windy. Really, we only had one good week in June and one good week last month!!
The previous year was really dry from April until September.
I have noticed this year that there were far fewer Ringlets and Green-veined Whites than normal. I associate both of these species with damp grassland and I wonder if the dry springs have not suited them. Small Tortoiseshells have been getting rarer and rarer each year. I saw very few this year and I haven't seen a Painted Lady this year.
Meadow Browns seemed to do well and we still have good numbers of Red Admiral around, despite frosts the last three mornings.
Interesting that I didn't have any caterpillars on my nasturtiums this year, which seems odd and I only found one lot of Peacock caterpillars. Normally The nasturtiums are covered in Large and Small Whites and there are several groups of Peacocks and Small Tortoiseshell caterpillars in the nettles. However, there are still quite a few Red Admiral chrysalises in the nettles, I had a Comma chrysalis on the outside of a window, which emerged two days ago and I found a Comma caterpillar which only turned into a chrysalis three days ago.
It is an interesting (or worrying depending on how you look at it) time here. We are continuing to see new species spreading northwards, mostly up the coast, but then moving inland. Holly Blues have exploded in the Lothians and Borders these last four years. Before that we were lucky to get one record a year, but now they are almost everywhere. I had my first Speckled Wood and Wall Brown in the garden this year, having watched them move northwards for a few years now. I am quite far inland, where the temperatures are lower, so they have taken about then years to make their way here, having previously continued up the coast.
The previous year was really dry from April until September.
I have noticed this year that there were far fewer Ringlets and Green-veined Whites than normal. I associate both of these species with damp grassland and I wonder if the dry springs have not suited them. Small Tortoiseshells have been getting rarer and rarer each year. I saw very few this year and I haven't seen a Painted Lady this year.
Meadow Browns seemed to do well and we still have good numbers of Red Admiral around, despite frosts the last three mornings.
Interesting that I didn't have any caterpillars on my nasturtiums this year, which seems odd and I only found one lot of Peacock caterpillars. Normally The nasturtiums are covered in Large and Small Whites and there are several groups of Peacocks and Small Tortoiseshell caterpillars in the nettles. However, there are still quite a few Red Admiral chrysalises in the nettles, I had a Comma chrysalis on the outside of a window, which emerged two days ago and I found a Comma caterpillar which only turned into a chrysalis three days ago.
It is an interesting (or worrying depending on how you look at it) time here. We are continuing to see new species spreading northwards, mostly up the coast, but then moving inland. Holly Blues have exploded in the Lothians and Borders these last four years. Before that we were lucky to get one record a year, but now they are almost everywhere. I had my first Speckled Wood and Wall Brown in the garden this year, having watched them move northwards for a few years now. I am quite far inland, where the temperatures are lower, so they have taken about then years to make their way here, having previously continued up the coast.