Winners and losers 2023

[essexbuzzard]

What are the opinions of other people regarding this years winners and losers in the butterfly world?

For me, the biggest winner was the Holly Blue. They were everywhere, common throughout in both generations. Peacocks did very well, too, with a fantastic emergence in July, Small Whites were abundant, and Adonis Blues recovered from last years low numbers. Red Admirals did well, too.

In contrast, the other two migrants, Painted Lady and Clouded Yellow had poor years. Ringlets crashed, too, although with the wet July, numbers should recover quickly next year.

[David M]

Round my way, I'm not sure that there were any 'winners' in spring. Most species were lower in number than usual, with Marsh Fritillary having a shocker of a season.

Things picked up after a fabulous spell of weather in June, and by August Small Whites, Red Admirals & Brown Hairstreaks were about in good numbers.

Painted Ladies were slow to get going round here, but I ended up seeing about 60 or so, whilst Clouded Yellows invaded the southern Welsh coast in record-breaking numbers from my perspective. I've never seen so many locally.

[millerd]

Looking locally...

Definite winners mirror what has been mentioned already: Red Admirals in large numbers especially on their northward migration, but also significantly on their return (though this was more drawn out). Peacocks were in really good numbers too - treble figures reached on one day, which I haven't recoded before. Holly Blues are always good, but even they exceeded themselves this year especially in the second brood. Small Whites had a much better year than in 2022, as did Large Whites, and Speckled Woods have done well too.

In the middle, with nothing exceptional either way, were the other lycaenids: Common Blue, Brown Argus and Small Copper (though all three have had a rather extended season this year). Commas, Orange Tips, Meadow Browns, Gatekeepers and the three common Skippers all did fine, and though numbers seen are always low, Marbled Whites held their own again.

Species that disappointed in 2023 include Small Tortoiseshell (very few in the summer at all), Small Heath (a steady decline over the years continued), and Ringlet (none seen at all). The two main migrant species, Clouded Yellow and Painted Lady, were also very few in number, with just one Cloudie showing up right at the end of the season.

Dave

[selbypaul]

Thanks for starting this thread essexbuzzard.

Here in Sheffield, in my garden meadow, here's what I noticed:

1) The worst (and latest) spring I've ever known for butterflies. The lowest number of Orange Tip's since I began recording in 2010, only one Peacock, and not a single Small Tortoiseshell. (Indeed, not a single Small Tortoiseshell all year, for the first year ever).

2) One of the periodic "boom" years for Holly Blue, in good years, and with no noticeable gap between generations. Normally in boom years, there are clear gaps between the generations.

3) A bizarrely late year for the Brimstone. I didn't see my first one until late May, but this "first generation" continued through to the first week of July. They were in very good numbers also, but this is possibly a very South West Sheffield thing, as I've led a project in this part of Sheffield to plant over 500 Buckthorn whips since 2021.

4) A pretty normal year for the June and July butterflies such as Ringlet and Meadow Brown. Both in terms of numbers and timing.

5) The arrival of the Essex Skipper in Sheffield. It has been spreading North Eastwards slowly but surely. In 2011 its nearest location to Sheffield was around Sherwood Forest, 30ish miles away. 12 years later, it arrived in my garden.

6) A good year for the second generations of the Small White and Green Veined White.

7) Unbelievable numbers of Red Admiral throughout September and October. In most years I see one or two in late October. This year tens were flying through the garden throughout mid-September to mid-October each day.

[Wolfson]

In my Cambridgeshire garden: Holly Blue were prolific 1st and 2nd generation. Brown Argus 1st generation outstanding as were Red Admiral. The most noticeable absentee was Ringlet.

[Neil Freeman]

I haven't looked back in any detail yet but off the top of my head,

Gatekeepers had a good year with loads at all of my local spots.
Brown Argus had probably the best year in a long time at my local sites.
Red Admiral had a better than average year locally although I did not see the large/huge numbers reported from elsewhere. I suspect this was due to the fact that I am well away from the usual migration routes as I saw some large numbers reported from further afield around the midlands, particulaly from spots closer to the Severn and Avon river valleys.
Commas did quite well with good numbers coming out of hibernation despite not many seen the previous autumn. The summer brood did quite well around here too although once again I did not see many later in autumn.

Meadow Browns and Ringlets were both down in numbers locally.
Large Skippers seemed to have a particularly poor year whereas Small and Essex skippers both did better albeit with shorter than usual flight periods.
Small Tortoiseshells had a reasonable year locally although numbers seen in both spring and summer were lower than the past few years.
Peacocks had a poor year with just a handful seen in the spring and not many more in the summer.
I did not see a single Clouded Yellow this year.

Everthing else had an average year at best. The poor spring weather obviously had an impact on some species around here with not just lower numbers but appearances being delayed somewhat, by up to two weeks or more in some instances.
We had some better weather during the summer with some notable warm or even hot spells but around here they only lasted a few days and were bookended by cooler weather, often under thick cloud for lengthy periods.

I will probably go into a bit more detail when I do look back at my season in my PD sometime during the cold winter months.

Cheers,

Neil.

[David M]

...The arrival of the Essex Skipper in Sheffield. It has been spreading North Eastwards slowly but surely. In 2011 its nearest location to Sheffield was around Sherwood Forest, 30ish miles away. 12 years later, it arrived in my garden...

Nice, Paul. They haven't quite reached Swansea yet (they've been recorded near Bridgend) but I suspect it won't be long.

[IAC]

Scottish Borders, It's Holly Blue all day long. A local world breaking innings. Followed by White-letter Hairstreak with another amazing season. Dark Green Fritillary and then Speckled Wood. Losers were Small Tortoiseshell, Meadow Brown, Green-veined White and possibly Small Pearl that did appear to have a quiet year all round. Everything else was average. Well above average were Red Admiral but it's always hard to tell with a species that's mostly or completely migrant.

[bugboy]

My experiences were primarily in Sussex and Surrey this year. The slow spring seemed to make a mess of the early stuff but once things got going Dukes certainly seemed to have an excellent season. Grizzled Skippers had a really slow start and at the time seemed to be having a very poor year, however in hindsight I think they did alright, their flight season was just very drawn out (I was still finding fresh ones in June).

Other notable winners were Brown Hairstreaks & Gatekeepers with Small Coppers & Red Admirals also finishing strong. Small Heath had a strong third brood too on the sites I visited. I mostly missed them but apparently Adonis did well on the Surrey sites. Large Blues did well (at least on the day I visited!)

Small Tortoiseshells didn't seem to do well, but then in the south east that looks to be the new norm unfortunately, they're now mostly butterflies of damp meadows and river edges where nettles can still stay lush through the summer. Painted Ladies were very scarce, as were Clouded Yellows. Last years heatwave didn't nothing to help the SPBF in Sussex. A handful were recorded so hopefully this years cooler, damper year will help them bounce back next year. Swallowtails had a poor year by all accounts, or perhaps like the Grizzlies were just drawn out.

[essexbuzzard]

For me, in addition to the above, Large and, especially Small Skippers did very well, but the opposite was the case with Silver Spotted Skippers. Numbers were well down on the sites I visited.

[MrSp0ck]

Glanville Fritillaries in Surrey had a good year, Holly Blue did to, our site is never good for Red Admirals, and this was the same as usual, 17 in the entire year on transect, and the only count above a single was week 26 with 7. When Black-veined Whites had 15, and Marsh Fritillary 20, it shows the poor site for RAs. Dukes had a good year.

[millerd]

...our site is never good for Red Admirals, and this was the same as usual...

I think they always do better at coastal locations and along river valleys and other natural "migration corridors" - hence me clocking up 153 on the 6th July all within a couple of hundred metres of the River Colne.

Cheers,

Dave

[Chris L]

I saw 642 Red Admirals in 2023. I saw 49 in 2022.

What is interesting is that I have seen just 1 so far in 2024 - which suggests that they all flew off at the end of 2023.