May 2011

[Jack Harrison]

Large Copper will do me Nick (private joke)

Jack

[NickB]

Yep - I think we would all love to find a Large Copper, Jack

[David M]

Joking aside, this topic could be worthy of a thread all of its own.

In 1984, we once had a Clouded Yellow in our garden in St. Helens, nr. Liverpool. That's already been beaten out of sight, but is there anyone out there who can top Green Hairstreak?

[millerd]

Back in 1999, on the day of the Eclipse, I found a Purple Hairstreak nectaring in my garden in Woking. With several sizeable oaks within a few hundred metres, not so unusual, I suppose.

Dave

[Michaeljf]

Back in 1999, on the day of the Eclipse, I found a Purple Hairstreak nectaring in my garden in Woking. With several sizeable oaks within a few hundred metres, not so unusual, I suppose. Dave

A garden in Woking is pretty unusual, I thought they'd removed most of them . Now Old Woking, they have some lovely gardens there. And Pyrford, my old stomping ground when I was a kid. I did have a Purple Hairstreak in my garden once in Cardiff. I think they were doing building of new houses up the road and the Hairstreaks had decided to relocate before the Oaks got decimated.

It must be great to live in the Fens or say, Hampshire near Bentley Wood with the chance of a Swallowtail or Purple Emperor just 'popping' into the garden.

What's the joke about the Large Copper? or will it loose something in the telling?

[Zonda]

Tangled up in Blue.



Durlston Country Park near Swanage this morning.

[millerd]

Lovely! Nice to see a picture of a normal one for a change...
Dave

[Lawts]

I see that Heath Fritillary are on the wing in Devon - picked up from earliest flight dates.

[Pete Eeles]

Ooh - thx Lawts. I feel a tweet coming on. Oo-er

Cheers,

- Pete

[NickB]

I feel a tweet coming on. Oo-er Pete

I'd lay-off the bird-seed, Pete....

[millerd]

An all too brief visit after work to a local patch near Heathrow: Harmondsworth Moor. Basically, it's of the landscaped country park type, but there are good areas of uncut grass with flowers and as I think it's basically spoil heaps underneath the soil is suitably poor. At 6.00pm, with some late sunshine, Brown Argus predominated. No rock rose, but lots of cranesbill in evidence, so they are well and truly thriving on this foodplant here. A good number of Common Blues (including a lovely blue female), a couple of Small Heaths and several Mother Shipton moths completed the scene. A few photos below.

Dave

[walpolec]

Hello - saw a pale-looking Dingy Skipper last week. Pictured below with a "normal" one for comparison. Is the pale one unusual or just old?!





Cheers

Chris

[Dave McCormick]

Weather has been a mix of sun/showers and heavy rain here so have not seen a lot. Only a few GV Whites. However I am getting reports of several small heath, orange-tips and red admirals been seen only a few miles from where I live. I didn't mind having rain at first, thought having a dry April, rain would be fine, but one dry day would be nice so I can get out and see what is about.

[Dave McCormick]

Weather has been a mix of sun/showers and heavy rain here so have not seen a lot. Only a few GV Whites. However I am getting reports of several small heath, orange-tips and red admirals been seen only a few miles from where I live. I didn't mind having rain at first, thought having a dry April, rain would be fine, but one dry day would be nice so I can get out and see what is about.

[David M]

Couldn't agree more, Dave. It's not just the rain; it's pretty chilly here in S. Wales (tomorrow it's a mere 13C). What's more, it doesn't look as though there'll be much change until the middle of next week at least.

[Dave McCormick]

Couldn't agree more, Dave. It's not just the rain; it's pretty chilly here in S. Wales (tomorrow it's a mere 13C). What's more, it doesn't look as though there'll be much change until the middle of next week at least.

That could be it here, when its not raining, its sunny but cold. Was 10C today ad windy. Yeah, not much change here to middle of next week either.

[IAC]

Hi all,
Chin up Dave...it could be a lot worse. I grinned and bared a trip out today in the showers and the cold to track down a Wall Brown...and in a slight glimmer of sunny shine I managed to spot one hanging in the air on a quarry bank...he did not hang around for long though as the next shower was imminent....I have always thought that in this type of weather...you just never know...if you do get a flash of sunshine you can guarentee that the butterflies will be desperate to cut some japes...so get your oilskins on and get out there! Oh fearless Butterfly hunter...

Iain.

[Dave McCormick]

Thanks Iain,

Going out to check flower meadow beside an ancient oak/ash/beech woodland tomorrow morning, trapping in the woodland so will check areas after I check trap, hopefully that will be fruitful, have seen many butterflies in the meadow in early morning, resting on grasses and flowers, covered in dew. I did noticed about the butterflies appearing when it got sunny.

Get a free and dry day, going to coast to look around it to see what butterflies are there, usually good for numerous species.

[David M]

I know what you mean regarding butterflies being desperate for some flight time. I'm hoping Marsh Fritillaries will feel suitably deprived at Aberbargoed tomorrow as although the temperature is not forecast to rise above 14C, the day is set to be sunny and if that turns out to be true, given that the last few days have been dreadful, these butterflies will be so keen to take to the air again that they will ignore the unseasonable temperatures.

[Gibster]

Visited Fairmile Heath in Surrey today, a good site for Silver-studded Blues. Despite the ridiculously early season, I didn't really expect to see one. And I didn't. In fact all I did see were three Green Hairstreaks, two Brown Argus and a Small Copper. The vegetation is mostly crunchy, dessicated moss and flowerless heather with just a few patches of green grass in the shade of trees and bramble thickets. All very worrying. Plenty of beetles in dog rose flowers, but nothing lepidopterous.

Next I visited Bookham Common where a two hour visit yielded the huge totals of 1 Large White, 2 male Orange-tips and a distant unidentified 'white'. That was it!!! Plenty of Micropterix calthella on the buttercups and Nemophora degeerella are emerging through the bramble strewn woodland floor. But worryingly little else. A large area of Bugloss at Fairmile was positively hotching with maybe 70 bees of several species, likewise a carpet of Ground Ivy at Bookham attracted many bees and bee-flies. Then I found a Honeybee nest ten foot up an oak, so a day of bees but not many butterflies!

Gibster.