Neil Hulme

[Neil Hulme]

Still Going Strong

It seems the butterfly season may be over in some parts of the country, but that's certainly not the case in Sussex. This morning I joined Bob Eade, our Branch Species Champion for Wall Brown, at his local venue High & Over (Frog Firle) behind Seaford. In the unseasonable heat the third brood Wall were active shortly after 9am and we saw at least 10 around the White Horse viewing point. Other species seen included Brown Argus (some freshly emerged), Common Blue, Small Heath, Meadow Brown, Comma, Small Tortoiseshell, Speckled Wood and Large White. However, the most common species was Red Admiral, with a steady stream migrating south at a rate of approximately 12 per hour. I dropped in briefly at Hope Gap and Ouse Estuary Project, where Red Admirals were moving seaward at 6 per hour. I also added Clouded Yellow, Small Copper and Small White to my tally, making a total of 13 species.

[NickB]

Season over in the East, Neil. We've had only 25% of our average rainfall so far this year....

[Pete Eeles]

Right. All round to Kipper's at 8am tomorrow, then

[NickB]

Seconded!

[Jack Harrison]

Nick:

Season over in the East, Neil. We've had only 25% of our average rainfall so far this year....

Don’t know where you get that figure Nick. So far to end of September, Cambridge has received 275 mms rain. Annual average for twelve months = 550 mms. Rainfall is pretty evenly distributed throughout year so by end of September (ie first nine months) the average rainfall is approx 410 mms.

So yes, there is indeed a significant shortfall of rain in East Anglia this year having so far received approx 66% of average. But that’s a lot more than the 25% you quoted.

Jack

[NickB]

I should have checked my figures Jack; either way - another dry winter and we are really in trouble over here, that is for sure.
N

[NickMorgan]

I'm sure we could come to some sort of arrangement. We have had more than our fair share of rain his year up here!

[NickB]

I'm sure we could come to some sort of arrangement. We have had more than our fair share of rain his year up here!

Send it here now .... I'd swap our record temperatures for a good day of Welsh rain anytime....
(And I guess, to be fair, I have to include Scottish and Irish rain too!)

Spent today on the edge of an uncut flower meadow at an event in Essex - Roding Valley NR - and all I saw was a couple of fly-by Nympths....
Season pretty-well over there too..
N

[Neil Hulme]

Flying South For Winter

It wasn't just the swallows that were moving south when I visited Burpham (Arundel) on Saturday 1st October. I counted Red Admirals passing in a determined manner at a rate of 28 per hour. Today, while Hannah, Mia and I sat on the beach at East Preston, we watched 12 per hour disappear out over the water. They were hurrying past at a more modest 6 per hour during our early evening walk on the Downs behind High Salvington (Worthing). When considering all of the similar reports made to the BC Sussex website last week it's apparent that hundreds of thousands must have passed through the county in a few days. It might not be migration on the scale of Painted Ladies a couple of years back, but it's a very significant movement. Meanwhile an increasing (but still modest) number of Clouded Yellows is coming in the opposite direction. Birling Gap, Thorney Island, Newhaven and Southbourne are all worth a look at the moment.

[Gruditch]

Sorry to invade, but don't you find it interesting that the Red Admirals don't seem to use a high altitude return like the Painted Lady. Could it be because the Painted lady needs to reach a more distant destination.

Regards Gruditch

[selbypaul]

Interesting observation about the Red Admirals. I was at Durlston Head on the 15th September and they were passing me at around 1 per minute for the 4 hours I was there. Never seen so many Red Admirals in all my life. I'd imagined it was a relatively common occurance, but having read various posts in the intervening two weeks, it seems not.

[Vince Massimo]

Hi Neil,

I have just got my copy of the Autumn edition of "Butterfly" magazine. Congratulations on getting your Red Admiral on the front cover

Cheers,
Vince

[Neil Hulme]

Thanks Vince. For the benefit of those such as family living abroad, this is the image which Vince refers to. Quite topical with such a large scale southward migration of the species occurring over the last couple of weeks.

Gruditch: You've raised an interesting point Gary. Do the two species actually adopt different southward migration strategies? Recent research indicates that many Painted Ladies make the return journey at significant altitude, where air flow may be in a different direction to that at ground level. But Painted Ladies do occasionally make the return crossing at low altitude, in the same manner in which I watched numerous Red Admirals head off over the water last week. Despite the claims that there was no data available at the time of the 2009 Painted Lady 'event', L H Newman had recorded low level return flights in literature published in the mid C20th. Of course Red Admiral may also sometimes fly south at altitude, undetected by us. But all of the Red Admirals I've watched head out to sea lately have done so during warm, very calm, anticyclonic conditions, so perhaps weather conditions at ground level influence the altitude chosen by both species. I think there are many questions still to be answered, so the short answer is ..... dunno.
Neil

[NickB]

Nice pic on Butterfly, Neil
Re: Migrations
Red Admirals going south is very interesting; sightings of numbers migrating back over the water accompany a fall in my own local observations from very high to "normal" numbers. Watching the influx of Painted Ladies in 2009, over land at least, it did seem that they were all at low-level, following the same course (the same gaps through the trees where I sat) heading steadfastly North.
A lot of small birds migrate over sea at just above wave-level, where there is enough turbulence to give them lift; it seems reasonable to assume that for a short distance at least (over the Channel) butterflies could do the same....
N

[Jack Harrison]

Neil said (re flying heights):

I think there are many questions still to be answered, so the short answer is ..... dunno.

Birds are pretty much proven to migrate at altitudes that give the most favourable (or perhaps the least unfavourable) wind.

Rules of thumb

During the day, the wind at say 2,000 feet is 30 degrees further round to the right than that at the surface and perhaps twice the speed of the surface wind.

At night, that 2,000 foot wind would be roughly the same direction as by day (perhaps just a little further to the right) and does not normally decrease unlike the surface wind which can often fall calm at night.

Remember. In weather terminology, the wind blows FROM not towards. So a north west wind blows FROM the north west.

Jack

[Jack Harrison]

Autumn edition of "Butterfly" magazine. Congratulations on getting your Red Admiral on the front cover

Yes, seconded. Congratulations Neil.

Who needs a DSLR now?

Jack

[Neil Hulme]

Party Season

Today (12th October) was the first work party of the season for me, although my colleagues in East Sussex started knocking the BC Park Corner Heath Reserve into shape at the weekend. I joined John and Tricia Murray, Mike Edwards, Mike Hadley, Greg Wilson and Rebecca of the Murray Downland Trust and UKBer Mark Colvin on the slopes of Heyshott Escarpment, to kick off the winter campaign. It was one of those typical autumn days when the wood smoke hung heavy in the damp air as we set to work with chainsaws, brush-cutters, loppers and my Silky Zubat samurai saw. By next March the place will look very different and I hope to see a further increase in Duke of Burgundy numbers here next May. But this season isn't quite over yet and despite the weather we spotted 4 Red Admirals intent on heading south. The first image shows Mark demonstrating considerable pyromaniac tendencies - a valuable addition to the team!

[Neil Hulme]

Recent Doings

Yesterday (13th October) I made a short visit to Rewell Wood, seeing 4 Red Admiral, 2 Peacock and single Comma, Brimstone and Speckled Wood. A long walk over the Downs at Burpham this afternoon (14th October) was productive for both butterflies and birds. The mass exodus of Red Admirals through the Arun Valley is still underway, with a southerly movement at the observed rate of 12 per hour. Also seen were 9 Small White and 2 Clouded Yellow. Raptors included ringtail Hen Harrier (2), Red Kite (1), Buzzard (11), Sparrowhawk (2), Merlin (1) and Kestrel (4).

[Neil Hulme]

Making Inroads

Today (19th October) I attended the second work party of the season at Heyshott Escarpment, these being a regular Wednesday event from now until March. Initially a small team of five set to work, with John Murray and Mike Hadley (Murray Downland Trust) on chainsaws and BC Sussex members/UKBers Paul Day, Mark Colvin and I doing the follow-up slash and burn. We were later joined by Tricia Murray and Rebecca from the village below.

Over the years I've attended a large number of work parties, but I don't think I've ever seen a small team achieve more than we did today. By 3pm we had worked ourselves to a standstill and the two bonfires had consumed a huge mountain of wood. We succeeded in opening up a highway which I hope will encourage the Duke of Burgundy to spread from the old chalk workings above, down through the wooded slopes and into the lowermost pits. The view through to the illuminated trees in the background didn't exist when we started, and the understory was so dense and dark that only the most adventurous Speckled Wood would have made the journey. Despite the aches and pains I think we all gained a great deal of satisfaction from our handywork.

[Neil Hulme]

Autumn Gold

Earlier this week I made several visits to Cissbury Ring where there are still a few Small Copper, Brown Argus, Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown, Peacock and emigrating Red Admiral to be seen. However, it was the Clouded Yellows I was particularly interested in tracking down. Although this species is quite capable of arriving from mainland Europe in excellent condition, my gut feel is that these are the progeny of those butterflies which have been arriving steadily in low numbers since late July. With the recent drop in temperatures the flight window has been restricted to a couple of hours after midday, with the upside being that they can be followed until the weather puts them down. This coming weekend (particularly Sunday) should see them active if the forecasters are telling the truth.

On Thursday (20th October), while at a meeting on Chantry Hill (Storrington) with rangers from the South Downs National Park Authority, we watched Red Admirals passing on the way to warmer climes at a rate of 6 per hour.