Sightings February 2012

[Gibster]

The paddyfield warbler should be easy tomorrow.

Yeah right!!!!!! Say hi to Bruce at number 41 if you go. Nice fella and "man of the moment" in Calshot.

Anyway...back to the butterflies?

[millerd]

Today, I repeated my walk of yesterday in similar weather. This time I saw a Red Admiral along a different part of the river, in the open area between the Colne and the M25. Again, it was flying strongly with no intention of staying still. However, in the same area, I disturbed my second species of the year. A Peacock flew up and obligingly rested again a little way ahead, long enough for a quick snap from a distance. Then it was up and off into the sunshine.

I also saw these ducks on the local lake yesterday - I'm sure someone will tell me what they are! They appear to have pale blue beaks.

Dave

[Jack Harrison]

Tufted Ducks, two males on left, female on right

Red Admiral in my NW Norfolk garden at 1200 hours Sunday.

Jack

[millerd]

Instant response! Thank you, Jack. I can see the one on the left has its tuft raised, in fact.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Just seen my first Brimstone and first Comma in the back garden-that's 3 species so far

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Spring truly underway now! Went to Linda Vista gardens in Abergavenny and saw two courting Small Tortoiseshells and a Red Admiral!!

Lots of bees buzzing around too (and frogs busy spawning in the pond).

[marmari]

With this glorious weather the sightings seem to be coming thick and fast.
I am very happy to log my first sighting of the year,in my back garden.This Comma was soaking up the sun on my summer house.

[ChrisC]

not only my first butterflies but 4 species today, red admiral, and peacock in the garden and at least 2 of each brimstone and small tortoiseshell out the back

[Vince Massimo]

No butterflies today, but I did manage to find an Orange Tip pupa while out on a local walk. It was on an Honesty stem (Lunaria annua).

Orange Tip pupa - Chaldon, Surrey 26-Feb-12

Hatching could be in as little as 4 weeks time

Vince

[Ian Pratt]

Red admirals seen at Branstone IOW and on the Coastal Path near Niton yesterday (26th) with what looked like a small tortoiseshell too.
Ian

[MikeOxon]

At last, I broke my duck for 2012 with this Red Admiral, flying and basking in beautiful warm sunshine yesterday (26th Feb.) at Lynford Arboretum in Norfolk.

Lynford Arboretum, Norfolk - 26th February 2012
Nikon D300s+300f4+1.4X TC - 1/750s@f/5.6 ISO400

I was at the Arboretum to look for Hawfinches and was rewarded by good 'scope views of a small flock of 8 birds in the Paddock field:

Lynford Arboretum, Norfolk - 26th February 2012
Nikon D300s+300f4+1.4X TC - 1/750s@f/9.5 ISO400

Altogether, an excellent long weekend in Norfolk, with a couple of bird 'firsts' for me, including, as well as the Hawfinches, a Rough-legged Buzzard near Wells.

Mike

[Padfield]

That looks like a gravid female red admiral to me, Mike. If so, perhaps a native spring generation is on the cards...

Guy

[David M]

That looks like a gravid female red admiral to me, Mike. If so, perhaps a native spring generation is on the cards...

Hopefully, Guy. They were here in large numbers last autumn and the mild winter will have done little to deplete their numbers significantly.

[Jack Harrison]

David M (re Red Admirals)

They were here in large numbers last autumn and the mild winter will have done little to deplete their numbers significantly.

But it wasn't continually mild in the east. We had quite a cold spell from near the end of January until mid February, yet Red Admirals survived. So It cannot be simply a question of temperature as to whether or not they survive.

I had been inclined to think that cold doesn't matter as much as damp. The winter here was quite dry so I was happy with that hypothesis. Guy's observations of RA survival in cold Switzerland would seem to bear that out. Yet RAs have survived in the wetter west of Britain so that idea doesn't stand up.

So what is going on? We need a much more sophisticated hypothesis.

Jack

[David M]

If it's true that they don't go into a true hibernation then I guess it's preferable for them to experience milder temperatures than cold ones. I know it's far colder in Switzerland than it is here, but as Guy has explained previously, the position of the sun in the sky generates more radiant heat so I daresay even when the air temperature's barely above zero it actually feels much warmer so long as the sun's out.

[Padfield]

If it's true that they don't go into a true hibernation then I guess it's preferable for them to experience milder temperatures than cold ones.

My guess would be that the reverse is true. Hibernation involves switching the metabolism to an absolutely minimal level so long periods can be sustained without using up significant amounts of energy, regardless of the temperature. Merely going torpid, on the other hand, leaves the butterfly at the mercy of the temperature. If the temperature is very low, little energy is used up in respiration and the butterfly can last a long time. If the temperature is (relatively) high, respiration proceeds at a higher rate, sugars are used up and the butterfly risks its batteries running out over the winter.

The deepest hibernators go to bed in July or August and can last until April quite easily. Red admirals are still on the wing into November and December, perhaps because if they 'hibernated' earlier they would not last even until the winter. Cold winters might prolong their torpid life expectancy.

I'm only speculating, so I don't mind at all being told I've got it all wrong.

Guy

[David M]

The deepest hibernators go to bed in July or August and can last until April quite easily. Red admirals are still on the wing into November and December, perhaps because if they 'hibernated' earlier they would not last even until the winter.

Yes, I hadn't thought of that before. Brimstones hibernate early which may explain why they're usually out very early - it's too mild from late February onwards to sustain them any longer.

[essexbuzzard]

I agree with Guy on this-but then i usurally do! Red Admiral near Harlow,Essex today,also a Kite-my first Essex sighting for over a year. But then i'm a casual watcher,not hardcore!

[Michaeljf]

Another post-hibernation butterfly seen at lunchtime today at my local patch in South Wales - a single Comma in the 15c sunshine. Unfortunately it'll be back to the rain by this weekend here, by the look of the forecast.

Still, March starts tomorrow. Difficult to believe it's come round already

Michael

[David M]

Another post-hibernation butterfly seen at lunchtime today at my local patch in South Wales - a single Comma in the 15c sunshine. Unfortunately it'll be back to the rain by this weekend here, by the look of the forecast.

Still, March starts tomorrow. Difficult to believe it's come round already

Michael

Well done, Michael. Not surprising really given that Cardiff got a mention on the BBC weather tonight as today's warmest spot at 16C.

As you say however, temperatures are going to dive a bit for the weekend with wind and rain coming into the west.