June 2012

[Philzoid]

Like the pic of the open wing Orange-tip Nick . A sunny meadow .. not a place you would expect to find one perhaps?

Phil

[Jack Harrison]

This season is pretty disastrous yet butterflies are emerging on time – well at what has become the normal time for recent years.

My first Orange Tip to pupate today, 13th June, was only a week or so later than my earliest ever. So this hasn’t been delayed on account of the cold dreary weather (collected as an egg 17th May).

Neil saw Heath Frit on 6th June and Lulworth Skipper on 10th. Pete had Silver Studded Blue on 13th June. These are extraordinary dates in the historic context (19th, early 20th century) but are pretty much what we think of as normal in this era. However these new dates have occurred again even in this very poor season.

What is going on? It can't be simply a matter of temperature. Clean air acts, ie less air pollution and consequently brighter sunshine (when it does occur)?

Cue for research in other parts of Europe which still have rather more polluted air, eg Poland (which I believe still has smoke-belching industry). Indeed, has the trend for earlier seasons been seen in other less-polluted parts of Europe. Your thoughts Guy from clean-air Switzerland? And from the Annoying Czech (not suggesting that your country is polluted)

Ideas please

Jack

[Pete Eeles]

Pete had Silver Studded Blue on 13th June.

And it was 1st June last year at this particular site (Silchester Common) - and I saw a lot more individuals than I saw today! So I reckon that this season is at least 2 weeks later than 2011.

Over the longer term, things have definitely advanced!

Cheers,

- Pete

[Hoggers]

Today I had an early finish at work and inspired by other UKBers as well as the sunshine,I drove to Wrecclesham in search of Glanville Fritillaries. As soon as I arrived a huge black cloud settled overhead,blotting out the sun. I am hopeless at finding roosting butterflies and for what seemed like ages I did not see a single butterfly ( although I did stumble upon a gorgeous Bee Orchid .)
Fortunately,the big cloud moved,out came the sun and within minutes there seemed to be Glanville Fritillaries everywhere I looked

Including a mating pair

I was thrilled to see the Glanvilles and in such numbers,it was wonderful.
I also saw my first Larger Skipper of the year

And Common Blues

Thanks to whoever it was that introduced the Glanvilles here and to all the UKBers who visited the site and posted their sightings, as I'd probably never have got to see them otherwise.

[Jack Harrison]

Wrecclesham.

I'm confused. I had thought it was now inaccessible and about to be destroyed.

Jack

[NickB]

Came across a male OT later today too;
but with no sense of colour coordination at all!

Saw at least 8 or 9 Brimstone (5 f) with several Small Heath, a few BA and CB, plus a single Large White and my first 3 Large Skipper of the year.
Later saw 2 Holly Blue and a Red Admiral, the first for a while. Lots of Mother Shipton, Burnet Companion and a few other day-flying micro moths.
Best find was a number of Mullein Moth cats...

[David M]

Came across a male OT later today too;

These are hanging on a lot longer than they did last year.

[Lawts]

Wrecclesham.

I'm confused. I had thought it was now inaccessible and about to be destroyed.

Jack

I'm confused. I thought the Isle of Wight was the only place to get the genuine article?

[adrian riley]

Wrecclesham.

I'm confused. I had thought it was now inaccessible and about to be destroyed.

Jack

Wrecclesham

There are mixed stories about this site and its future. Regarding access, it appears that local people still walk their dogs here and have discovered, or made, access points. Judging from the number of photo's and reports I've seen, bug-hunters have been just as inventive. The site certainly has no general public access and is surrounded by 'danger' and 'keep out' signs. You may have noticed on my website that I no longer refer to the site by name.

One reply to your post questions the distribution of this species. It is more-or-less restricted to the Isle of Wight but has been the subject of 'unauthorised' introductions elsewhere (eg Surrey and Somerset). In my personal opinion (for what that may be worth) this practice should not be encouraged as it confuses our understanding of natural range expansion and colonization. Ok, with Glanvilles, it is fairly obvious that someone has chucked a bucketful of them at Surrey etc and hoped they will stick. But less obviously restricted species, such as Grizzled Skipper and Heaven knows what else have been released without documentation. Further, the stock has to have come from somewhere and this may raise legal issues. Has permission been granted to collect livestock of a rare species from, perhaps, a nature reserve for release elsewhere? I doubt it.

Adrian Riley, http://www.bugalert.net

[The Annoying Czech]

Indeed, has the trend for earlier seasons been seen in other less-polluted parts of Europe. Your thoughts Guy from clean-air Switzerland? And from the Annoying Czech (not suggesting that your country is polluted)

I do have the same feeling as you have. Good years makes an exceptional flight times, bad years largely makes an exceptional flight times too. Although some colleagues see some difference between 2011 (sunny till half of June) and 2012 (variable weather with atrocious last ten days), I myself don't.

Chequered Skippers dead even earlier than last year, Black Hairstreaks fully emerged in late May, Lesser Marbled Frit's fully emerged in start of June.

Not sure about the pollution, but it will be probably variable and a matter of locality, as everything in CZE.

A special generations are found almost every year ("mashed" autumn Map Butterflies, Lesser Purple Emperor, Green Hairstreak, Purple Edged Copper), some Coppers are receding to the mountains, as well as some other "common" species getting scarcer in the lowlands and turning "mountainous" (alaja, adippe, medusa, semiargus), probably because mountains tends to be both colder and better preserved.

Also, some southern species tend to colonize mountain valleys, or foothills, sometimes making a promptly abundant colonies and sometimes not, eg. Breat Banded Grayling and Scarce Swallowtail found at preserved (very sloped) sheep pastures in cold region of Wallachia, or Large Coppers found surprisingly high.

Overall, some dispersions are performed very quick, it can be a season-by-season matter, and Moravia seems to have an optimal migration corridors (unlike Bohemia), probably hand in hand with the climate.

[Hoggers]

Regarding Wrecclesham, my map reading skills are not the best but when I visited the site yesterday I used ( or at least thought I was using - my hip replacement forbids vaulting fences and leaping ditches ) a public footpath which runs parallel to the railway line close by the sand pit. I used OS Landranger 186 and saw Glanvilles and other butterflies from this footpath.

[Jack Harrison]

Wrecclesham

I suspect that there is a lot of “Elf ‘n Safety” behind this. The owners of the land have probably been told to put up notices that will absolve them from any litigation should someone be hurt while on the site. This really does smack of the litigious culture of the modern world. Everyone is protecting their own backsides “just in case”. It’s a sad world and I for one have little time for this attitude. Indeed I have a considerable contempt for the way the law is administered.

I give one example: a fairly important milestone in my life was (presumably) rubber-stamped in a Crown Court last Monday, but I have yet to be informed (today is Thursday) if that actually happened. That’s the law in action!

To paraphrase Shakespeare: “An ex or not an ex? That is the question.”

Jack

[Jack Harrison]

14 June NW Norfolk

Elderly tattered Small Tort at North Wootton. Now that strikes me as incredibly late for an ex-hibernator.

Jack

[Jack Harrison]

I was thinking (wow I hear you say!). Maybe we have been concentrating too much on the butterfly flight seasons but should be also considering the vegetation seasons. Adult emergence, caterpillar growth, etc, need to coincide with the appropriate state of the vegetation on which they depend.

Now there is definite evidence of earlier bud-burst and so on. Maybe these revised plant timings are not so much a response to actual temperatures in a particular year but to rising CO2 levels. Just because we’ve had some cold dull weather this year, the CO2 levels won’t be significantly different from the warm 2011. So with early plant growth – if indeed it is to a large extent CO2 dependent rather than on day-to-day temperatures - it should be no surprise that 2012 timings of butterfly flight seasons are close to what has become the norm in recent decades.

Just a hypothesis of course. But let’s hear some other {better] ones.

Jack

[RobS]

My first visit to the site at Wrecclesham and i wasnt disappointed. I managed to find my way into the site without having to hurdle any fences or ignore any "danger " signs.I dont think people should be put off from coming to this site.my personal opinion is that the owners dont really care if there are people there or not,and the signs and fences are there because they have a legal obligation to warn about the potential dangers of walking off the beaten track on a site which was once a landfill (methane gas etc).I would just think twice before lighting a cigarette though .
The weather was overcast and windy,but the temperature was warm and the sun was trying to burst through on occasion.
I came across a character buried deep in the flora and guessed he must have been there for the same reason.He pointed out a green hairstreak to me and we chatted for a while and he introduced himself as" millerd",a name i had seen so many times on the site.its great to put faces to names.the more sites i visit ,the more ukbutterfliers i meet.He told me he had already seen a handful of Glanvilles,so spurred on by this news i continued my search and within 5 minutes i had found one.

I spent another half an hour looking for another and managed to find my first Large Skipper and Meadow Brown of the year before finding my second Glanville and bumping into millerd again.He had seen a couple more too.We were joined by another UKB member who had been on site for hours and was visibly in need of a costa and a muffin .He had seen quite a few glanvilles,beyond the lake and near the quarry,so millerd and i set off to the spot to see if we could entice them out for us,despite the weather getting a bit windier and more overcast.we did manage to see one more and that was it for the rest of the visit.
Day flying moths were in abundance..nearly everything that caught your eye was a cinnabar moth or a burnet companion,although we did see a rather beautiful female common blue who wasnt put off by the cooler conditions.
A great morning and great company..seeing the Glanvilles of Wrecclesham and meeting two of UKB's finest.

cheers
rob

[EricY]

Sunny in Norfolk today from about 9.30am but cool breeze. titchwell rspb produced one tired female Wall, Holme nwt had several Small Heaths & Common Blues. After lunch my garden had a bright fresh Holly Blue but could not get a pic of it as camera was indoors. Eric

Wall female well worn

common Blue

Common Blue mating pr

[millerd]

...A great morning and great company..seeing the Glanvilles of Wrecclesham and meeting two of UKB's finest. ...

I'll echo those sentiments! All the folk you meet from this site in real life are such splendid people. And usually spattered with mud...

Dave

[NickB]

The Greater Butterfly Orchid (Platanthera chlorantha) was my best sighting today

[EricY]

In very windy but warmish weather this morning my first Painted lady of the summer showed itself on Holkham dunes. The only butterfly I saw all day & no orchids in dunes either. On a brighter note the wytch elm along the track is full of leaf after the wet april/may/june, perhaps augers well for WLH's later. Eric

Painted lady Holkham dunes

[NickB]

Red Admiral from yesterday...nice to see a few more of these around...