April 2013 Sightings

[A_T]

A couple of small tortoiseshells seen when out and about today.

[Philzoid]

Sunday 14/04/13
A Peacock taken in my garden and the first of the year for me (to tell the truth I haven't done much exploring outside of a butterfly house ). Soon afterwards a Comma and then another Peacock ... at last surely it's goodbye to the vestiges of winter

A somewhat scuffed Peacock amongst the celandine

Making the most of this fine weather I dragged out the girls to Wisley gardens for a walk and some fresh air. I was hoping that perhaps I'd see some more butterflies, possibly a Holly Blue which I've often seen in April at Wisley but instead it was birds which got my attention including this acrobatic little Long-tailed Tit which subsequently led me to its nest.

Collecting lichen for nest material

Long-tailed tit nest building

Later to complete a throughly great day I got a text from my sister to let me know that this fellow was having a bad time of it at St. James's Park

Time to dust down the moth trap

Phil

[Wurzel]

Good to see you off the mark Philzoid And I wouldn't say that the Magpies were having a bad day - more like taking a hammering

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[robpartridge]

"Whereabouts in the country did you see the Small White? Definitely worth a "tweet"! Good stuff"

With regard to Small Whites, I photographed (poorly as usual) a male in my Cambs garden on the 10th of April. Currently I'm seeing about 10 Small Tortoiseshells to every Peacock which is the opposite to the situation locally for the previous two seasons,

Rob

[NickB]

Same here Rob; still waiting to see my first Whites and more ST than Peacock for sure.
That wind doesn't help out here on the edge of the Fens....

(Nice LTT pics Phil; found a couple of nests myself this year following pairs with feathers in their beaks for lining their little nests.....)

)

[Philzoid]

Thanks for the kind comment Nick . That long-tailed tit nest was a first for me .

It is evident from your pictures that the nest is in a more advanced state with a 'roof' above …. a smashing little nest. My birds nest was still a cup and the LTT was moving around in it quite a lot, presumably to give it shape.

Phil

[Butterflymax]

Went for my second walk of the season along Great Central Walk / Ashlawn Cutting in Rugby on Tuesday (first being an uneventful walk six days earlier) and saw three Peacocks and three Small Tortoiseshells! Woo-hoo! Reason for my excitement being that last year I saw no Small Tortoiseshells ANYWHERE. AT ALL! Today's trip was therefore very heart-warming and encouraging, though of course it is no excuse for complacency! Hopefully 2013 won't be a repeat of the damp squib that was 2012 and hopefully we will see numbers of all species on the increase nonetheless.

[robpartridge]

I haven't actually counted them but there appear to be very few records of Red Admiral so far this year, either on UKButterflies or on my local BC website. Was it a particularly hostile winter for them or does this reflect last year's poor weather during the breeding season? As a species that might be on the verge of becoming resident in southern England, it is presumably vulnerable to all sorts of weather/climate issues.

Several Peacocks at a local gravel pit yesterday, beginning to catch up with the Small Tortoiseshells.

[ChrissyM]

Monday in Shropshire and I saw one Red Admiral, two Peacocks, Two Small Tortoiseshells and one white butterfly in flight. Sadly my white sighting was in such atrocious wind that it was flying over the garden very fast so, difficult to ID. But, it wasn't a Brimstone, either a Small White or Green Veined.

[David M]

Reason for my excitement being that last year I saw no Small Tortoiseshells ANYWHERE. AT ALL!

You're not the first person to say this.

Until last April, the more southern and eastern parts of England had experienced a fairly prolonged drought. Is it possible that the abnormally wet conditions last year have enabled more Tortoiseshell larvae to avoid dying of starvation due to nettles remaining lush throughout the year?

Small Tortoiseshells appeared to be mimicking some of the fritillary species in that the solid populations were gradually becoming more west-centric.

[badgerbob]

After a damp, cloudy morning the sun came out this afternoon and a walk in Abbotts Wood listening to the nightingales and watching both Brimstones, Peacocks and Commas and trying to find Pearl larvae my son gave me a ring to say that a Corncrake was showing well near Beachy Head. This is a very rare bird for Sussex, even more unusual was the fact it was showing in the open. A quick visit there was well worth it as it will probably be heading in Jacks direction tonight!!

[Neil Hulme]

Hi Bob,
Congratulations. You won't do better than that for a while! Incredible to see one out in the open, and a nice sharp image too.
BWs, Neil

[Jack Harrison]

Corncrake....probably be heading in Jack's direction tonight!!

My direction maybe, but a check on the EXIF data shows that its ticketed destination is Tiree

I plan to look for/listen for its relatives on Iona in the next couple of weeks or so, Iona being much more easily accessible from Mull than is Tiree.

Jack

[rezamink]

A Pair of Comma's taken at Broadfield Pond, Crawley, Sussex on the 16th April...

Quite excited about this one, having never seen a mating pair of Comma's before!

A Pair of Commas

[Reddog]

I went for a walk along Oglet shore and saw two Small Tortoiseshell’s one Comma and a Peacock. I also saw a small Common Lizard basking in the sun quite close to the Peacock butterfly.

[Vince Massimo]

A Pair of Comma's taken at Broadfield Pond, Crawley, Sussex on the 16th April...

Quite excited about this one, having never seen a mating pair of Comma's before!

Excellent find Damian
I have added the image to the Species-Specific Album as agreed.

Regards,

Vince

[badgerbob]

Nothing as good as mating Commas but a walk in Friston Forest did produce reasonable numbers of Comma, Brimstone, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock as well as a single Red Admiral. It was quite breezy but fortunately it was sheltered enough to warm up some areas.

[Pete Eeles]

Excellent find Damian

I agree - seeing any pair of Vanessids mating is a pretty good find!

Cheers,

- Pete

[David M]

I agree - seeing any pair of Vanessids mating is a pretty good find!

Sure is. I've never seen it myself, even though I've followed amorous pairs on regular occasions.

Excellent spot!

[David M]

Took an extended walk along Cwm Clydach near Swansea late this morning whilst waiting for some repairs to my car.

7 Small Tortoiseshells seen, along with 4 Brimstones (including my first female of 2013) and 2 Peacocks.