Neil Hulme

[Neil Hulme]

Thanks Pete. But I must disagree with you! Running a website such as this does a huge amount for the cause, as does providing an almost endless supply of images for use in articles about butterflies and the issues surrounding their decline and conservation. There's more than one way to skin a cat. Everyone who pays a BC membership subscription is doing their bit too.
BWs, Neil

[Neil Hulme]

Burgundy Blog Goes Live

We now have a blog dedicated to the Duke of Burgundy http://hamearislucina.blogspot.co.uk/ Designer Gill Thompson writes:

"After the success of The Purple Empire and more recently, Ash Brownies, I had my arm (very easily) twisted into creating and designing a new blog for the beautiful Duke of Burgundy butterfly. The ideas and principles are the same: WE NEED YOU to contribute your sightings, photographs, trip reports etc from around the UK. With the flight period fast approaching (April/May) - hopefully with more favourable weather than all this snow we've been having! - now is a fantastic time to join the blog. As long as its Duke of Burgundy related, we want to know about it!

If you're interested in getting involved, please email Neil Hulme at nh@nhulme.eclipse.co.uk and you will receive an email inviting you to join the blog. If this email does not appear in your inbox, please check your spam folder. All you have to do is click on the link provided in the email and follow the easy instructions to sign up. You can write a new post by signing in at blogger.com. Do get in touch if anyone encounters any problems!"

[Neil Hulme]

Last Bash For Brash

The hastily arranged work party on Wednesday (10th April) at Mill Hill really will be the last of the 2012/2013 season! Unfortunately it was necessary to muster some troops to help clear up the privet brash left lying over the lower slopes, following an over-enthusiastic and untidy contractor job. The good turn-out included UKBer Colin Knight, who walks the transect here. A Peacock (my first of the year) and a black adder were spotted while we worked. Grizzled Skipper should appear very soon now.

[Neil Hulme]

Storrington Museum

Today (13th April) an exhibition of butterflies and moths opened at Storrington Museum (RH20 4LL Grid Ref: TQ085140) with contributions from local micro-moth aficionado Bob Palmer (main exhibitor), Butterfly Conservation Sussex Branch and Sussex Moth Group. 'Flutter-Bys and Fly-By-Nights' runs until 30th June.

[Neil Hulme]

Wake Up Call

Yesterday (14th April), after a very long wait, hibernating butterflies finally woke up in large numbers. A late afternoon visit to Mill Hill produced 8 Peacock, 5 Small Tortoiseshell and 2 Brimstone. That feels better!

[Neil Hulme]

Black Adder Goes Forth

This morning (15th April) my brief visit to Mill Hill produced a collection of post-hibernators similar to yesterday. It is particularly encouraging to see a reasonable number of Small Tortoiseshell. Several specimens of the bee fly Bombylius major were present today; a sure sign of spring at last. Also seen was a handsome black adder.

[Neil Hulme]

Last Twitch

Over the winter I've done more birding than I have for about 30 years, but with the butterfly season now upon us, yesterday (16th April) was probably my last trip out to see a particular bird, at least until next autumn. I did see a single Small Tortoiseshell, but it was the long-staying Glossy Ibis at Warningcamp (Arundel) that I was keen to see. It was very easy; it stood out like a sore thumb in the middle of the paddock. I calculated how long it was since I last saw one, which was suffering the severe cold of the NE Scottish coast at the time; 26 years - tempus fugit!

[Jack Harrison]

I have never seen a Glossy Ibis in the wild but there are suggestions that they and Cattle Egret - which I have seen a couple of times - might be on the verge of true colonisation. Thirty years ago, who would have thought that Little Egrets would hardly rate a second glance by the 2010s? Or even more astonishing is the Collared Dove which first appeared in England just 60 years ago. I have to say that I don't find Collared Doves to be one of our finest imports, especially when they start up on the chimney at dawn and sound as if they are INSIDE the house.

Jack

[Neil Hulme]

Still Slow

Spring is still on the go-slow; another search of Mill Hill failed to find Grizzled Skipper this morning (18th April). This species had been on the wing for 3.5 weeks here this time last year. I then moved on to a wood between Worthing and Arundel, but there was no sign of the Orange Tip I had hoped for. This species had been on the wing for 4 weeks in Sussex this time last year. In the end I was pleased enough to see a couple of Brimstone and my first Comma of the season.

[Jack Harrison]

Kipper:

Spring is still on the go-slow

This is all relevant information and on the basis of this and other sources, I have retimed my butterfly visit to the south of England for 14 to 20 July. Of course, timings are impossible to get right at this range, but I have to make plans now. It's then two weeks in Ireland and I won't be back on Mull until mid August - that's the peak Grockel season here, so a good time to be away

Jack

[Susie]

I'm seeing good sized patches of cuckoo flower open over the last week or so. With the decent weather predicted over the weekend I think we'll be seeing orange tips emerging en masse over the next few days in sunny sheltered spots.

[Neil Hulme]

Hunt For Big Game

Yesterday (20th April) I made my annual pilgrimage to the Isle of Wight to see the Large Tortoiseshell. Thankfully it is no longer necessary to visit the dark, oppressive and increasingly derelict Woodhouse Copse, since Peter Hunt discovered the butterfly at Walter's Copse near Newtown. Walter's Copse is a well managed and very beautiful National Trust wood, with open rides and a profusion of primrose at this time of year.

As the temperature began to rise under the clear blue sky, one-by-one butterflies started to appear. Throughout the day I saw a total of 6 Peacock, 7 Comma and single Brimstone and Red Admiral. Other interest was provided by a couple of Orange Underwing moths and a Dotted Bee Fly.

But of course I had other things on my mind, as did a few others who turned up throughout the day. Soon after midday I flushed a large butterfly from almost under my feet, and although I got the merest glimpse before it disappeared, I knew what it was. I didn't even see it sufficiently well to determine whether there was extensive damage to the rear wing margins, which would have identified it as the same insect seen by Peter Hunt the previous day. After a 30 minute wait it had not reappeared and I feared an unsatisfactory outcome to my visit.

At about 1.30 pm Caroline Dudley turned up and as she approached, stopped to focus her binoculars on the same spot where I had earlier spooked the butterfly (SZ430906). Sure enough, the Large Tortoiseshell had returned and it gave a succession of visitors (nice to meet you all) a lot of pleasure over the next 2.5 hours. This extended sighting gave plenty of opportunity to observe behaviour. It spend long periods high in an ash tree, perched on a terminal bud and often fidgeting to realign itself full-on to the sun. It spent long periods sitting on the deck, occasionally closing up tight. It launched a couple of spectacular and prolonged attacks on Comma, spiralling high into the air. On several occasions it adopted the typical pose of a male Large Tortoiseshell, face-down on a tree trunk, alert in the hope of spotting a passing female. This was a faded and battered butterfly, but majestic nevertheless, and clearly the one seen by Peter Hunt.

As I left the wood I nearly trod on another Large Tortoiseshell (SZ430904). This time it stayed around long enough for me to get a good look at it; faded and battered yes, but there was very little erosion of the wing area. This was clearly a second insect. I left on a 'high'. Beautiful weather, lovely surroundings, good company, and Large Tortoiseshells. Butterflying doesn't come much better than this.

[Mark Colvin]

Nice work Neil.

You certainly chose the right day to go ...

[maxelcat]

WOW
Twenty years ago when I had time to go looking for butterflies all the books used to say the large tortoiseshell was extinct (or at least not seen) in the UK

What happened?

[marmari]

Thanks for visiting the IOW again,Neil.Another excellent report and more of your first class photos.Let us hope 2014 will be as successful.

[Jack Harrison]

Yes, wow! And well done.

You are the expert Neil. Do you reckon there is a viable colony becoming established? Or are these perhaps strays from an as-yet-undiscovered colony, Parkhurst Forest a few kilometres to the east perhaps? From your description, there are some parallels with Purple Emperor behaviour. Now PE, despite its size and grandeur, has proved remarkably resistant to the discovery of colonies, eg it was virtually unknown in Hertfordshire a quarter of a century ago but now that observational techniques have improved, (courtesy largely to Middleton and Goodyear) has been shown to be quite widespread.

So could Large Tortoiseshell lurk undetected under our noses?

Sadly, it would be a rather long way for me to go to "twitch" these Large Tortoiseshells on the Isle of Wight.

Jack

[David M]

First class work, Neil. You thoroughly deserved your reward.

I suppose the next challenge is to find Large Tortoiseshell larvae on the Isle of Wight. Maybe then this majestic insect could be added to the British butterfly species list once again.

[rogpow]

Nice to meet you yesterday Neil, and thanks for the info about orchid sites in Sussex.
Great to hear you found a second LT - we should have hung around a bit longer! I shall have to pop back there this week for another look.

Rog and Lyn.

[Padfield]

This is very, very good news!

Large tortoiseshells overwinter in places they identify as good breeding sites. In March and April they are utterly predictable and are seen in precisely the same spots year after year, while in the summer they are found (much more rarely altogether) anywhere within their range. Male territorial behaviour is exactly as the Kipper describes and providing there is at least one female somewhere in the region this must surely lead to eggs being laid. The females, of course, recognise the same indicators as the males and overwinter in the same sites.

If someone has the time and patience, it would be well worth staking out the area for the next few weeks and following any females seen (at a discreet distance). They often lay in very accessible places, leaving batches of many eggs around a stem.

Very exciting!

Guy

[marmari]

That is very encouraging to read Guy.
I can say that the same Large Tortoiseshell was seen and snapped at the same place in Walters Copse today by a friend.