April 2014

[Testudo Man]

Seems a bit lame to keep reporting sightings without photos??! but since i was at work(with no camera available) its the best i can do

Large White, Holly Blue, Small White, Peacock(in the garden this morning) and male Orange Tip, all seen on the wing, either whilst i was driving, or up a ladder!
Still no signs of a Red Admiral this year either.

Location - Kent.

Edit - on the 5/4/14, i had several very small micro moths in my garden, one of them landed on a broomstick(briefly!) so i shot 3 photos off quickly, before it took flight again. This photo is heavily cropped, could anyone ID this micro moth please, because i have no idea what species it is. Cheers Paul.

[adrian riley]

News from Norfolk
Yesterday (9th April). First Holly Blue and Speckled Wood of the year on my Pensthorpe transect.
Adrian. www.bugalert.net.

[adrian riley]

Seems a bit lame to keep reporting sightings without photos??! but since i was at work(with no camera available) its the best i can do

Large White, Holly Blue, Small White, Peacock(in the garden this morning) and male Orange Tip, all seen on the wing, either whilst i was driving, or up a ladder!
Still no signs of a Red Admiral this year either.

Location - Kent.

Edit - on the 5/4/14, i had several very small micro moths in my garden, one of them landed on a broomstick(briefly!) so i shot 3 photos off quickly, before it took flight again. This photo is heavily cropped, could anyone ID this micro moth please, because i have no idea what species it is. Cheers Paul.

5th-April-2014-002-to-600.jpg

Try Esperia sulphurella (Fabricius)

Adrian. http://www.bugalert.net

[kevling]

A walk in central Ipswich (Alderman Rd Nature Reserve) provided two first sightings for the year. A male Orange Tip and a freshly emerged Speckled Wood.

Yesterday I was in Landseer Park, Ipswich with large numbers of Small Tortoiseshell, 2 Brimstones , Green Veined White (first of the year) and several small whites.

Kind Regards
Kev Ling

[Lee Hurrell]

1 Holly Blue and 1 male Small White today in my lunchtime gardens in Acton, west London.

Lee

[Nigel Kiteley]

Yesterday Ben and I returned to Fenny Compton Tunnel Bank in Warks where we had seen our first male Orange Tip last month. The number of males had increased to 7 and we also found a single female. We also saw our first Green Veined White, Small White, and Red Admiral of the year as well as Peacock (10+), Brimestone (8), Small Tortooishell (1), and Comma (2). As we walked along the canal tow path we were serenaded by Chiffchaffs, Willow Warblers, and Blackcaps and we saw a few basking Grass Snakes which shot off the minute we got anywhere near them! We also saw our first Cuckoo Flowers as well as a few Bluebells. All in all a very rewarding day which encouraged us to return again early this morning.Below are a selection of photos from the two visits.

Female Orange Tip - Ben Kiteley.

Male Orange Tip - Nigel Kiteley.

Green Veined White - Nigel Kiteley.

Male Orange Tip - Ben Kiteley.

[Willrow]

Newport Wetlands NNR, South Wales. Pleasant few hours spent in the variable amounts of sunshine on offer produced my first Small & Green-veined White of the year, at least 30+ Small Tortoiseshell mainly enjoying the many dandelions in bloom, add also 14 Peacock and a lovely Brimstone that followed the car as I left the reserve and I'll admit it was a pretty reasonable day - with one exception - no Orange-tip was seen! I noticed that the Cuckoo Flower appeared absent from areas I've seen it in on previous visits at this time of year, I thought this pretty unusual and will revisit again towards the months end to see if things have changed.

Many of the Peacock were rather battered and I only saw two that could be considered whole and they were faded. Still no Red Admiral this year yet, nowhere near as plentiful as in years gone by, a Nymphalidae I think we should all be a bit concerned about.

Bill

[Philzoid]

This photo is heavily cropped, could anyone ID this micro moth please, because i have no idea what species it is. Cheers Paul.

Hi Paul It looks like Esperia sulphurella (family Oecophoridae). Nice picture.

Spotted my first Orange-tip last saturday 6th along the canal . it didn't stop, heading over some dense bramble and nettle undergrowth before disappearing from sight Only one other butterfly seen that day, a solitary Peacock. Subsequently the weather got worse and the butterflies disappeared (and the moths for that matter)
Woke up on Thursday 10th to some sunshiny and warm weather and what a difference that made . Suddenly lots of Orange-tips (9 males and two females seen), Brimstone re-appearing (at least 2 dozen along the canal walk to and from Woking) and plenty of Peacocks too.
Also a couple of 2014 firsts (but sadly no pictures). My first Holly Blue (3 seen) and what I think was a Green-veined White (intercepted by a noticeably smaller Orange-tip but didn't settle). I still haven't seen Red Admiral and Speckled Wood.

Snagged another James

On canal towpath (dangerous place due to loads of cyclists bombing down it)

My first pic of more to come

Caloptilia (Gracillaria) syrigella. Micro found in my garden. Larvae feed on privet

Phil

[prettybutterfly]

I took these pictures at Alton Water, near Ipswich today, when I went butterfly hunting with my family.
I saw my first Orange Tip of the year and got a picture of it taking off from cuckooflower (Hope you like it).
Also seen was a new speckled wood.

Emma Ling (AGE 9)

[Butterflysaurus rex]

WOW Emma! Those are brilliant, Your Speckled Wood photo is a lot better than the one I took today

B'saurus

[Hoggers]

I loved those photos too Emma, well done!

I was on the look out for a Speckled Wood today but no luck as yet.

I did see Orange Tips

And my first Green-veined White

Also, most curiously of all, this egg

It was sitting in the middle of a field all alone, not in a nest,faint pale blue, undamaged, fairly warm and not a bird in sight. If anyone has an idea what bird it is I'd love to know.

Best Wishes

Hoggers

[Testudo Man]

Thanks very much to both Adrian Riley and Philzoid, for my garden micro moth ID, cheers for that

Confined to working in the garden today, so couldnt get out. We did see a Peacock and the 1st 2014 sighting of a Speckled Wood too, so all was not lost The speckled wood flew through the garden twice, and it almost landed, so it wont be long for a 2014 garden photo of this species.

Checked out the garden Cowslip plant(because it showed signs of something eating its leaves) and i found 3 species of plump caterpillars! I have no idea what these are(i took photos) but i would imagine they will all become moths?

[Mikhail]

In spite of a chilly breeze off the sea and much cloud I managed to find three Clouded Yellows today at Southbourne, two at the Warren Edge car park, one damaged but otherwise fresh, the other perfect. The third Yellow was near the lower end of the St.Catherine's path, near the Bistro on the Beach.

M.

[David M]

Given the benign winter just gone, I'm not surprised that a few Clouded Yellows have survived.

Excellent spot, Mikhail.

[Philzoid]

It was sitting in the middle of a field all alone, not in a nest,faint pale blue, undamaged, fairly warm and not a bird in sight. If anyone has an idea what bird it is I'd love to know.

Unfortunately the car key doesn't help with the scale (a coin might've been better) but a guess from the description (and estimated size) is a Starling. Though it's not a ground nesting bird you imply there was no nest 'scrape' so it may not have been a ground nester that laid it .

12/04/14
Took the girls for our annual visit to London Wetland Centre, Barnes Southwest London (keep planning to return more often but just doesn't happen ). The place caters for both the seriously committed birdwatcher with a good range of hides but also the casual ones such as myself (many of the hides are equipped with telescopes and binoculars and there is plenty of information on hand).

High-rise hide or telescope 'gun tower'

The weather was a bit on the cool side so I wasn't expecting to see any butterflies. However in a shady spot sitting in tree blossom 'fluff' was my first speckled wood of the year.

Phil

[David M]

Fruitless search for Marsh Frit larval webs on Welshmoor around noon today, but I did see several Tortoiseshells and a Peacock, which was surprising given the layer of cloud that descended after 11am here.

[Testudo Man]

A great day here in Kent today, wall to wall sunshine too, i even got sunburn on the back of my neck!!...although, spending 6 hours out in the field, i was sure to catch the sun
A total of 9 butterfly species were seen, they were - Brimstone, Comma, Holy Blue, Large White, Orange Tip(both male an female) Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Small White and Speckled Wood. Apart from the Orange Tips, i confess to not really looking for butterflies today because i actually visited this location for both Birds and Common Lizards
My target bird species was the Nightingale, of which i saw at least 2. I also sighted Blackcap, Whitethroat, and Chiffchaff.
I sighted very good numbers of common lizards(both adults and juveniles) so the day was a success.

Garden butterfly sightings were Speckled Wood(before i left this morning) and Peacock(when i returned home)...The best part of all is this location is within a mile from my home, so not too much traveling then

I did capture some interesting pics of the orange tips, but need to sort through all the photos still.

Cheers Paul.

[Willrow]

Near Pen-y-Fan, Brecon Beacons. Over 2000ft ASL two Peacock and a single Small Tortoiseshell flew past me heading upwards towards Pen-y-Fan (Southern Britains highest point at a smidgin under 3000feet) to join the countless numbers of hill-walkers enjoying the lovely April sunshine.

Timely reminder from DavidM (see above) to checkout the situation with the Marsh Fritillary larval webs at Aberbargoed Grasslands this coming week (cheers David!).

Bill

[Lee Hurrell]

Just back from a family weekend in Worcestershire. On Saturday (12th April), my first Orange Tip of the year in my Nan's back garden

Today, (13th April) at Grafton Wood BC reserve, a tremendous tally of 17 male Orange Tip, 23 Peacock, 1 Small Tortoiseshell, 1 Comma, 3 Speckled Wood, 2 Green Veined White, 2 male Brimstone and 1 Holly Blue.

On the way home this afternoon, I stopped at Aston Rowant NR, wondering if I might see a Grizzled Skipper. I didn't, but along with 3 Small Tortoiseshell and 5 Peacock, when I found somewhere out of the breeze, a Green Hairstreak landed at my feet.

That's 9 species today with 4 firsts for the year over the weekend!

It is remarkable that I have seen Small Tortoiseshells everywhere I've been this year. What a change from only two years ago.

Some mobile phone pictures and a report to follow in my diary.

[Mikhail]

13 April. Clouded Yellow emergence continues. Photo shows specimen drying wings with vacated pupa in bottom left corner. Also seen mating pair and sundry patrolling males.

M.