May 2014

[David M]

Glasdrum Wood in Argyll between 7.10am and 9.15am on 27th May:

Chequered Skipper 33
Pearl Bordered Fritillary 12-18
Green Veined White 12-18
Speckled Wood 4
Small Copper 3
Orange Tip 2
Peacock 1
Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary 1

The forecast for Oban and the surrounding area this weekend is excellent so Butterfly Conservation Scotland's event this Saturday should be highly successful.

[Willrow]

Aberbargoed Grasslands NNR, South Wales. Between heavy showers I managed a count of the Marsh Fritillary on my local patch, although most of the insects were lying low in the course grasses I still saw at least 40 and more probably 50 or so. Among the individuals was a specimen with heavy black on the outer edge and tip of the forewings, this species is well known for it's variation and I doubt this is exceptional rather than just interesting, but I've promised myself to take closer notice of any unusual individuals this year, yesterday's weather was not the best for such observations, I've included a snap below of the insect mentioned.

Tip; Anyone intending to visit the reserve, be prepared, its absolutely sodden at present and some of the small trails are more like streams...take your wellies...or get wet boots as I usually do

Its my intention to start a Personal Diary over the next day or so, I'm right behind time with several trip reports and perhaps a UK Butterflies blog is now the best way to go

Bill

"When in doubt...venture out"

[Ian Pratt]

About 20 Glanville fritillaries at Bonchurch today.
Ian

[MrSp0ck]

We had a single male Glanville Fritillary seen today at Hutchinsons Bank, in the cutting about 11am, the sun then went in behind cloud for the rest of the day, so no more sightings, lots of Small Blues, Common Blues, and Green Hairstreak, Dingy and Grizzled Skippers still around. I found a male Privet Hawk on a low hawthorn bush, which made a few photographers happy.

Hopefully will be more sun tomorrow

[Susie]

Not a sighting but an enquiry, does anyone know how the Heath Fritillaries are doing down in Kent? Are they about in good numbers yet (or am I late for them)?

[dave brown]

Susie,
We paid a brief visit to East Blean last weekend and not a sign of one. We met False Apollo there who had spent a longer period looking, and up to the point we left him he had not seen one either. Apparently someone looked in the week and again no sign. So you are not late. Not sure if anyone has visited today in quite good conditions. We hope to do the site one day in the week and I will update.
Dave

[Neil Freeman]

Not a sighting but an enquiry, does anyone know how the Heath Fritillaries are doing down in Kent? Are they about in good numbers yet (or am I late for them)?

Hi Susie,

I seem to recall some sightings from Cornwall a week or so back and I believe the Kent colonies are usually a couple of weeks behind.

Cheers,

Neil.

[Marc Heath]

I live about 5 minutes from East Blean Woods and this time of year try to make regular visits. I was there today and not a single Heath Fritillary, but one fully grown caterpillar so may be a few weeks yet. I shall pop in throughout the week and let you know when I see my first.

Marc

www.marcheath.blogspot.com

[Susie]

Thank you Dave and Neil, that's good news

Edit: thank you Marc!

[FISHiEE]

Hoping to go myself in a couple of weeks time and feared I might be too late but seems like my luck might be in.!

[Testudo Man]

Last day of May, an i planned to visit 2 local Kent sites today!! However, plans dont always "pan out"!

Started the day off well, with a Holly Blue in the back garden, then a late trip to my 1st intended site...But as the day progressed, so did the clouds!! so i didnt bother with my 2nd intended site/location. Which was a shame, because last weekend i saw large numbers of Small Blues(including pics of a mating pair) and several Adonis Blues too.

1st site was very low in butterfly numbers/species, i struggled to find much...But a nice surprise sighting of my 1st Large Skipper of 2014 was a real bonus, which kinda made up for the lack of butterflies on the day.
On the way home, i dropped into a local pond site, to look for some dragonflies, but they were nowhere to be seen! just a few Damselflies...Once again though, a Large Skipper was also seen here, so 2 Large Skippers on the day.

A photo of one of the large skippers, cheers Paul.

Location- Bluebell Hill, Kent.

[Testudo Man]

At long last...after months of searching my local areas in Kent...I have finally sighted my 1st Red Admiral of 2014!!

The last time i saw a Red Admiral was way back on the 10/11/13!

Hi Paul,

I haven't seen one yet this year and my last one was in Dorset last September.

Neil F.

Hi Neil, sorry for not replying to this sooner mate
There does not seem to be too many Red Admiral sightings for 2014??? so its no wonder they are a bit thin on the ground right now. Lets hope the red admirals can make a comeback/recovery from a poor 2013 hey.

Cheers Paul.

[Testudo Man]

Ewyas Harold Common, Herefordshire. My third visit yesterday to enjoy the Pearl-bordered Fritillary my count on this occasion was approximately 70, I took particular notice of the underwing patterns when I was given the chance, interesting to note that the occasional individual had distinctly 'irregular' markings on both the pearls and the shape of the 'ducks-head', you can perhaps see the difference between what could be considered normal and the 'irregular' in the images below. The other species I had come to hopefully find was Grizzled Skipper and I decided to explore much further away from my usual areas, it took some time but I was finally rewarded with three individuals, all were rather the worst for wear and were easy lost to view in what was a brisk and frustrating wind...heck they can get lost on a perfectly good day I did manage a few poor quality record shots though.

During my afternoon search of the best P-b F spots I heard some unusual noise coming from the rather shaded understorey a little distance from where I was searching, something told me to check it out and I stood silently crouched as a natural drama was played out, a dark grey feral cat was prancing around a pretty big female Adder, flicking a paw out to knock the snake off balance, the tail being the chosen target, I could hear the snake hissing in anger as it tried to avoid the cats very quick paw-work and dancing footwork, I remained motionless fascinated to see what the outcome would be, the Adder however was slowly but surely moving towards some bramble and it used the thick ground shoots to try to climb up out of the tormenters way, by doing so the cat saw me and was away in a heartbeat. I was unable to get a photo of the drama owing to both the obstructing understorey branches and would have disturbed my view by any movement. The Adder remained motionless for several minutes before almost falling back to earth and slinking away, it climbed a thorn covered briar to about 3 feet or more, and I managed some difficult shots, I was amazed that the thick thorns didn't prevent the climb, t'was a fascinating thing to witness

Another very interesting discovery was Corizus hyoscyami a very locally distributed squash bug, it's only usually found on coastal sandy type sites in southern Britain, I'm trying to find out it's status in this part of the country, and feel it might just prove a significant record. Also watched a female spider Misumena vatia on bluebell waiting for a nectaring insect for it's afternoon meal, this species can change colour and mimic the colour of it's chosen plant, I've seen them yellow, white, green and shades in between, an incredible evolutionary ability that helps them to dine

Bill

"When in doubt...venture out" (Glad I did yesterday!!!),

Interesting observation in regards to the "Cat an the Adder"...I think the cat may have used one of its 9 lives up on that day! just shows that an adder would rather flee, than strike...Although cats can be pretty "handy" in a fight!

Your adder appears male(by its colouration) however, its difficult to say for sure? If the snake had a long thin tail end, then its a male...But if the tail was chunky/fat at its end, then it would have been female.

Here are a couple of my Adder images, showing the typical colours that you would associate with both male and females. Adult females are larger in size, to that of an adult male.

Cheers, Paul.


Adult Female Adder.

Adult Male Adder.

[Lee Hurrell]

I visited East Blean Woods today and saw my first ever (UK) Heath Fritillary....

Heath Fritillary, East Blean Woods, Kent, 31st May 2014

Heath Fritillary, East Blean Woods, Kent, 31st May 2014

I was there for two and half hours, walking most, if not all of the woodland tracks and this was the only one I saw. In fact, I wouldn't have seen this one if it wasn't for a kind chap in a grey t-shirt who pointed it out! He was talking to another man in a dark blue t-shirt as I thanked him as I left. Was one of those you, Marc?

I would leave it a week or two (and take mosquito repellent) if you're thinking of going. I'll be back

Lee

[jasonbirder]

I'll post a full report in my diary later...but in case anyone is thinking of traveling this week.
Plenty of Chequered Skipper out in Scotland at the moment.
Good numbers at Glasdrum Forest, some at Shian Wood and small numbers at Allt Mhuic. Didn't see any at Glen Loy tho'.
Back up cast included lots of Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary.
Great weather conditions Friday/Saturday helped alot!

[David M]

Good stuff, Jason. I knew with that forecast you'd have a productive trip.