October 2014

[Penhale Paul]

28/10/14 Penhale/Perran Sands. Despite poor conditions ie windy and dull and not actively looking for butterflies it was quite a successful day.
In the morning whilst walking the dog in the dunes I saw a Painted Lady and two Red Admiral, the Painted Lady looked quite small and rather pale but not particularly worn!
During the afternoon a walk down to the main complex on the Perran Sands holiday park turned up no fewer than eleven (probably more) Red Admiral feeding amongst the flowerbeds. I only counted the ones I was sure were different individuals and only covered a small number of the flowerbeds so highly likely there were many more. Also spotted close by feeding on a daisy was a Clouded Yellow.

[lee3764]

Excellent sightings again Paul! Penhale Sands is excellent and for everyone's information there is "FREE PARKING" around the perimeter near Rose Village where you can walk freely on the public side (Not the M.O.D.part). I found a fully halved Gynandromorph Silver-studded blue there with Paul Fenn on 14th June this year on the fieldtrip I arranged. Paul saw 2 x different gynandromorphs of the same species in these dunes last summer (2013). Great locality Paul & thanks for all your sightings over the past 2 summers.
Cheers all,

Lee & Robert Slaughter (Cornwall).

[Allan.W.]

9(at least),Red Admiral ,and one tired looking Peacock ,on the Ivy clumps by the works gates this lunchtime, these Ivy clumps and scrubby bushes also held at least 10 Blackbirds ,mostly males .In the afternoon ,our first Peacock flying around the workshop ,( a joinery workshop) looking for its winter quarters.

[Testudo Man]

27th and 28th of October, I sighted both Red Admiral and a Speckled Wood in my garden.

Today, the 30th of October, I sighted Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell and a Comma, all at work. At Least 6 active caterpillars(probable Large Whites) were also seen at work too.
Also, this morning before work, I sighted an interesting Moth fly through my garden, it circled the garden a few times, then landed up high(out of sight) in one of my neighbours Fern trees. I cannot be a 100% sure of the Moths species, but it flew/appeared very much like a Hummingbird Hawk Moth???

Location - Kent.

Cheers Paul.

[David M]

All these sighting are making me highly envious.

The Swansea area has been stupidly mild lately, but the sun simply refuses to emerge.

If things don't change this coming weekend, I fear that my last butterfly of 2014 will have been seen on an unknown date in very early October!

[CJB]

Dear UK B'ers,
At last I have something to add to the sightings!!
I saw this today in the 20 degrees, supercharged and bombing around, so I was lucky to get a shot!!

Painted Lady

I also glimpsed Red Admiral.
Flutter on!
CJB

[lee3764]

Saw 5+ Red Admirals at Menheniot (Liskeard), Cornwall at the "KARTWORLD" Go-Cart attraction as it was so warm. Temperature 19oC 66oF. Great for 31st October!! Also saw a lively Red Admiral in back garden at Par, Cornwall just before we left this morning! There must have been far more butterflies on the wing today here in Cornwall before it clouded over this afternoon!
Cheers all,

Lee Slaughter (Cornwall).

[Allan.W.]

Counted a minimum of 10 Red Admiral today at my workplace,as usual on the Ivy clumps ,by the gates ,probably more ,so much "tooing and froing" also noticed on a couple of occasions, battles between two insects ,chasing each other at a fair height ,also feeding on the Ivy ,a couple of Small Torts
and a single Comma ,can't say for sure what the temperature was, but it must have been in the late teens. The season marches on! Heres hoping for a fine weekend. Allan W. (in Kent)

[Testudo Man]

31st of October, and WOW! it sure was warm today at work

Started the day off with a great experience, whilst at work, the 1st butterfly of the day, was a Small Tortoiseshell. No sooner had i sighted it, it took flight, then landed briefly on my leg! No chance of a photo though, my camera was in the car!

At total of 3 species seen on the day, at least 2 of each! The Species were - Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral and Peacock.

Location - Kent.

A couple of photos, and tried out my new Raynox 150, coupled with my Panasonic FZ28. If i had of used my Raynox 250 today, then i would not have been able to capture these shots, because these species are quite large in size.

A great day to end the month of October...Cheers Paul.

You can really see how the low October sun in the sky, has effected the colour of this Peacock image.

[David M]

Having been beset by envy over the sightings made recently by certain individuals on here, I took my camera to work today and 'bagged' an extended lunch so I could spend some time in the sheltered surroundings of Cwm Clydach about 3 miles from my workplace.

In the space of 40 minutes, I saw 12 Red Admirals, 5 Speckled Woods and singleton Brimstone, Small Tortoiseshell and Comma.

Conditions were sunny and temperatures around 20c. Certainly not your normal Halloween.

Mating Speckled Woods were not what I was anticipating:

Red Admirals nectaring on ivy were more what I was expecting:

I couldn't get images of the Brimstone, nor could I nail down the single Small Tortoiseshell seen, but I did manage to pin down the solitary Comma I saw:

I even managed a brief encounter with a fast moving Kingfisher (first time I've ever seen this bird at this location - dippers, in contrast, are commonplace).

All in all a glorious 40 minutes perhaps never to be repeated at this time of year!

[MikeOxon]

Good to know the warm weather reached you, David, and that you were able to enjoy such a memorable day. I always enjoy seeing the Dippers on (and in) the Welsh streams, most recently on the 'waterfalls' walk from Pontneddfechan.

I only managed a single Red Admiral today at the place (Radley Gravel Pits) where there were many Clouded Yellows last Tuesday!

Mike