millerd

[Maximus]

Nice sightings and photos, Dave I thought I was doing well spotting a Brimstone in flight today Tomorrows forcast shows plenty of sun, but not so good after that, I must try and get out.

Mike

[millerd]

Thanks, Mike.

You were right, Friday 31st October was wall-to-wall sunshine and extraordinary temperatures (23 degrees hereabouts). I was stuck at work until 1 and had a planned visit to Somerset for the weekend, so the window of opportunity to make the most of the conditions was very narrow. I managed an hour on my local patch, where I saw many of the same butterflies as on Tuesday, and in the same spots (the RA wing damage identified them pretty well). There were around a dozen Red Admirals altogether, and a couple of Commas.

The female Holly Blue I'd seen on Tuesday was also around, buzzing around the Red Admirals, but with the temperature several degrees higher and the angle of the sun different, she unfortunately declined to stop. Moving on, I found one Red Admiral patrolling the section of path habitually occupied by both the first and last ones I see each year - what the attraction is, I really don't know.

When I finally arrived at the last bank of sunlit ivy, there was initially only one Red Admiral and one Comma nectaring here.

However, as I tried to get a bit closer to the former butterfly, another Holly Blue flew straight across my line of sight and settled initially on the nearby nettles, and then on the ivy. This was another female, one which was probably out that day, but with symmetrical wing crumples indicating a difficult emergence perhaps. She could certainly fly perfectly well!

I returned home, reckoning that had I been here the following day, I would almost certainly have seen a November Holly Blue - oh well, seeing two on 31st October is pretty amazing, really.

Dave

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Dave, nice sightings with the Holly blues although I agree with your thoughts about them being 'out of their time' and being unlikely to fulfil their natural function towards the continuation of their line.

I like the Red Admirals against the blue sky in your last post. Unfortunately the sky wasn't that blue around here last Friday, it was warm but stayed overcast most of the afternoon.

Cheers,

Neil.

[Wurzel]

That is a pretty cracking visit/report and shots Dave So will the Holly Blue gamble play off ? It has to at some time otherwise the genetic tendency would disappear completley?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Goldie M]

Lovely photo's Dave, my one and only HB was way back in Spring Goldie

[millerd]

Thanks to all of you for your encouraging comments. It was a good week last week.

Those blue skies and heady temperatures of just four days ago are now but a distant memory! At the same time today (within an hour, certainly) it was 8 degrees rather than 23, and the rain was tipping down. The first frost looks likely on Wednesday night and I turned the heating on for the first time this evening. It does look likely to warm a bit again, but other than a resilient Red Admiral or two, I suspect that the season is pretty well done here, having started around eight months ago on 8th March with this Small Tortoiseshell.

A Retrospective to March

Not so long to wait....

Dave

[Wurzel]

Hopefully only four months now Dave

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

In the end, the wait for more butterflies was only nine days...

Sunday 9th November dawned bright, and after a bit of mist and low level cloud cleared, it became a lovely sunny day. It warmed up a bit, too, with 14 degrees or so by the early afternoon. I reckoned that there was almost certainly a Red Admiral or two out there, so set off round my usual circuit near the River Colne. I quickly found my first Red Admiral, high up and nectaring on ivy - one that had been through the wars somewhat.

It flew off, distracted by another which I didn't get a close look at. However, a third butterfly appeared, which turned out to be a Comma.

I moved on to the patch of ivy where I had seen most butterflies last time round. There were two more Red Admirals here, again high up on the ivy.

Almost before the possibility had entered my head, another butterfly fluttered into view, settling initially right on the highest spot it could find.

Luckily, the constant wasp and bee activity disturbed it and it came a bit lower to sit on an ivy leaf. It looked quite large in flight for the species, but once settled it was clearly a Holly Blue.

Obligingly, it opened up a bit revealing itself to be a male.

Interesting - the Holly Blues I saw in this particular spot before were all females (and all well over a week ago now), so I would guess there have been quite a few around altogether.

My final patch of ivy provided views of another stunning Red Admiral, probably fresh out of the box.

I disturbed another low down on shaded nettles, but was unable to find any eggs - maybe just resting.

Considering there was a ground frost here a few mornings ago, plus some torrential rain and some windy days during the last week, to see the Holly Blue seemed frankly astonishing. However, they do emerge in April most years and survive everything the "cruellest month" can throw at them... Never underestimate a butterfly!

Dave

[Wurzel]

Absolutely cracking Dave I just wish I'd been able to get out this weekend to look for my own

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

Great stuff Dave

I've not seen a butterfly for weeks now, too busy catching up on household stuff and building up those brownie points for next year

We also had a couple of frosty mornings around here last week, twice I had to clear ice off the car windscreen at 06.15 to go to work.

Cheers,

Neil.

[millerd]

Thanks chaps. That could well be it now - no sunny days forecast, and not any free time to look either. However, with so many false ends to the season, I will no longer be surprised at anything. I'm into my third diary page since the start of October - and I only used one for the whole of August! That speaks volumes...

Dave

[millerd]

Friday 14th November: The briefest of looks on the nearest piece of sunny ivy near home this afternoon before a trip up north. One Red Admiral remained - still in good condition considering the recent heavy rain. It didn't come very close unfortunately and was very active in the sunshine (14 degrees, maybe a tad higher).

Dave

[Wurzel]

Great shots there Dave, especially the last one, a really interesting pose

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Saturday 29th November: The day of the Winter Social, and late on during Friday I had discovered that engineering works would mean a rather more circuitous route down to Shawford than usual, by way of Reading and Winchester. Allowing a bit of leeway for unforeseen railway circumstances, I ended up on a late-running (but earlier) train from Staines, and then a very late-running one from Reading. All this had somehow brought me just ahead of a train from Winchester an hour earlier than my target one.

With time in hand and the sun starting to shine quite strongly, I walked down to Otterbourne and then about half a mile beyond, up to a very pleasant open green at Otterbourne Hill.

The green is bounded largely by flowering gorse, but some of the gardens nearby had ivy, with some still in flower. Before long, I disturbed a butterfly from the ground - not a Red Admiral as I expected, but a Peacock. It settled briefly but in a very awkward spot, and this shot is the best I could manage before it set off again.

The camera hadn't worked out what it was supposed to be looking at! That's my excuse anyway

Soon afterwards, I spotted a Red Admiral high up, spiralling around a great whirl of ivy round a tree, and settling briefly on the topmost, sunnier parts. No photo of this one at all.

All in all, a very appropriate curtainraiser to the main event down the road, where a thoroughly sociable few hours were spent in excellent company. Great to see you all again, and here's to an interesting 2015!

Dave

[David M]

What a curtain-raiser, Dave.

Any butterfly would have been good but a Peacock is highly notable in late November.

[millerd]

It surprised me to see it too, David. I hope it found a good spot to settle down again later.

Sunday 30th November: Another sunny day - though distinctly chillier than yesterday, the sun still had some strength in it from about 11 o'clock onwards. I set off round my local patch for the first time in a fortnight, hoping that after yesterday there might well be something on the wing here too.

I was not disappointed: close to the M25 roundabout, I spotted a Comma basking high up amongst some ivy. After soaking up the rays for a while it launched off into the nearby woodland.

Walking on a bit, and then returning past the same spot, I spotted a Comma in a much better position, sunning itself on a piece of fencing nearer the ground.

I assumed at the time that it was the same one as before, but the photos show a different pattern of dark spots.

Carrying on back round the circuit, I came to the last patch of ivy where once again, relatively high up, sat another Comma.

As before, after a good long stretch of sunbathing, it set off energetically into the air, circling around several time before going up to bask a long way up in a birch tree.

Commas 3, Red Admirals nil - an unusual result so far... I decided to extend the walk a bit and take the game into extra time by just walking round the semi-suburban residential streets of the village. Very quickly I had seen two different Red Admirals flying strongly near two separate clumps of ivy (there is a great deal round here), and then another perched high up on a window-ledge.

Finally, no more than a hundred metres from home, I noticed one of my neighbours had a substantial mahonia in the front garden, just coming into full bloom and a blaze of yellow in the sunshine. No less than three more Red Admirals were nectaring on this shrub, though one always seemed to be in the air at any given moment.

Having found this source of energy, I suspect that these individuals will not stray too far away, and given further sunny days will be out again until it really does get cold.

It was good to see the Red Admirals - as any grammarian will tell you, it would be entirely wrong to end a report with a Comma (even three)...

Dave

[Wurzel]

It was great meeting up again at the Social Dave and perhaps this year we might find ourselves at Bentley at the same time, it was close this year It seems that you've been treating yourself to some late November butterflies and you're quite right about the grammer,,,

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

Great stuff Dave, you are certainly seeing more than me, I have not seen a single butterfly since early October. Mind you I have been busy with work and household stuff so I haven't had chance to get out anywhere for a look.

Cheers,

Neil.

[millerd]

My youngest son reported seeing "lots of Brimstones" last Saturday at Leith Hill, which I missed by dint of a visit to Yorkshire where it was cooler and very windy. However, I grabbed an opportunity today to briefly visit Bedfont Lakes Country Park, close to work. I was rewarded with my first butterfly of the year, a Peacock, battling against the breeze.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Good to see you're up and running again Dave

Have a goodun

Wurzel