www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Spent over an hour looking for Marsh Fritillaries on Fairwood Common on the Gower early this afternoon and found the grand total of..........ONE!

Clearly, this species is in the infancy of its emergence round these parts and Small Pearls are probably at least a week away.

Reasonable numbers of Wood Whites on show at Salcey Forest today.







and I caught this amorous pair of Green-veined Whites "in the act" !

Three GFs at Wheelers Bay Ventnor this evening.

33 Glanvilles on the Hutchinsons Bank Butterfly Transect today, so still about in good numbers. The weather turned dull about 2pm so no more sightings. Small Blues were pairing in the big scrape.

Best day of the year so far at Wheelers Bay. Met Alan and Becky from Scarborough. They were well-impressed.
Many GFs (30+), 3 clouded yellows,1 green hairstreak,at least 4 dingy skippers,2 orange tips,3 or more common blues! Several GF mating pairs. Stunning calm weather and blue sky with mill pond sea! Photos to follow. Ian.

Lunch time break from work yesterday(22/5/15) the target species being Common Blue and Brown Argus.
Other species seen - Brimstones, Dingy Skippers.

Sighted 3 fresh Common Blue males, and probably just the 2 male Brown Argus.

Location- Kent, cheers Paul.

Brown Argus...always a tricky subject, especially with the right/wrong light!

Common Blue.

Yesterday at Cotley Hill, Wiltshire, despite the mostly cloudy weather, there was an abundance of Marsh Fritillaries. Adonis, Brown Argus, Small Blue, Dingy & Grizzled Skippers, Wall Brown and an aberrant Small Tortoiseshell and more at this wonderful site. Corn Buntings too at the top! To see a short clip of a mating pair,(of Marsh Fritillaries), view: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTRZHVM ... e=youtu.be

Some more photos from yesterday, including an unnamed woolly bear. Some video footage of GFs at https://www.flickr.com/photos/lepreskil/

16 species seen at two neighbouring sites, i.e, Rodborough Common and Selsely Common near Stroud, Glos, yesterday:

Brown Argus 100-130
Dingy Skipper 60-90
Duke of Burgundy 50-60
Small Heath 40-60
Common Blue 20-30
Adonis Blue 10-15
Large White 5-10
Holly Blue 3
Green Hairstreak 3
Small Blue 3
Peacock 3
Green Veined White 2
Small White 2
Orange Tip 1
Brimstone 1
Speckled Wood 1

Hi All,
Thought we'd have a look for some Small Blues today ,at a site near Dover ,its normally pretty good. On arrival ,I spotted a Dingy skipper ,followed by a couple more
then a Wall brown,which as usual(well for me anyway) was a nightmare trying to get a shot, after some to and froing,I found a male Small blue and managed the shot below
in all we found 4 Small Blues and a further 3 or 4 Wall ,and several ,Dingy Skipper. Thought we'd continue on to Samphire ho ,which never disappoints, at the Lydden Spout end we found Adonis and Common Blue almost on the shingle beach,good numbers of Wall brown,a single Small Copper,and an egg laying Clouded Yellow,but the best of all 7 Small Blue,i've only ever seen a singleton here about 4 years ago so was well pleased seeing these ! add to the butterflies two Dew moth,(nat.scarce A), and 27 flowering Birds nest orchid on the way home,all in all a very enjoyable day!

A dull day yesterday here in the north-west but gave it a punt at Mynydd Marian NR near Llanddulas in N.Wales.Definitely worth it with one, or possibly, two Painted Ladys seen. In addition I had a single Wall, this site produced good numbers two years ago, a couple of Speckled Woods, several Small Heaths, a few Small Tortoiseshells and a Green-veined White.

If Painted Ladies are about in north Wales, then I'll be keeping a sharp eye out for them henceforth near Swansea.

Aberbargoed Grasslands, Gwent (Monmouthshire). Few hours spent on my local patch this morning, at least 30 Marsh Fritillary seen, need more sunshine to get things really moving. My first Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary of the year (2 seen) I've posted a more comprehensive report of my visit on my Personal Diary
Bill

"When in doubt - venture out"

About 9-12 Glanvilles today in dull weather, with a few sunny spells, while taking a group of visitors around I found a White Letter Hairstreak larva, the second year running they are low down on the same Wych Elm.

They are 20 days behind last year.

My first Large Skipper of the year today near Heathrow. Dave

A return visit to Heyshott Escarpment on Monday (25.5.15), in predominantly dull conditions, still revealed more than 50 Duke of Burgundy, with many freshly emerged females sitting around in the scrub. Common Blue numbers are now building rapidly and many were seen making their maiden flights. Throughout the day it was also apparent that a large emergence of Small Heath was underway. During the duller periods I took the opportunity to photograph some of Heyshott’s beautiful orchids, including more than a dozen Fly and similar numbers of Greater Butterfly and White Helleborine. Heyshott Escarpment never disappoints.
Common Blue
Fly Orchid
Small Heath
Greater Butterfly Orchid

Aberbargoed Grasslands NNR, Gwent (Monmouthshire). Return visit in yesterdays warm sunshine proved very worthwhile and my latest count of the Marsh Fritillary was in excess of 100 - 60% more than Monday's count (see above). Other species seen were as follows: Dingy Skipper, male and female Brimstone, Large & Green-veined White, Orange-tip, Common Blue, Peacock, Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary and Small Heath.

I was delighted to record the rare and declining micro moth Anania funebris White-spotted Sable for the third consecutive year, it took a lot of searching to achieve it though

Very pleased to get a rather novel shot of Common Blue nectaring on a white bluebell, the chances of catching such a shot are countless thousands to one...and I only managed a single shot but thankfully it turned out a reasonable one. You can read more on my Personal Diary
Lots of Marsh Fritillary were nectaring on bluebells and I enjoyed taking a few photos...well, could you resist...
Bill

"When in doubt - venture out"

Dukes Still flying at Ivinghoe Beacon today, some still looking quite fresh. Will post pics in my PD when I get a chance.

Painted Lady (rather faded) S.W. Surrey today

Plenty of early spring grassland butterflies at Crook Peak on the Mendips earlier this week. This is supposed to be the best site for Brown Argus in Somerset and there were certainly plenty in evidence. They were most territorial. Once in a while a wandering Common Blue would disturb one, and the diminutive Brown Argus would give chase, rather like a terrier snapping at the heels of one of his larger brethren. Also Dingy Skipper, Small Heath and a very early Large Skipper.