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No response to my post regarding lack of butterflies in the Loire Valley. This should be a worry to all of us. Is something sinister afoot?

Ian Pratt wrote:No response to my post regarding lack of butterflies in the Loire Valley. This should be a worry to all of us. Is something sinister afoot?

Just noticed it now, Ian. Not an area I have visited for butterflies but a look at any French guide with distribution maps shows species falling away from the north west of the country. I can't think of any plausible reason other than intensive agriculture.

One of the seven Black Hairstreak pupae found in Monks Wood, Cambs today. Not so difficult once you get your eye in. Most at eye level and quite easy to spot

Another of my home-reared "babies".Jack

Beautiful specimen, Jack. Are they all that yellow up your way?

That Green -veins a beauty Jack ,don,t think I,ve ever seen one as yellow as that ………..Nice one !
An early morning trip (6.45 -9 am ) up to the local North Downs near Wye (Kent )with Blues in mind ,I was hoping for some female Common Blues and Adonis Blues ,struggled at first ,for the first hour with 10 male Adonis ,2 each Brown Args ,Dingy Skippers , Common Blues and Small Heath,
but as the morning moved on and the sun got higher the " girls" started appearing ,and I was sorry to have to leave ,just as things got going at 9 am.
While I was there I was kept company on and off by 3 Buzzard and 2 Red Kites and was also really pleased to hear at least 2 Turtle Doves (possibly
as many as 4 ) purring close by.
Regards Allan.W.

Thanks for comments re;Grizzlies Andrew ,and that is an excellent shot of a glorious female Common Blue !
Regards Allan.W.

I agree, Jacks GV White is a glorious specimen!

Allan

That Green -veins a beauty Jack ,don,t think I,ve ever seen one as yellow as that ………..Nice one !

That is more-or-less the colour as I saw it but the camera sensor might have been fooled by the intense blue of the Lithodora flowers.

Jack

Not that it's any kind of competition, but here is another unusual Common Blue female seen today - this time on my local patch near Heathrow.It was slightly unusual underneath as well, with a pronounced turquoise flush at the base of the hindwings, and a hint of silver studs in the hindwing marginal black spots. Dave

A one hour visit to a local site ,here in Kent ,looking for a scarce moth (no luck ! ) I found 4 Grizzles ,9 Common Blue (inc; 3 fresh females ) many Burnet Companion ,Cinnabar , Mother Shipton Moths and was very pleased with 4 Small Yellow Underwing .
Best finds though were a single fresh Meadow Brown and a male large Skipper ,my firsts for the year, and a Cricket bat spider.
Regards Allan.W.

A somewhat disappointing trip to Cotley Hill from Brighton yesterday (27/05/2019). It was very windy so photography was difficult. And there didn't seem to be many Marsh Fritillary. I was on site for about 4 hours and I saw less than 10. Not sure if they were hiding from the wind or just having a poor year there. Just I was about to leave I met someone who'd been to Battlesbury Hill earlier that day and seen about a 100 Marsh Fritillary so I guess I picked the wrong location!

I did get a fairly nice shot of an underside although it isn't quite in focus due to the wind blowing it around on the seed head..

Apart from Marsh Fritillary I saw the usual suspects: Adonis Blue, Brown Argus, Common Blue, Dingy Skipper, Grizzled Skipper, Green Hairstreak, Wall; and also one Duke of Burgundy which I've never seen at Cotley Hill before. I wonder if they've spread from Battlesbury Hill?

Cheers
John W

Hardly any butterflies in South London. Where have they all gone to?

Ian:

No butterflies in Loire Valley and now "Hardly any butterflies in South London. Where have they all gone to?"

As somebody once rudely said to me, maybe a visit to SpecSavers is called for?

Jack

millerd wrote:Not that it's any kind of competition, but here is another unusual Common Blue female seen today...

If it were, Dave, I think that would be the winner. An extraordinary specimen!

Ian Pratt wrote:Hardly any butterflies in South London. Where have they all gone to?

They are all at Hutchinsons Bank,

175 Small Blues on Transect this week, and 431 so far this year. There are many more off transect and groups of 20+ on a few leaves are common.

Nice to see some Common Blue
Been busy with building ponds and grandchildren's birthday but did manage a PBF outing with PhilB and Rosalyn to N Yorks...

Good numbers in a very small site..

On the Downs early evening to watch the Blues going to roost ,kept company as the other afternoon by a Red Kite and a couple of purring Turtle Doves ,they seem to be doing quite well locally this year ,I,m pleased to say !
Good numbers of Adonis ,including 2 AB;Krodeli (one fresh and one worn ) plus an almost Black female Adonis ,fewer Common Blues ……..still its early yet .
Fragrant orchids are out in good numbers and I was pleased to find 6 Bee Orchids . One sad find ,half way up a hillside a reasonably freshly dead Barn Owl.
Regards Allan W.

Jack Harrison wrote:Ian:

No butterflies in Loire Valley and now "Hardly any butterflies in South London. Where have they all gone to?"

As somebody once rudely said to me, maybe a visit to SpecSavers is called for?

Jack

I cannot see what is not there!!Loire valley at this time of year should be teeming with butterflies. Morden Hall Park (NT) which I have visited before when there was a good variety of butterflies, today provided 3 whites, 2 holly blues, 1 speckled wood, 1 brimstone and 4 banded demoiselles. Hardly a glut.

Ian Pratt wrote:

Jack Harrison wrote:Ian:

No butterflies in Loire Valley and now "Hardly any butterflies in South London. Where have they all gone to?"

As somebody once rudely said to me, maybe a visit to SpecSavers is called for?

Jack

I cannot see what is not there!!Loire valley at this time of year should be teeming with butterflies. Morden Hall Park (NT) which I have visited before when there was a good variety of butterflies, today provided 3 whites, 2 holly blues, 1 speckled wood, 1 brimstone and 4 banded demoiselles. Hardly a glut.

Ever heard of the "May Gap"? Supposedly, there should be a gap between early and late Spring emergences...…
Not so this year at least!