Neil Freeman

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Pauline, thanks for your comments and my apologies for not responding sooner. I had a nasty head cold for a while and then most of my recent time online has been spent researching and planning some butterflying trips for this year so I have not logged onto UKB much lately and missed your post.

It seems that others are starting to see butterflies but so far I have not got off the mark. Last weekend we had some decent sun but there has still been an underlying chilliness in the air along with a cold wind most days and we are still getting regular frosts around here.
It looks as if this weekend is set to be dry but dull and cloudy with temperatures still well down in single figures so I will probably be doing stuff around the house to keep the brownie points topped up for later use

Wurzel's recent post showing a Lime Hawk Moth reminded me that I had found a caterpillar of this species last September crawling across the pavement just down the road from our house. Like a lot of suburban roads, ours is lined with Lime trees and from the caterpillars appearance and behaviour I reckoned it had just descended from one of these trees and was looking for somewhere to burrow down and pupate. Standing out in plain view on the pavement I guess it was fortunate that it had not been spotted by a hungry bird and I couldn't resist taking it home with me.
I remembered from my experiences of finding and rearing various Hawk Moth caterpillars when I was a youth back in the seventies that Lime Hawks tend to only burrow down a couple of inches at most so I put it into a plastic container with a some garden soil and leaf litter. The next morning it had disappeared, presumably to pupate under the soil, so I left it for a about a week for the pupa to harden before carefully removing the soil. I then placed the pupa into a tin which I left in the garage to overwinter, checking it occasionally to see if it still looked healthy. Lime Hawks usually start emerging sometime in early May so all being well I will be laying the pupa out in a cage ready for then.

Leroy(or Lily) the Limey wandering around its plastic box just after being found last September.

The pupa about a week ago.

Bye for now,

Neil

[Goldie M]

Hi! Neil, Thursday was a cracking day here really hot Sunshine, since then we've gone down hill, it's been really cloudy and cold, not very Spring like at all but at least we saw the Sun, trouble is it makes you want more of it Hope you get better weather soon. Goldie

[Wurzel]

Looking forward to seeing Leroy later in the year Neil. Bob, Bobette and Bobina are all still in the 'cage' and looking good

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Goldie, a really dull and drizzly day yesterday and today has started off the same. Oh well, lets hope it bucks up in time for Easter.

Cheers Wurzel, looking forward to seeing your 'Bob derivatives' later in the year too.

Saturday 19th March

I have seen quite a few butterfly sightings over the past week or so from various parts of the country including well north of me but so far I am not off the mark. I must admit this is mainly because I have not had chance to go out yet with me being at work during the best spells of weather last week and this weekend being cool, dull and drizzly so far. I have a week off work over Easter and am hoping to be able to get out a bit and kick my season off then.

In the meantime I have been doing my usual thing of watching the birds in the garden during breaks in the chores and taking the occasional photo through the back room window. Among the usual visitors to the feeders yesterday there was a new face which I have not had in the garden before. I managed a record shot which was just about good enough for me to see that it looks like a female Siskin although not being familiar with this species I am happy to be corrected.

Female Siskin, I think? - Coverdale 19.03.2016

Bye for now,

Neil

[Wurzel]

I'd agree with that identification Neil - you can see the dark streaks down the flanks and the breast. I too share your misfortune of not being able to get out of work whenthe weather is conducive to butterflies but still it has to get better soon!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

Thanks for the confirmation of the Siskin Wurzel

Friday 25th March

The best weather of the week arrived for Good Friday and guess who had to go to work today. At least it was only half a day as is usual for me on a Friday and I was back home by 12.30 and went straight out into the back garden. Almost immediatly I was greeted by my first butterfly of the year, a beautiful Peacock that was flitting about and settling to bask in the glorious sunshine.

Peacock - Coverdale 25.03.2016

As I was pottering about in the garden a Small Tortoiseshell buzzed around my head and then shot off across the neighbours gardens.

Shortly afterwards we went around to my Moms for our regular Friday afternoon visit. By now some clouds had bubbled up but there was still plenty of sun so I went for a short walk around the park just down the road from my moms house. I soon spotted a Small Tortoiseshell and managed a couple of record shots before it took off over some nearby trees.

Small Tortoiseshell - Langley Hall 25.03.2016

After circling around I came back along to the same place and spotted what I thought at the time was the same Small Tortoiseshell again and took another couple of record shots.

Small Tortoiseshell - Langley Hall 25.03.2016

Looking carefully at the photos afterwards shows that this was in fact a different individual to the first which made it two Small Tortoiseshells seen during my 30 minutes or so here.

The weather for the rest of the bank holiday weekend is looking a bit grim but I have all next week off work so fingers crossed.

Bye for now,

Neil

[trevor]

You're off to a great start Neil. Reading through the diaries today it would seem
that the hibernators were emerging all over the country.
Stunning colours on your Peacock.

Have a great season
Trevor.

[Goldie M]

Lovely shots Neil, it seems after my early shots nothing was happening at my local spot where a week ago I'd seen a Comma and 3 Small Tort's, if an explanation can be given for this I'd love to know why, the weather was lovely as well. Goldie

[Neil Freeman]

Thanks Trevor, it certainly seems that there were a fair few sightings around the country

Hi Goldie, despite a few sightings around here yesterday it still seems to be early days. It is usual for early April to be when things really get going around my patch so plenty of time yet.

I had a trip up to Nottingham this afternoon to collect my youngest son Danny from Uni for a visit home over Easter. He would have been home a week ago but has spent the past week in Spain with the University Athletics Club, supposedly training (Yeah right!).

It is now absolutely lashing down outside so time for another little report from yesterday.

Turning to the Dark Side

For the past couple of years I have been thinking of getting a moth trap and had decided that I would go for it this year. The final catalyst for this decision was when I found the Lime Hawk moth caterpillar on the pavement outside my house and realised that I had never seen any adults of this species around my house which got me wondering what else was about at night.
Over the winter months I did loads of researching on the internet on the advantages and disadvantages of the various designs and eventually decided to go for a Robinson type trap with twin 30w actinic tubes. The reasoning behind going for the more expensive Robinson trap was that I had read a few stories of people starting off with other traps and then wanting to upgrade within a year or two once they had got into ‘mothing’ and I felt sure that knowing what I am like that this would apply to me as well so I might as well jump straight in with what I would probably end up getting sooner or later. I chose actinic tubes because my garden is overlooked by neighbours and a brighter MV lamp would potentially cause a nuisance.

The trap was duly ordered and arrived last Thursday (25th March) and on my arriving home from work I was like a kid with a new toy and quickly checked the weather forecast. That night looked like being the best of the next few nights although still not ideal, being cold and clear with cloud and possible showers later. Still, with bands of heavy rain and strong winds heading in for the Easter weekend I decided to put the trap out in the garden to see if there was anything about.
Next morning (Good Friday) I was working in the morning so I just turned the trap off when I got up at 05.30 and had a quick look and saw a few moths in there. I covered the opening to prevent any escapes until I could have a better look on my return.

Later that afternoon I had a chance to have a proper look at my catch which consisted of five individual moths of what looked like 3 species. I recognised two of them as Hebrew Characters and after taking a few photos and releasing them I went to my bookshelf to try and identify the others. I already have the Waring Townsend & Lewington Field Guide to the Moths of Great Britain and Ireland so this was my ‘go to’ reference and after perusing this for a while I reckon that I also had two Common Quakers and a Clouded Drab.

Clouded Drab - Coverdale 25.03.2016

Common Quaker - Coverdale 25..03.2016

Common Quaker - Coverdale 25..03.2016

Common Quaker - Coverdale 25..03.2016

Hebrew Character - Coverdale 25.03.2016

I will say that being a beginner at this I would welcome any comments and corrections on any moth IDs that I make as it is apparent that a lot of species can be vary variable and I am bound to get some wrong.

I am really looking forward to finding out what is flying around my garden during the hours of darkness over the coming months.

Bye for now,

Neil

[Wurzel]

Great start to the season Neil (or is that Sith Lord) and also great Moth shots. Good idea about forgoing the need to upgrade - with lit like that it's always a good idea to go straight for the best

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

Thanks Wurzel, must admit a fair chunk of brownie points were included in the cost of the trap At least with the weather forecast over the next few days it looks like I will building up a few more.

Looking back at first sightings

Now that I am off the mark with my first 2016 season butterflies I thought that I would have a look back at the dates of my first butterfly sightings over the past few years just out of curiosity to see how this year has compared.
The dates for the 5 previous years are below with the species seen along with the numbers.

This year – 25th March… Peacock (1), Small Tortoiseshell (3)
2015 – 20th March…Peacock (3), Small Tortoiseshell (5), Comma (1)
2014 – 9th March…Brimstone (2), Peacock (10+), Small Tortoiseshell (12+), Comma (6+)
2013 – 6th April…Comma (1), Peacock (1)
2012 – 11th March…Peacock (5), Comma (4)
2011 – 25th March…Brimstone (1), Peacock (1)

These sightings were all either from my garden or close by around Solihull, so there is some consistency in terms of location.

This shows that for me this year has started a few days later than last year and a couple of weeks later than 2014 which was a notably early start to the season, at least for around here. 2014 was also a standout year for the numbers of hibernators seen on the first day. In contrast 2013 was a late spring and I clearly remember we had some snow which was still lying in the garden in the last week of March with my first sightings not until 6th April.

These sightings also reflect the recent recovery of Small Tortoiseshells and the fact that Brimstones are a bit hit and miss around my local patch.

Saturday 26th March – A few more moths.

Friday night was another clear and cold night but with no rain forecast I couldn’t resist the temptation to run my new moth trap again.
Inspecting the trap on Saturday morning produced 2 Hebrew Characters, 1 Common Quaker and 1 Clouded Drab, the same species as the previous night although photos showed them all to be different individuals. This comparison is made easier by the fact that all these species can show considerable variation.

With the moths being docile during the day it was easy to remove them from the trap and position them for some photos.

Clouded Drab...a more attractive moth than the name suggests

Common Quaker...looking quite cute from this angle

Hebrew Characters...showing some variation in colour

The same two Hebrew Characters

With next week off work my fingers are crossed that once storm Katie has passed through I will be able to get out a bit and have a look around my local spots.

Bye for now,

Neil.

[Pauline]

Great to see you finally took the plunge Neil and your moth shots are wonderful. I always seem to struggle with mine which may be something to do with the light levels at that time of the morning. Between yourself and Dave, you have given me the incentive I need to get cracking again

[Wurzel]

With regards to Brownie points my advice is to buy some paint and a paint brush and when the weather's awful paint one of the rooms - Brownie points banked

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Pauline,

Yes, after a couple of years of thinking about it I finally took the plunge, not exactly acting on impulse for once I have been using my old FZ150 with the close up lens for the moth shots as it is easier to use when the moths are docile during the day and I don't have an adapter to use the lens on my FZ200.

Cheers Wurzel, no painting this week but plenty of blitzing of all the stuff we seem to have accumulated and clearing out of rooms ready for painting to come...still counts as brownie points

Thursday 31st March

I have run the moth trap a couple of times this week although the nights have been cold with clear skies and temperatures dropping down to 2 or 3 degrees in the early morning. Even so I have been catching a few moths, usually a couple of Hebrew Characters and Common Quakers each time.
On checking the trap this morning after another cold and clear night I found a single Hebrew Character, 2 Common Quakers and a larger moth which although a bit worn was much more attractive. A quick check in my book confirmed it to be an Oak Beauty which is one of the larger and more attractive of the early spring flying moths.

Oak Beauty - Coverdale 31.03.2016

Oak Beauty - Coverdale 31.03.2016

Oak Beauty - Coverdale 31.03.2016

As well as the cold nights the past few days have also been a bit nippy around here and whilst there has been some nice sunny spells the temperature has struggled to get into the low teens at most. There has also often been a cold breeze and when the sun has been covered by clouds it has felt decidedly cool. I have therefore ended up getting some jobs done around the house so far this week rather than going out anywhere.

Looking at the weather forecasts earlier in the week it looked as if Thursday was going to be the best day to get out and so I had planned to nip out for a bit this afternoon for a look around one of my local spots.
Well, wouldn’t you know it…Thursday dawns and the forecast has changed . After waking up to a chilly morning with clear blue skies, clouds were now forecast to build up through the day, just like the previous few days. Still, having made my mind up to go out, just after midday I went around to my local spot at Bickenhill.

At least the wind was much lighter today and for an hour or so I enjoyed some nice sunshine during which it felt nice and pleasant. Wandering over to one of the usually reliable sheltered corners here, I soon spotted 3 Small Tortoiseshells and a single Comma, all nectaring on Blackthorn blossom. A bit further along I also had a flypast by a Peacock which flew rapidly off across the M42.

By mid-afternoon the clouds had built up with some darker grey ones amongst them and after a short shower during which I sheltered under some trees I headed for home.

I did take a few photos but it looks as if I must have changed my camera settings somehow and they were all massively over exposed so I have binned them. Oh well, that will teach me to check things before merrily clicking away.

Bye for now,

Neil.

[Wurzel]

That Oak Beauty is certainly properly named - great shots too! Good news on the Brownie point collection!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

Cheers Wurzel, looking forward to spending the points as the season progresses

Saturday 2nd April

Since getting my moth trap the nights have either been clear and cold or wet and windy so not really good weather for mothing so far. Friday night looked to be cloudy albeit with a bit of a breeze so I decided to run the trap again. In the end it got quite blustery and rained all through the second half of the night but despite this I still had 3 Common Quakers, and singles each of Hebrew Character and Clouded Drab when I checked the trap in the morning.

Common Quakers - Coverdale 02.04.2016

Hebrew Character - Coverdale 02.04.2016

The weather forecast for the rest of the day was for the initial rain and cloud to move away during the morning to leave a nice sunny day. In the event the morning remained grey and drab and the cloud took longer than forecast to clear but by early afternoon it was warming up a bit and looking promising enough to tempt me out to my local spot at Bickenhill again.

During a couple of hours here the clouds gradually cleared to leave wall to wall blue sky and light winds that made for a very pleasant afternoon. I soon saw a couple of Small Tortoiseshells and wandering along the footpaths I counted at least 6, possibly more, spaced out every hundred yards or so along the sunny sides of the hedgerows. These were usually either basking down on the grass, from where they would take off to intercept anything that flew close, or nectaring on the plentiful blackthorn blossom along the hedges.

Small Tortoiseshell - Bickenhill 02.04.2016

Small Tortoiseshell - Bickenhill 02.04.2016

Small Tortoiseshell - Bickenhill 02.04.2016

Small Tortoiseshell - Bickenhill 02.04.2016

As well as the Tortoiseshells there were at least 2 each of Comma and Peacock along the same stretches of path and all three species would often spiral up into the sky with each other when they intruded into each other’s airspace.

Comma - Bickenhill 02.04.2016

Comma - Bickenhill 02.04.2016

Peacock - Bickenhill 02.04.2016

Peacock - Bickenhill 02.04.2016

As usual I am a bit vague on exact numbers due to the way these species will patrol along a considerable stretch of hedgerow. In fact I saw one of the Peacocks, easily identified by a large chunk missing from one hindwing, in quite separate spots here at each end of one hedgerow and could easily have counted it as two different individuals.

I seems that a few Specklies have been seen over the weekend...shouldn't be long now before they re-appear in my garden

Bye for now,

Neil.

[bugboy]

Looks like we had very similar days Neil, isn't it wonderful when we finally get that first decent set of imagies in the spring

[David M]

It seems that a few Specklies have been seen over the weekend...shouldn't be long now before they re-appear in my garden

Wouldn't be spring without them, Neil, and I expect to see images from your garden within the forthcoming few days!

[trevor]

Lovely stuff, Neil. There can be nothing more beautiful than a colourful Butterfly
on Blackthorn against a blue sky. A real taste of Spring.

Best wishes,
Trevor.

[Butterflysaurus rex]

I see the moth trap is attracting some goodies there Neil, it's something I've been wanting to do for a long while but I've been too busy to get around to it. Hopefully one day. Lovely photos of the three hibernators on blossom too.

ATB

James