millerd

[Wurzel]

"Glorious colours accentuated by golden evening sunlight" indeed glorious The backlit shot is a cracker too

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

The backlit shot is a cracker too Wurzel

Your favourite, Wurzel!

Dave

[Neil Freeman]

1st September

During the course of the day, we saw a regular succession of Red Admirals fly in from the sea, and a number Small Tortoiseshells patrolling the water's edge. A wander through the heather on the dunes behind the shore showed that the Red Admirals were congregating there, nectaring avidly on the heather in groups of three or four. In this area we also found a Small Copper, a Brimstone and an aged Grayling, plus a great number of Silver-Y moths. We had a bit of lunch and a cup of tea at the NT café, which had potted lavender dotted around by way of decoration. Up pipes Elliot: "Look, Dad, a butterfly. It's a Painted Lady!" And so it was. My first (and thus far, only) one of the year. It too was feeding like there was no tomorrow, and only once paused to bask on the ground - presumably it was also a new arrival from the south. The lavender was also playing host to a White - I initially took it to be a Large White by the size, but I now think it's a Small White because the black tips are not extensive enough for the other species.

Dave

Hi Dave,

Just doing a bit of catching up after my week in Dorset. We went to Studland on Monday 3rd and as the rest of the gang did the beach thing I wandered through the heather behind the dunes.
I have never seen as many Red Admirals in one place as I saw here, there were hundreds of them nectaring on the heather.
Also good numbers of Small Torts which was good to see.
Silver Y moths were reaching plague proportions, there must have been thousands along this stretch
And yes, there were a couple of Painted Ladies, I saw at least 2 different individuals here plus about half a dozen others at different locations during the week.

Load of photos to sort through, will probably need 2 or 3 updates to my diary

Cheers,

Neil F.

[millerd]

From this and other posts, it looks like the South Coast is playing host to a lot of immigrant Red Admirals.

8th September

I went down to Bookham again this morning in search of possible Brown Hairstreaks, and once again bumped into Philzoid. We searched for a couple of hours without success, but he may have struck lucky after I left. I had intended to head down to Denbies, but found I needed to be back home by five, so returned and did a tour of my local patch instead. Everything is winding down, sad to see, which feels odd on what was a very sunny and hot day.

So what did I see? At Bookham, two or three Speckled Woods, several Meadow Browns, two Commas, a Red Admiral and a Small Copper. At home, there were rather more Speckled Woods, a handful of Meadow Browns, about a dozen Small Heaths, fifteen Common Blues, a Holly Blue, a Comma, a Small Tortoiseshell, two Red Admirals and good numbers of Whites of all three types. Vast areas of the open areas I walk through have now been coarsely mown (though islands of wildness do remain), so I hope this haircut has been late enough not to affect anything too much. It is now labelled as a Biodiversity Site rather than a Conservation Area - whether this is better or worse, I know not. I shall probably write to BAA and ask what their designation means.

Dave

[Neil Freeman]

From this and other posts, it looks like the South Coast is playing host to a lot of immigrant Red Admirals.
Dave

Hi Dave,

I e-mailed Dorset BC with some of my sightings, including the Red Admirals at Studland, and received the following reply,

Dear Neil,

Thanks very much for your holiday butterfly records which were much appreciated. I thought you would like to know that your Red Admirals behind the beach at Studland on 3rd September are turning out to be part of a huge migration into Dorset coming on shore from West Bexington in the far west [September 3rd], Portland [120 in the garden of the Bird Observatory on 5th plus 25 Painted Ladies], & in the east at Southbourne [100 plus on Sept.5th]. 2 Monarchs have also been seen [Portland 7th & Southbourne 5th]. Scattered Clouded Yellow records are also turning up all over Dorset.

Best Wishes,

Bill Shreeves {Dorset Butterfly Records Officer]



Cheers,

Neil F.

[millerd]

Thanks for the info, Neil! When we watched them flying in off the sea at the rate of about one every ten minutes or so (just our bit of beach, of course!), I wondered whether anything significant was happening. Now we know! Pity there wasn't a Monarch in amongst them...

I'll send Dorset BC my sightings as well.

Cheers,

Dave

[Wurzel]

Cracking shots Dave- especially like the Small Copper with the green sheen, is that because of it's age, it's corroding?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

9th September

A commitment to take Elliot to a miniature railway today rather curtailed activities on another beautiful day. We did pop out locally first but the main interest for Elliot was blackberries... Plenty of White butterflies were around, including more Large Whites than at any time this year, plus the inevitable Red Admirals and Commas. Elliot did find a Small Tortoiseshell as well - rather encoraging, as I've seen at least one on almost every trip out round here since the start of August. Also seen was this distinctly blue dragonfly.

Down at the Great Cockcrow Railway, near Chertsey, we saw a large number of miniature steam engines, including some rare migrants - and a Small Copper by the track as we whizzed past at a cracking 10 miles an hour.

Dave

[MikeOxon]

Good to see the late-season butterflies enjoying the weather. Your dragonfly is a Migrant Hawker (Aeshna mixta)

Mike

[millerd]

15th September

Another weekend - and more sunshine. Instead of taking the boys to Studland again, we took a shortened journey to Southbourne instead. I managed a side trip from the sand to the slopes at the back of the promenade where sea aster was flowering (and was told off by a beach patroller for venturing on the wrong side of the fence). The slope was host to a variety of butterflies, including Large and Small Whites, Red Admirals and Small Tortoiseshells. However, I had really come to look for Clouded Yellows at what might possibly be the most reliable spot in the UK for this species. I'm pleased to say that I saw at least three - but at a distance only, and the photos were at the limit of the 10x zoom of my camera. Add a bit of a breeze and a very unsteady hand deriving from the 45 degree slope, and the results were rather poor. Never mind, they were lovely to watch - my first for three years, and my 47th species (likely to be the last now) of 2012.

I bumped into Paul Brock, author of "Insects of the New Forest", who had seen a few more earlier on, including a mating pair. We discussed the persistence of the Clouded Yellow in this spot, where reputedly the larvae have regularly survived the winter and the adults turn up year after year. I can certainly say it was pretty warm down there today.

Returning to base to the east of the promenade, on the way to Hengistbury Head, I saw several Small Coppers flying along the shoreline, and more Red Admirals arriving from seaward.

Dave

[Neil Freeman]

Nice one Dave

I never did get to Southbourne whilst I was in Dorset, just ran out of time and too many excellent sites to visit.
I saw a couple of Clouded Yellows, 1 at Bindon Hill and 1 at Ballard down and was well satisfied even though I did not manage to getr any photos.

Cheers,

Neil F.

[David M]

I assume they hibernate as adults if they DO survive our winters there?

[millerd]

I think it's believed they do so as larvae. Not strictly hibernating, though - instead the warm microclimate down there may allow them to remain just about active. Proper cold would kill them in all stages, as their natural home is the Med and points south. One curiosity is that Clouded Yellows are not thought to be colonial - so any spring butterflies would disperse, rather than stay and breed in situ. Breed twice in fact, to maintain an annual appearance in late summer/autumn as they seem to do.

A bit of a mystery, and one that should probably be studied for a longer period. Maybe this is being/has been done - does anyone know?

Dave

[David M]

I think it's believed they do so as larvae. Not strictly hibernating, though - instead the warm microclimate down there may allow them to remain just about active. Proper cold would kill them in all stages, as their natural home is the Med and points south. One curiosity is that Clouded Yellows are not thought to be colonial - so any spring butterflies would disperse, rather than stay and breed in situ. Breed twice in fact, to maintain an annual appearance in late summer/autumn as they seem to do.

A bit of a mystery, and one that should probably be studied for a longer period. Maybe this is being/has been done - does anyone know?

Dave

Interesting stuff.

From what I've read about their distribution in France, they appear to be permanent residents of the warmer southern regions, and once they've emerged from hibernation they fan out northwards.

It would be useful to know whether there are any isolated pockets in northern France where the butterfly survives year round.

[Wurzel]

Whatever the results Dave it's still a Clouded Yellow, I'd take it! I'll have a go at that site next season though the last time I was there (many,many moons ago) it was more the birds that were on my mind

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

16th September

Back home, and a quick wander around my local patch on a much cooler and cloudier day. As with everywhere else it seems, Red Admirals dominated. There is a lot of ivy around here, and it is now in flower - most large patches had at least one Red Admiral, and some had several more. Altogether, I counted fifteen, but had the sun been brightly shining, I suspect there would have been more. I also saw six Commas, a Speckled Wood, a Meadow Brown, numerous Whites of all three common types and a solitary Common Blue.

Dave

[millerd]

21st September

Only the briefest chances to have a look locally this afternoon: there were several Whites around, including a Small White on the front lawn and more Large Whites than usual. Only the one Red Admiral seen, though. Despite the obvious scuffing of the scales, this one was probably freshly emerged as there was a drop of fluid still apparently being expelled from its abdomen. It was another very fat specimen: so distended were the abdominal segments that they appeared striped, as they no longer fitted snugly together. Perhaps another egg-laden female.

Dave

[millerd]

6th October

Having been very much stuck in the office recently, and with no scope to get out at the weekend, a sunny Saturday seemed too good an opportunity to miss. I headed south, and prompted by BadgerBob's report of late sightings, I ended up at High & Over. A good wander around, and a longer stroll westwards on the Frog Firle side revealed a good number of both Commas and Red Admirals, mostly on ivy, though the Commas sought out the last of the blackberries as well. I also noted several Red Admirals flying strongly over the area, but not in any one direction - no particular evidence of a southward migration, for example. One sheltered (and wholly inaccessible) patch of ivy in particular had attracted both these species to the extent that fights were breaking out and butterflies were soaring in scrapping dogfights over the vegetation. I saw no Walls, unfortunately, nor Blues, but did spot a Small Copper, a couple of Large Whites, a Small White and half a dozen Speckled Woods. The views, as ever, were wonderful.

Returning home around five o'clock, I spotted a couple of Red Admirals still nectaring on the local Ivy.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Cracking shots Dave and nice to see something different - all I'm finding at the moment is Commas and Red Admirals - saying that I'm just greater up to still be seeing butterflies

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

13th October

A day out with the boys at the Watercress Line in Hampshire: A couple of Red Admirals were spotted near Alton station, and a bit later a Comma at Ropley.

14th October

I persuaded the smallest of the three that a walk would be a good idea at lunchtime today. The sun was out, and it felt quite warm out of the wind. We soon found half a dozen Red Admirals on the profusion of ivy hereabouts, along with a single Comma. Suddenly, the Comma took flight, pursued by a something a good deal smaller and brighter. Having seen the Comma off, it settled in the sun - a shiny new Small Copper. Amazingly, this is the first one I have seen locally this year - mid-October is an unusual date for a first sighting! Finally, we came across a male Green-veined White, hopefully investigating anything remotely white in his quest for a female.

Dave