Neil Freeman

[Wurzel]

I agree with Bugboy - that is a cracking shot of the Jay

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

I'm assuming you live in a relatively 'countrified' area, Neil. You seem to have so much going on in your garden; far more than me, and I live in the middle of nowhere!!

[Neil Freeman]

Cheers Bugboy and Wurzel...I had been watching the antics of that Jay for a while before I thought of trying to get a shot of it in mid air.

Hi David, I am in a typical suburban location, not really a 'countrified' area. All of the houses around me are 1930s semis with decent sized mature gardens with lots of trees and shrubs which no doubt helps.

Cheers,

Neil.

[Goldie M]

Hi! Neil fantastic shot of the Jay, we have them here at Hall-Lee-Brook but they don't venture out of there much, never seen one in my garden at all.Goldie

[Neil Freeman]

Thanks Goldie, I get them in garden quite regularly but not often around the feeders.

Winter moth trapping

After a couple of weeks of proper winter weather with overnight temperatures dropping down to -3 or -4 and on at least one occasion my car display was showing -6 on the way to work at 06.30am, the weather turned much milder this week. With a few species of moths being winter specialists I decided to run the moth trap in the garden a couple of times to see if anything would turn up.

The species I expected to see was the aptly named Winter Moth which flies throughout the winter and so I was not surprised to have a couple of these in the trap.

Winter Moth - Coverdale 09.12.16

A faded female Red-green Carpet also turned up on Wednesday night. In this species the males fly from September to November but the females hibernate and fly again the following spring but will also come to light on milder winter nights.

Red-green Carpet - Coverdale 08.12.2016

I was also pleased to see nice example of The Satellite, so named because of the two small 'satellite' spots by the larger white stigma spots on each forewing. This is another species which hibernates as an adult but will also fly in milder weather throughout the winter. The larvae of this species feed on a wide range of trees and shrubs and when larger are carnivorous and actively seek out the larvae of other Lepidoptera to prey on.

Satellite - Coverdale 09.12.2016

The tally was completed by a couple of micros in the form of Light Brown Apple Moths and a single Twenty-plume moth, both species which can be seen in any month of the year.

Although the frequency of putting the trap out has dropped considerably, I will continue to run it through the winter on likely looking nights to see what is out there.

Bye for now,

Neil.

[Neil Freeman]

Looking back at 2016- Part 1

Spring

After a very mild first half to the winter, the weather turned a bit colder in early February with some frosty nights and a few days with light coverings of snow here in the midlands.
The first hibernators started re-appearing around my local patch at the end of March which is a fairly normal time for the season to kick off around here. My first sightings are always of the three common hibernating vanessids, Comma, Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell, with any of these three turning up first in any year. This year it was a Peacock, closely followed by a Small Tortoiseshell, both seen on 25th March, joined by Commas a week later when I saw all three on 2nd April. I then saw these at all the usual spots locally but numbers of all three species were well down on previous years. Nevertheless they gave me the chance to get some spring shots of butterflies on blossom...always a good start to the season .

Peacock - Bickenhill 02.04.2016

Small Tortoiseshell - Bickenhill 02.04.2016

Comma - Bickenhill 02.04.2016

It seems that Red Admirals are beginning to overwinter successfully in the midlands with some early sightings being reported but not yet in the kind of numbers seen down south. I have yet to see one around my local patch before June.

Brimstones can be a bit hit and miss for me around my local patch but I have been seeing a few more passing through my garden over the past few seasons, some of which have lingered around, probably attracted by some buckthorn that I planted a few years ago and on which I have been lucky enough to see females laying a number of times now.

Brimstone - Coverdale 06.05.2016

Spring then turned into one of those cool and cloudy ones that we have often had over the past few years with a nippy northerly breeze making itself felt on many days. This seemed to hold back the emergence of the rest of the usual spring species and it was the end of April before these started to show up with Green-veined and Large Whites appearing first, followed by Small Whites, Orange-tips, Holly Blues and Speckled Woods in early May.
Throughout the rest of May, most of the better weather seemed to be during the week when I was at work with the weekends often being cool and cloudy which no doubt coloured my perceptions but my impression was that numbers of most species seemed to be well down on normal. Orange-tips in particular appeared to be having a poor season locally and seemed to have a shorter flight period than normal, although I did see good numbers still flying around Fort William when I was in Scotland in early June.

Green-veined White - Coverdale 29.04.2016

Large White - Coverdale 06.05.2016

Small White - Coverdale 27.05.2016

Orange-tip - Castle Hills 14.05.2016

Speckled Wood - Coverdale 12.05.2016

Holly Blue - Coverdale 24.05.2016

Later in May saw me getting out a bit further around Warwickshire and a trip down to Bishops Hill produced Dingy Skipper and Small Blues along with the first Common Blues of the season, although I failed to find any Grizzled Skippers there this year.

Dingy Skipper - Bishops Hill 22.05.2016

Small Blue - Bishops Hill 22.05.2016

Common Blues - Bishops Hill 22.05.2016

A week later Common Blues were flying at my local patch along with a few first brood Small Heaths. The latter species is the subject of some concern in Warwickshire and currently appears to be the butterfly in most serious decline in the county. I also had a good look in the usual spots for first brood Small Coppers but without success.

Small Heath - Castle Hills 29.05.2016

At the end of May a trip to Ryton Wood and Meadows on yet another cloudy day produced half a dozen or so Wood Whites, around the same number of Green Hairstreaks and my only sighting of a Pearl-bordered Fritillary this year. The best site in the midlands for PBF is the Wyre Forest but unfortunately due to various limitations on my available time I did not manage to get there this year.

Wood White - Ryton Wood 30.05.2016

Pearl-bordered Fritillary - Ryton Wood 30.05.2016

Green Hairstreak - Ryton Wood Meadows - 30.05.2016

Some exceptionally mild weather during the previous autumn had continued well into the winter and I had read a lot of comments wondering how those conditions would effect this season. Whether it was that or the generally cool and cloudy spring, or indeed a combination of both, butterfly numbers in general had so far been well down in what had turned into a disappointing early season overall.

The next look back will take us through June and into high summer.

Bye for now,

Neil

[Wurzel]

Nice start to the look back Neil - looking forward to the next installment I have some relatives living in Worcester so where abouts are the PBFs in the Wyre, are they widespread there or in certain locations?

Have a goodun
Wurzel

[Goldie M]

Lovely photos Neil, not too long now before a new year begins, Goldie

[Neil Freeman]

Thanks Goldie. Yep, just another couple of weeks and the nights will start getting shorter again

Cheers Wurzel. The PBFs can be found spread around the Wyre in a number of places and they seem to move quickly into new areas as they become available through various types of management. There are a number of good spots in the meadows along Dowles Brook and along the old railway line although I have also seen them whilst wandering more widely around the forest.
For more info on good sites within reach of Worcester and for a good read on butterflies of the area, if you don't already have it I would strongly recommend the recently published 'Butterflies of the West Midlands' http://www.dispar.org/reference.php?id=116

Cheers,

Neil

[millerd]

A lovely selection of spring butterflies, Neil. I had no idea there were PBF at Ryton - is it a new (re)introduction? I saw a couple of Wood Whites there myself this year in the wood but found the meadow area inaccessible because of additional quite robust fencing. Can this now be reached only on particular open days?

Dave

[Neil Freeman]

Thanks Dave . PM sent.
The PBFs were reintroduced a couple of years ago although it is some time since this species was present in Warwickshire. I believe their future (and that of the Wood Whites) hangs in the balance as the wood is no longer being managed by Warwickshire BC although the meadows are. This is part of the reason for the fence and there have been issues with people wandering through from the country park and letting dogs run loose and there is often livestock present in the meadows.

Cheers,

Neil

[Neil Freeman]

Looking back at 2016- Part 2

Summer.

With the transition from late spring into early summer, the weather here in the midlands stayed pretty much the same - that is lots of cloud with an almost constant cool breeze which kept the temperatures down a bit even on the occasions when the sun was out.

Early June saw me travelling north for a couple of days near Arnside and then continuing on to Scotland for 4 days before heading back south and spending another couple of days around Arnside. It was during this trip that it was really brought home to me how much seasons can vary in different parts of the UK. On our arrival at our first B&B our hosts told us that they had been enjoying a couple of weeks of good weather, much better than we had been having back home in the midlands. This pattern continued when we were in Scotland with glorious sunny weather on every day that we were up there. The weather stayed good for us until the following weekend when we had some cloud and drizzle on our return trip.
The result of this good weather in that part of the world was that the season seemed ahead of what I had experienced so far this year in the midlands and I was surpised to find Northern Brown Argus already flying in the first few days of June at Warton Crag, Arnside Knot and Gait Barrows. I had hoped I would find these on our way back from Scotland the following weekend but thought that it would be a bit too early on the way up.

Northern BRown Argus salmacis - Warton Crag 03.06.2016

Good numbers of Small Pearl-bordered Fritillaries were also flying, both around Arnside and in Scotland at Glasdrum Wood and Glen Loy. It seemed that this species is doing well in the northern parts of its range.

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary - Arnside Knot 04.06.2016

The trip to Scotland was primarily to see my first Chequered Skippers, which I found at Glasdrum Wood, Alt Mhuic and Glen Loy, the last of these sites easily being my favourite. Never having seen them before, I could not say how the CSKs were doing compared with previous years other than the early season up there nearly caught me out. In fact the ones I saw at Glasdrum and Alt Mhuic had obviously been flying for some time and the best examples were found at Glen Loy.

Chequered Skipper - Glen Loy 07.06.2016

The generally early season up there did work in my favour however when I found some Large Heath ssp. scotica at Glen Loy, an unexpected but most welcome bonus as I had never seen this particular subspecies before.

Large Heath ssp. scotica - Glen Loy 08.06.2016

Whilst in Scotland I also saw my first Painted Lady of the year (at Cuil Bay) plus good numbers of Green Hairstreaks at Glen Loy. Other species seen up there were Common Blues, Green-veined Whites and notable numbers of Orange-tips.

Painted Lady - Cuil Bay 07.06.2016

On the journey back down to Arnside, a detour to Irton Fell produced 20+ Mountain Ringlets although the cloudy but warm conditions meant they were only taking short flights and mostly settling low down in the grass.

Mountain Ringlet - Irton Fell 09.06.2016

Back in the Arnside area, the clouds and cool breeze had reappeared but I still managed to find a couple of early Dark Green Fritillaries...

Dark Green Fritillary - Arnside Knot 10.06.2016

...and a visit to Meathop Moss produced a dozen or more nice fresh Large Heath ssp davus which gave me a great opportunity to compare them with the scotica I had seen a couple of days before.

Large Heath ssp. davus - Meathop Moss 10.06.2016

My second trip further afield this year took me to Llandudno in late June to spend a couple of days looking around the Great Orme, specifically to see the two endemic sub-species found there – Silver-Studded Blue ssp. caernensis and Grayling ssp. thyone.
The weather was the familiar mix of cloud and wind with some sunny spells but I easily found both species on the rock rose covered slopes on the southern side of the Orme. The Blues in particular seemed to be thriving and I found hundreds flying in Happy Valley and on the slopes by Invalids Path which provided another highlight of the season for me.

Silver-studded Blue ssp. caernensis males - Great Orme 27.06.2016

Silver-studded Blue ssp. caernensis female - Great Orme 27.06.2016

Grayling ssp. thyone - Great Orme 27.06.2016

At home around my local patch during June and into July, the usual summer species appeared around their usual times, although numbers of most were down on a 'normal' year (whatever that is)
All three species of golden skippers were easily found at the usual sites with Essex Skippers seeming to be doing the best this year. As usual, most of my photos of Small and Essex were attempted head on shots in order to confirm their ID, especially in the case of females which lack the diagnostic sex brand of the males.

Large Skipper - Langley Hall 24.06.2016

Essex Skipper - Bickenhill 23.07.2016

Small Skipper - Bickenhill 23.07.2016

Meadow Browns and Ringlets are two species that often do well in cooler and cloudy years but this year both were well down on usual. There were still good numbers of both species about, just not the hordes that have been seen over the past few years.

Ringlet - Langley Hall 24.06.2017

Meadow Brown - Ryton Wood 13.07.2016

Gatekeepers were slow to get going but did seem to increase in numbers at the end of July.

Gatekeper female - Shadowbrook Meadows 30.07.2016

The rest of July continued to be disappointingly underwhelming in terms of overall butterfly numbers, the one exception around my local patch being Marbled White. These had spread into the area around Solihull a few years ago and have been increasing in number year on year at one site in particular, with this year providing the highest count yet.

Marbled White - Castle Hills 03.07.2016

Throughout June and July, summer brood Commas, Small Tortoiseshells and Peacocks had all started to appear at my local sites along with a scattering of Red Admirals but all of these were in low numbers so far compared with previous years.

A couple of visits in mid July to Ryton Wood and Snitterfield Bushes near Stratford-upon-Avon produced Silver-washed Fritillaries and White Admirals. My impression was that both were flying in similar numbers to previous years although I must admit I didn't get the chance to look for them often enough to say for sure how they did this year.

Silver-washed Fritillary - Snitterflied Bushes 10.07.2016

White Admiral - Ryton Wood 20.07.2016

So then...some notable highlights on my trips further afield but locally a season in which the overwhelming impression is of lower butterfly numbers in general and of a lot of cloud and wind.

That takes me up to the end of July which is a convenient place to end this report. The next one will cover late summer and the winding down of the season into autumn.

With the run up to Christmas and the fact I will probably be a bit busy this week I will take this opportunity to wish everyone on UKB...

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Neil

[trevor]

You have some envy inducing images in your Summer selection.
Particularly as there are four species in there that I have yet to see.
They are all a long way from Sussex, but on my to do list !.

Wishing you a brilliant Butterflying 2017.
Trevor.

[Wurzel]

I totally agree with Trevor - such an envy inducing selection of butterflies - some delectable lifers and subspecies very well captured

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

Thanks for the comments Wurzel and Trevor although I must add that both of your own PDs contain some fantastic images of species that I missed out on this year so a fair bit of envy back to you

Looking back at 2016- Part 3

Late Summer & Autumn.

By the time August arrived I had seen all of the species that I would normally expect to see around my local patch although many of them were in lower numbers than normal.
One of the features of my 2016 season so far was the fact that I had not yet travelled further south than central Warwickshire which meant that I had obviously missed a number of species, most notably those that favour chalk downland, although the other side of this coin was the species that I had seen on my trips to Cumbria, Scotland and North Wales.

My next trip which took place in early August saw me heading north once again for a return to Arnside to see Scotch Argus. During our three days up there the weather was typical of the year so far, in other words there was loads of cloud with some drizzle and a persistent wind blowing from the north which kept temperatures down. Up on the more exposed higher slopes of Arnside Knot it was very breezy and any butterfly taking to the air was quickly whisked away.
Nevertheless, in the more sheltered spots and especially when the sun did peek through, good numbers of Scotch Argus could be found, although it must be said they were not as abundant as I have seen there in previous years.

Scotch Argus - Arnside Knot 04.08.2016
08.2016

Both Dark Green and High Brown Fritillaries can usually be found still flying at Arnside in August although it is at the tail end of both species flight period and they are usually well past their best. I saw a few large fritillaries flying but the only two that settled long enough to positively ID were both High Browns. Most of the other species that I would expect to see there at this time were flying but again my overall impression was of fewer butterflies than I have experienced there before.

High Brown Fritillary - Arnside Knot 04.08.2016

This impression of low numbers of butterflies continued to be the theme back home through the rest of August with smaller than usual numbers of just about everything at my local sites. Small Coppers in particular were notable by their absence with just a couple of individuals found locally. Common Blues seemed to be doing a bit better and I was pleased to find a Brown Argus at one local site, this species is very hit and miss locally and I only ever find one or two and some years none at all.

Brown Argus - Bickenhill 06.08.2016

Common Blue - Castle Hills 17.08.2016

The three 'common' summer brood vanessids – comma, Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock - also had a poor year locally but this was partially compensated for by a better than normal scattering of Painted Ladies, mostly looking to be nice fresh home bred examples.

Peacock - Bickenhill 06.08.2016

Painted Lady - Bickenhill 06.08.2016

A trip over to Grafton Wood near Worcester later in August produced some Brown Hairstreaks although I have still to get a good open wing photo of this species...a target for next year perhaps.

Brown Hairstreak - Grafton Wood 24.08.2016

One species that had bucked the trend locally was Speckled Wood with them showing up just about everywhere throughout the season so far and numbers increased noticeably through August. Towards the end of the month I would often find half a dozen or more on the overripe blackberries at the bottom of my garden.

Speckled Woods - Coverdale 29.08.2016

September arrived and I finally went further south than the midlands with a week in Cornwall with Jane and my Mom, staying at a caravan site next to Upton Towns.
Although Meadow Browns had long since finished around my local patch, I found good numbers still flying on the Towans, many of them still in good condition. This population was also notable for the number of females with large orange patches, often also on their hindwings, and the fact that most of them had double pupils in their forewing eyespots.

Meadow Brown female with extended Orange patches - Upton Towans 04.09 2016

Small Coppers were also present in good numbers across Upton and Gwithian Towans along with Common Blues plus a scattering of Small Heath and Brown Argus, all except the Common Blues being species that I had struggled to find in the midlands this year.

Small Copper - Upton Towans 04.09.2016

Small Heath - Upton Towans 04.09.2016

A particular highlight of my week in Cornwall was a day spent walking the path between Kynance Cove and Lizard Point when large numbers of Small Coppers were seen. Many of the females here were impressively large and blue-spotted individuals of both sexes made up a good percentage of the population.

Small Copper - Lizard 07.09.2016

Small Coppers - Lizard 07.09.2016

From other reports I have since seen, it appears that Small Copper numbers recovered somewhat later in the year at some southern sites where they commonly have three or four broods, four apparently being usual in Cornwall. In the midlands, it is primarily double brooded with a drawn out second brood although there can be three distinct broods in a good year (which this was not).

Back home in mid-September, Red Admirals put on a good late showing with reports from all over the place and half a dozen at a time visiting the late flowering buddleias in my garden.

Red Admiral - Coverdale 14.09.2016

By late September my season had just about fizzled out with just the occasional Speckled Wood still hanging on in my garden, the last one being seen on 9th October.

Speckled Wood - Coverdale 09.10.2016

This is fairly normal for my midlands location where there are no Clouded Yellows or late anything else to extend the season for me. Of course there is always the chance to see a hibernator on any mild day after this but for me these are the exception rather than any proper continuation of the season.

So then, what did I think of the 2016 season. I had some notable highlights with some species that I travelled some distance to see but otherwise, apart from a few exceptions, butterfly number were generally well down around my local sites which made for a generally underwhelming season overall.
The very mild late autumn and early winter of 2015 no doubt put a spanner in the works and this was followed by a late spring and a cloudy, cool and breezy summer. I have read some reports that the summer was warmer than average...well not around here it wasn't. I have also read that the persistent cloud kept average night time temperatures up which may have skewed the overall average but for most of the season around here the cloud was accompanied by a stiff breeze from the north which made the days feel cool even when the sun was out.

My personal tally was 41 species with some notable ones missed although this was mainly due to my pre-season decision to go for some northern trips this year and the fact I did not go further south than the midlands until September. This also no doubt influenced my impressions and if I had travelled further south a bit more maybe I would have seen more butterflies...maybe, but going by other reports I have seen my experiences seemed to be typical of the season in most parts of the UK.

As I write this we have had a few cold nights around here with some proper frosty mornings and daytime temperatures not rising above low single figures and apart from a few mild days the other week it has been a fairly 'normal' autumn and winter so far

Let us hope for a proper winter and a normal spring and here's to a better season next year.

Happy New Year to everyone

Neil

[Wurzel]

An interesting perspective Neil and one which sadly tally's in pretty much with my view of the year Mind you on the up side 41 species is great when Mountain Ringlet, Scotch Argus, High Brown, Chequered Skipper, Large Heath and Northern Brown Argus are on the list

Have a goodun (New Year that is)

Wurzel

[David M]

Let us hope for a proper winter and a normal spring and here's to a better season next year

Another excellent sequence, Neil, and yes, a dose of proper cold would do wonders.

All the best.

[Neil Freeman]

Cheers Wurzel, I think many of us had a similar view of the 2016 season overall but I found it fascinating last year how much some things varied around different parts of the UK.

Hi David, we are certainly having a more typical winter here in these parts, no snow yet but plenty of freezing cold nights and frosty mornings with some daytime sun but still feeling cold. This weekend is looking milder but next week is looking to turn cold again.


There have been a few Foxes lurking around the garden over the Christmas/New Year period which I think are possibly a family with older cubs...

The daylight hours are starting to stretch out bit now and it is that time of year when I start thinking about where to go this year and what I would like to see

Bye for now,

Neil.

[Neil Freeman]

First snow of the winter here last night...nowhere near as much as forecast, just a light dusting and a bit more this morning which soon turned to rain with a very cold wind which made it feel a lot colder than the 5 or 6 degrees it supposedly got up to today.

A couple of milder nights last weekend tempted me to put the moth trap out in the garden on Sunday night which resulted in my first catch of the year, appropriately enough a couple of Winter Moths.

Winter Moth - Coverdale 08.01.2017

I also had a couple of Light Brown Apple Moths (Epiphyas postvittana), a micro originally from Australia that was apparently accidentally introduced in the 1930s and has since spread over the country and become very common in some areas. I had loads of these last year in every month since I started running the trap in the garden in late March.

Bye for now,

Neil

[Wurzel]

That Winter moth looks in great nick Neil Hopefully this cold snap will do the butterflies some good.

Have a goodun

Wurzel