www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Having arrived in Malaga on Boxing Day and not expecting to see much at all , I have been pleasantly surprised to see 9 species on the wing including this fresh festoon. It is at least 8 weeks early . Others have included cleopatra, Long tailed and Langs blue , speckled wood and the more common English favourites

Excellent, and I bet you really enjoyed seeing it! I have seen them in this area in the last week of December before - I'm not sure what the deal is with their flight times but I've seen them in October, late December and mid February-April.

Some very strange creatures are on the wing there at this time of year, from a British perspective - you've got the possibility of Wall or Small Copper on New Year's Day, for example.

Even in mid-winter, daytime maxima remain around 15 or 16c in that part of the world, so I guess it's not surprising that there are butterflies about. I'm sure if we had a handful of days like that in the UK we'd see adult hibernators aplenty, although Cleopatras & Spanish Festoons would clearly not be on the menu, sadly.

Yesterday afternoon 31.12.2021, was so gorgeous I saw a green-veined white up on the Lincolnshire Wolds. It flew across the road in front of me as I was walking, into an apple tree full of rotten apples. Apparently it is the joint latest record for Lincolnshire. I had been dreaming a few hours earlier it would be nice to see a butterfly on this lovely day and it happened. So dreams do come true.

Adiroyle wrote: ↑Sat Jan 01, 2022 11:32 am Yesterday afternoon 31.12.2021, was so gorgeous I saw a green-veined white up on the Lincolnshire Wolds. It flew across the road in front of me as I was walking, into an apple tree full of rotten apples. Apparently it is the joint latest record for Lincolnshire. I had been dreaming a few hours earlier it would be nice to see a butterfly on this lovely day and it happened. So dreams do come true.

I'm not surprised there were butterflies on the wing on New Year's Eve, given the ridiculously mild conditions, but I am amazed that you saw a Green Veined White. Freakish sighting!

Totally, I had been hoping for a red admiral.

December 28th 2021
A search for wild Orange-tip butterfly species in December, during an exercise walk, started near to where I had seen larvae in the summer.
I had not seen one in "the wild" before (Council owned Roadside Verge).
Did I know enough about my subject, to find one?

Youtube linked, unlisted video (viewable by shared link):
https://youtu.be/U2g-XI3YfeQ


Kind Regards,

Philip