www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Rogerdodge wrote:An extract from an interesting article I read a while ago-

We studied predation by approximately 70 domestic cats (Felis catus L.) in the Bedfordshire village of Felmersham over a one-year period. All the prey items brought home by virtually all the cats in the village were recorded and, where possible, identified. A total of 1090 prey items (535 mammals, 297 birds and 258 unidentified animals) were taken, an average of about 14 per cat per year

If this is interpolated across the 50 million or so cats in this country it is a devastating effect on wildlife.
.

With regards to numbers: I heard someone on Radio 4 (Note: Radio 4 - not the Internet! - so it is likely to be accurate) quote that there are around 30 million breeding song-birds in this country and around 8 million cats (and a similar number of dogs, surprisingly).
Allowing for the, "He only gets one or two a year" Mrs Muggins may admit that Tiddles next door takes, that means between 8 and 16 million birds if Tiddles is a "typical" cat.
Allowing for perhaps Tiddles killing one or two more than Mrs Muggins admits or knows about, say 3 or 4, then we quickly approach a point, at 24 to 32 million, where predation equals a level at which that natural population level becomes unsustainable. Then we will start to see large declines in the bird population (like now?) and species start to disappear from their natural ranges (er, also like, now?) and concerned cat owners should at least start to think about what owning a cat really means.
Now I know that cats are not the only reason for declining bird populations - there are many reasons - and that the numbers of birds killed by cats may not be in the tens of millions....But they are undoubtedly in the MILLIONS...
Millions too many IMHO!
Sorry cat-owners out there, but this is the unsentimental truth about what kitty really does.
Nick

Aint your girls just the business... i got one of each, and i'm a quite popular grandpa. I think?

I read an article once from the US, where a guy did some research and worked out that the average American moggie was responsible for 28 bird deaths per year. Given that his estimate for cat ownership was 30 million, that's a hell of a lot of kills.

Back on topic for a moment, I went for a walk up the steep hill opposite my house in Clydach, Swansea for the first time today. I was delighted to find 11 Graylings and 3 Small Heaths up there on the windswept, heather-covered slopes.

1st August - Arnside Knott, Cumbria

Slight wind and overcast but warm

20+ Scotch Argus
10 + Grayling
Meadow Brown

Zonda wrote:Aint your girls just the business... i got one of each, and i'm a quite popular grandpa. I think?

..what can I say ? Just 4 and nearly 3 - what more joys could I have?
...I'm starting them young; Ellie, the eldest, spotted the PL!
Apparently, they like coming here too!

markhows wrote:Plenty of Silver Spotted Skippers and Chalkhill blues at Aston Rowant and two Brown Hairstreaks and a white admiral at Whitecross Green Woods.

Mark

I think Silver-spotted Skippers are having their best year ever at Malling Down, Lewes. They are on every part of unimproved grassland at the reserve, including north slopes. Lot of courtship, ovapositing, some getting bit tatty but still some fresh ones about.
On Sunday I did a transect (2.5km) and recorded 88 SSSk, yet weather conditions were far from ideal.
I will probably do another transect tomorrow, doing them every other day at the moment.

Today a something like mini tornado went past! It was quite surprising and made me wonder about how many butterflies had been swept up and transported.

One fresh and one very old Painted Lady today.
I guess there is the offspring from those that came over about 10 weeks back and now those which have come across with the silver y and Hoveflies.....

Wall are doing well, I keep seeing them. Hope we have another cold dry winter.

Chalkhill don't appear to be having such a good year, seen very few females - may be they are just late.

I haven't seen many Brimstone this summer.

Saw my first second generation Adonis today and it was a female!
I hope the second generation do as well as the almost record breaking first generation recorded earlier this year.

Crispin

My girlfriend wants a cat.....help! I might just have to show her some of these statistics.

I can see my bird table becoming a blood bath I already have to scare off the ******* panther from up the road each time I find it staring at it.

And if I could stop the bloody foxes from s****** in my garden, well. Honestly.

Cheers

Lee

Hi David M,

Graylings certainly are fascinating things! I've seen several different races around the UK this year. If ever you get a chance, take a trip way up north to Ardnamurchan and check out the atlantica individuals. Massively glorious with jet black speckles and bold central band on underside of hindwing. Truly stunning, my fave butterfly of the year so far. Add the rugged scenery and windswept nature of western Scotland and you've got yourself a memorable moment!

We had thyone Graylings on the Great Orme in north Wales. These were ridiculously tame, one alighted on my jeans allowing intimate views. Sweet!!! This population has smaller individuals than found in the mainland races and flies a lot earlier too. Again, throw in some seriously decent scenery, coupled with the road-trip and you've got yourself another memorable moment.

I'm positively loving my Big Butterfly Year (even if we did miss the Mountain Ringlets and rhoumensis Small Heath...)

Nothing to report for August so far, but I've got two days off work now - so fingers crossed for some action.

All the best.

Gibster wrote:Hi David M,

Graylings certainly are fascinating things! I've seen several different races around the UK this year. If ever you get a chance, take a trip way up north to Ardnamurchan and check out the atlantica individuals. Massively glorious with jet black speckles and bold central band on underside of hindwing. Truly stunning, my fave butterfly of the year so far. Add the rugged scenery and windswept nature of western Scotland and you've got yourself a memorable moment!

We had thyone Graylings on the Great Orme in north Wales. These were ridiculously tame, one alighted on my jeans allowing intimate views. Sweet!!! This population has smaller individuals than found in the mainland races and flies a lot earlier too. Again, throw in some seriously decent scenery, coupled with the road-trip and you've got yourself another memorable moment.

I'm positively loving my Big Butterfly Year (even if we did miss the Mountain Ringlets and rhoumensis Small Heath...)

Nothing to report for August so far, but I've got two days off work now - so fingers crossed for some action.

All the best.

Hi Gibster,

Yes, Graylings seem quite prone to variation. The ones I saw this evening had brighter white markings on the underside hindwings than the ones I saw 20 miles inland at Aberbargoed. They DO seem to like to check out stone washed jeans too.

I notice quite a few Scottish ssps are darker in colouring than their more southern counterparts. is this a natural measure to soak up warmth better at higher latitudes?

I'm going to try to devote next year to getting around Britain and that WILL include Scotland (certainly for Chequered Skipper and maybe later on for Mountain Ringlet, Scotch Argus, DG Frit Scottish style and NB Argus.

What is it with Graylings and jeans? The entry in "The Butterflies of Britain and Ireland" mentions this behaviour specifically.
I told this my 13-year old son who viewed the whole idea very sceptically until a trip to Chobham Common in Surrey last week, when lo! The first Grayling we saw made a beeline for his leg.

Dave

Hello,

1 August 2010
Another cloudy day and not a day for butterflies to be out, and at first there were very few to be seen and many hoverflies were harassing the ones that had tried to settle in the cool conditions. Two large Hornet Robber Flies, Asilus crabroniformis, my first of the year settled on the Pixie Path (next to Frampton's Field, Old Shoreham).

Even when the sun found a gap in the clouds not many more than a hundred Chalkhill Blues were disturbed on the one acre transect on the lower slopes of Mill Hill. As there was not even spread over the steeper slopes this extrapolated to mere 350 on Mill Hill. This is a very low figure for the peak period.

In excess of 700 Common Blue Butterflies fluttered around and mated in the one half acre meadow (north of the upper car park) on Mill Hill. This extrapolated to over 1500 on Mill Hill, possibly many more. Other noteworthy observations were eight Wall Browns on Mill Hill and the mating of many Brown Argus Butterflies. Fourteen species of butterfly were noted.

Adur Butterfly & Large Moth List
http://www.glaucus.org.uk/Butterfly-list2010.html

Cheers

Andy Horton
glaucus@hotmail.com
Adur Valley Nature Notes
http://www.glaucus.org.uk/Adur2010.html
Adur Valley Nature Notes: August 2010
http://www.glaucus.org.uk/August2010.html
Sussex Downs Facebook Group
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=111843132181316

Hello,

2 August 2010
What a diference a day makes: the half acre top meadow (north of the upper car park) on Mill Hill was still alive with butterflies, but the half acre now hosted only about a 120 Common Blues, but they may have dispersed as surrounding meadow areas were now more densely populated so the total on the hill does not seem to have diminished in numbers. Brown Argus were plentiful as I ever seen them with at least 30 positively recorded and many more did a successful imitation of a Common Blue female.

With the sun finding a gap in the clouds there were reasonably good conditions for butterfly watching on the parched downs. I was not in the mood for recording the numbers, but I noted that the Chalkhill Blues on the lower slopes of Mill Hill were slightly less than the previous day, but only 64 were recorded in the 20 minutes walk on the 1.2 acre transect, which included just the five definite females. In the weak sunshine, I spotted fourteen Wall Browns seen on Mill Hill and my first Small Copper on Mill Hill this year.

Adur Butterfly & Large Moth List
http://www.glaucus.org.uk/Butterfly-list2010.html

PS: I have seen a Cat eat a Red Admiral.

Cheers

Andy Horton
glaucus@hotmail.com
Adur Valley Nature Notes
http://www.glaucus.org.uk/Adur2010.html
Adur Valley Nature Notes: August 2010
http://www.glaucus.org.uk/August2010.html
Sussex Downs Facebook Group
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=111843132181316

I was starting to despair about the lack of butterflies but the last couple of days have seen a small improvement.
4 red admiral on buddlia (the most i have seen this year)
quite a few common blue
lots of Gatekeepers
& the most Small Coppers I have ever seen in my local area.


The three Amigos in this picture eem to have found some juicy nectar!


Angie

Mill Road Cemetery - Whites in good numbers over the last few days. with a few Gatekeepers, Speckled Wood and the odd MB and CB. Quite a few Holly Blue - watched a female selecting where to lay on the ivy at lunchtime - and a couple of Painted Ladies and 4 Red Admirals (...must have avoided Andy's cat...)

N

White-letter Hairstreak on my finger, yey!!!!!!!

Was starting to worry about missing this chap, but eventually nailed one feeding up in a bed of Creeping Thistles (sixth time lucky at a promising-looking site) Fifty first species for the year...best of all - Sami hasn't seen one yet!!!

Among the buzz of grasshoppers and crickets at Malling Down there are loads of Silver-spotted Skippers, I think it is going to be the best year ever.
There is also a family of six Kestrel one of which is leucistic/partly-albino (see this blog at: http://analternativenaturalhistoryofsus ... rrier.html)
Along with the migrant Hoverflies there lots of Silver Y, a few Hummingbird Hawk-moth & Painted Lady.
See these chalkhill, the female is hanging from him and he is hanging on to the bramble leaf taking all her weight - it was also windy!

Essex Skipper - just a few,
Silver-spotted - lots,
Large White,
Small White,
Small Copper - quite a few,
Brown Argus,
Common Blue - lots,
Chalkhill Blue,
Red Admiral
Peacock - just one,
Painted Lady - again just one today,
Small Heath - lots,
Gatekeeper,
Meadow Brown,
Marbled White - the odd few hanging on,
Wall Brown - excellent year,
Six-spot Burnet.

jellyang wrote:I was starting to despair about the lack of butterflies but the last couple of days have seen a small improvement.
4 red admiral on buddlia (the most i have seen this year)
quite a few common blue
lots of Gatekeepers
& the most Small Coppers I have ever seen in my local area.

3amigos_edited-1.jpg

The three Amigos in this picture eem to have found some juicy nectar!


Angie

Angie, did you notice that the middle Amigo is a Brown Argus.

Vince

Brown Argus??
I thought it was a common Blue & really didn't give it a second glance.
How do I tell the diference between the two?

Now I am excited as I never seen one & didn't know they were in Norfolk
Arrgh....! it is raining today so can't go try & find it again!


Angie

Mrs Brimstone still ovipositing on Common Buckthorn yesterday. The local recorder is looking into it and asked if she may be second brood. I haven't seen any others doing the same and I think I would have with so much Buckthorn of both types around. This must be some kind of record for late laying. She is quite tatty for a Brimstone. Normally they are pristine, even in Spring after a long Winter's hibernation and I am sure this is the same lady that I snapped for April's competition which also may suggest she is just an old lady survivor..Whatever, s he obviously likes the garden....