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jackz432r wrote:Hi Nick

Just catching up with your diary.
It has just struck me that it must be quite exciting to live in an area which is at the edge of colonisation spread of various species. Whereas down here on the South Coast we take many species for granted, I imagine that for you each year brings much anticipation. To see species gradually moving in to your area must be immensely satisfying and exciting.
I hope you continue to get new arrivals in your area and that their numbers continue to increase You never know maybe you will wake up to find Glanville Fritillaries and Lulworth Skippers fluttering around outside your window

Hi Jack,
Yes it is certainly interesting times up here for butterflies. For the last few years there have been a number of new species occurring here 2004, I saw my first Comma, and they are now as common as Small Tortoiseshells. 2009 the first Speckled Wood, which are now pretty widespread, 2010 I found the first Wall Browns and they have made their way along the coast half way along East Lothian. We had a new colony of Holly Blues here two years ago, but sadly they seem to have died out. Three years ago we received a couple of reports of Small Skippers and last year three or four good colonies were found.
Talking to an ex-countryside ranger, I hear that in the '70s we didn't even have Ringlets, Orange Tips or Peacocks up here!
It is great to find more and more species here, despite reducing habitat, but I do wonder what it happening. I hope that it isn't at the cost of the southern range of these butterflies.

In the 1980s, I lived in the Aberdeen area for five years. I saw just one Peacock in that time. I have no idea of the situation today in that part of Scotland, but here in the west, they are certainly not scarce.

Jack

I have had a good few days recently. On Friday I was sitting in my mother-in-law's garden enjoying a glass of wine to celebrate my wife's birthday, when a Painted Lady landed on some Honesty right next to me. It sunned itself and fed for about ten minutes, giving me great views.
On Saturday, I decided to go and look for some Green Hairstreaks that had been seen just outside East Lothian in the Scottish Borders. I had been given the grid references of where a consultant working for a wind farm company had found Green Hairstreaks, and when I plotted them on a map they formed a line along the boundary of the local authority. I felt sure that they must also be on the East Lothian side of the boundary, but after a long walk across wind farm tracks and Sphagnum bog, I saw that the fence line that marks the boundary of the local authorities is also the boundary between two different farms. In East Lothian we had "improved" grassland.
I soon discovered some Green Hairstreaks in various locations, all of which were in boggy ground with tussocks of Blaeberry and within about 10 metres of Spruce plantations. I climbed over the fence and searched all around the fields on the East Lothian side, but found no suitable habitat and no Green Hairstreaks. So, I decided to walk across to a local nature reserve, which is a fantastic area for butterflies, hoping that there may be some suitable habitat there. I followed a stream and was suddenly stopped in my tracks when I saw a Green Hairstreak on a Meadowsweet leaf in front of me. It didn't seem to be at all the right kind of habitat, but I climbed up the band and discovered Blaeberry growing and another Green Hairstreak. I was delighted, thinking that I had found the first Green Hairstreak in East Lothian, but then realised that I had jumped over the stream to get past some rocks and I was actually now in Midlothian! The Green Hairstreak was just below centre in the picture above and East Lothian is to the right of the stream! You can see that it was probably about three feet outside East Lothian!
I told a friend who records butterflies in the Scottish Borders about these sightings and he informed me that a previous sighting and my single sighting were in fact inside East Lothian. This puzzled me, but he told me something that I didn't previously know. Biological records use the boundaries of the Vice County maps and for East Lothian there is a spur sticking down into this area!
So, we have another new species for East Lothian. Well, not really new, as Green Hairstreaks were recorded in a couple of locations up until about 20 years ago, but they were thought to have died out.
My personal East Lothian list is growing well this year:

1. Small Tortoiseshell
2. Comma
3. Peacock
4. Green-veined White
5. Orange Tip
6. Large White
7. Small White
8. Speckled Wood
9. Wall Brown
10. Small Copper
11. Red Admiral
12. Small Heath
13. Painted Lady
14. Green Hairstreak

NickMorgan wrote:... This puzzled me, but he told me something that I didn't previously know. Biological records use the boundaries of the Vice County maps...

Yep, this is why my postal address is West Midlands but I am in the Vice County of Warwickshire.

Nice report and photos Nick, a great read

Cheers,

Neil.

Interesting report Nick I'll have to check out the old Vice County boundaries as that could explain why some records are kept by what seems to be the wrong county. The first Green streak is the aberrant with the streak running across the fore wing but I can't remember the name .

Have a goodun

Wurzel

I think you can take the presence of GH in East Lothian as a 'given', as the idea that this tiny stream presents an unconquerable boundary is preposterous.

I guess if you sat down for an hour you'd see frequent incursions over the border!!

I have been sent a very useful link to the Vice County areas: http://www.cucaera.co.uk/grp/?refs=SJ31 ... .900390625
Wurzel, I hadn't even thought about aberrations! I noticed that they seemed to have varying amounts of white on them. I will have to do a little research now that it is a local species!
David, I was tempted to chase it over to the other side of the stream!!

I have had an interesting couple of days. I was told by an enthusiast in the Borders, Iain Cowe, that he had seen Large Skippers just outside the eastern East Lothian border. This is a species that I haven't seen, so the following lunchtime I went across with another enthusiast to have a look. I had a map reference, but it didn't seem to match up with the description of wasteland I had been told about. We searched some road verges and a field that had recently had sheep put in it. At one point we saw a little orange butterfly, but it wouldn't stop flying.
We then searched a builder's yard, but thought it unlikely this would be the right spot.
We kept seeing Speckled Woods, but we have become quite complacent about them now! Five years ago we would have been amazed to see one!
There was a railway running behind the sheep field, and I wondered if the wasteland was on the other side of that, so we went under a bridge and saw an are a short vegetation where the old road had been. It is an area where the spoil from the newer dual carriageway had been dumped, and it never looked as though much grew on it. However, we could see that it was covered in Orchids, which could have been why Iain had been there in the first place. Sure enough, as soon as we arrived there we saw a Large Skipper! I only had about 15 minutes left before I had to return to work, but we managed to see four of them in that time.
Today, we had sun for the second day in a row!! I did my transect this morning and it was interesting that the number of butterflies has continued to drop. Only three Orange Tips, and eight Green-veined Whites, along with a few other faded butterflies. The most exciting were my first two Ringlets on the transect for this year. I saw another four on the way back to the car!
I then went to an old slagheap which has been landscaped into a pyramid with a view point on the top. It is only about 100 metres across the base, but it houses our biggest, and one of only three known, colonies of Grayling. Unfortunately, I was a little early, but I did see one, which flew off never to be seen again. What was impressive, though was that I counted 24 Common Blue as I walked around the pyramid.
This has brought me up to 18 species this year.

1. Small Tortoiseshell
2. Comma
3. Peacock
4. Green-veined White
5. Orange Tip
6. Large White
7. Small White
8. Speckled Wood
9. Wall Brown
10. Small Copper
11. Red Admiral
12. Small Heath
13. Painted Lady
14. Green Hairstreak
15. Large Skipper
16. Ringlet
17. Common Blue
18. Grayling

Good news about the Large Skipper Nick, you're building the tally up nicely

Have a goodun

Wurzel

A Grayling prior to midsummer's day is highly notable, Nick.

Excellent spot.

Hi Wurzel,
They were literally a stone's throw away from East Lothian. Just the other side of a bridge. The grass verges on our side look quite similar, so I am hopeful them may spread in our direction, as have so many other species in the last few years.

Hi David,
Yes, I have only known of them being here for the last three years, but it has been early July when I have seen them before. We seem to be a couple of weeks ahead so far this year.

I'm surprised at that, Nick.

I accept that in SE England things are 2 weeks ahead of last year (one only need to compare the first sightings' page of BC to confirm that), but in S. Wales it's more like 7-9 days. I'd have thought SE Scotland was no more than a week in advance of last year but clearly that is not the case.

Actually, David, you are probably right! Ringlets and Meadow Browns are about a week early. Grayling and Northern Brown Argus are about two weeks early. Common Blues are about their normal time. All in all we are probably about a week ahead on average!

Maybe the Graylings benefit from their proximity to the coast?

Another good day yesterday - sun for three days in a row! Although there was quite a cool northern breeze and plenty of grey cloud in between the sunshine.
I went down to a small nature reserve in the Lammermuir Hills to look for Northern Brown Argus.
I was surprised how few butterflies there were there, although there were plenty of Small Heaths. Unfortunately it is in a valley that runs north to south, so there was very little shelter from the wind. I made my way along the burn (stream!) to a south-facing banking where I have seen Northern Brown Argus before. As the sun came out I noticed my first NBA of the year, and over a half hour period I saw nine of them.
As well as over 40 Small Heaths, I also saw 9 Small Coppers, 7 Green-veined Whites and 2 Large Whites.

I also heard yesterday that a Large Skipper has been seen just inside East Lothian. That is the 25th species over the last two years. This is a remarkable increase in species recorded here. Since 2009 we have added Grayling, Speckled Woods, Wall Brown, Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary, Small Skipper, Green Hairstreak and Large Skipper. The Grayling and Green Hairstreak may have been here, undetected, for some time, but they have all increased significantly in numbers and range.

That's amazing, Nick. With your reports we are watching range expansion almost in real time from your neck of the woods.

Lovely NBA photos too!

Best wishes,

Lee

Thanks Lee.
It really is amazing how so many species are moving into East Lothian. We now have double the number of species than there were here in the 1970s. I think that we had some species such as Speckled Woods many years earlier, but it is difficult to decide why we are getting these new species now. The habitat is reducing considerably and really the weather doesn't seem to be any better for butterflies than it was in the 70s. Certainly the movement seems to be from the south, with most species first being noticed in the south-east of East Lothian.
After last year's bumper number of species I didn't expect to see any new species for a while. I have always been very envious of the number of species in the south of England, but we are starting to catch up quickly.
I would be very interested to know if the southern extent of the range of these butterfly species is reducing and if they are truly moving north in response to climate change.

Those Northern Brown Argus are stunning, Nick! Thanks for sharing them with us Southerners!

Best Wishes,

Hoggers.

Thanks Hoggers, they are really nice wee butterflies with their white spot on each forewing.

Last year I planted a Garlic Mustard seedling in a pot in the hope of an Orange Tip laying an egg on it. A few weeks ago I was surprised to find some Large White caterpillars crawling over the leaves. They soon completely denuded the plant and so each day I picked Garlic Mustard stems and put them in a jar of water. The caterpillars continued to grow, but by this weekend I could only find three. They were quite big, so I am hoping the others crawled off to form a chrysalis.
Yesterday I noticed that one of the butterflies was a little smaller than the other two, but it seemed healthy enough. However, when I had a look at them this evening this is what I found:
Quite a gruesome sight and very disappointing after all of the effort to keep him fed. I will have to have a good look around the garden and see if I can find any chrysalises.

I'm enjoying catching up with your diary Nick - a Grayling that early is remarkable and those NBA are beautiful; your images have certainly done them justice.