www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Those are interesting statistics regarding first emergences in your area, Neil. As you say, they're very consistent and I suppose it's useful that you generally stick to the same places early on in every season.

Nice to see you off the mark though. Looks like virtually everyone on here has seen some action over the last few days.

Let's hope more will soon be on its way!

Thanks for all your comments Bugboy, Dave, Andrew, Wurzel, Goldie and David.

I guess that most of us stick to our regular local spots at this time of the year in order to try and see our first butterflies.

Friday 30th March

The end of March approaches and after a brief couple of days on Sunday / Monday the weather has taken a turn for the worse again. Tuesday was wet during the day but dried up overnight and stayed cloudy enough to hold the temperature up to a minimum of 6 degrees which tempted me to put the moth trap out in the garden.
I ended up with 11 moths of 5 species which was the highest catch so far this year and included new for years of Clouded Drab (1- a worn and quite 'drab' individual), Chestnut (1) and Early Grey (1). The rest were made up of Common Quaker (4) and Hebrew Character(4), both in some nice colour variation. I find this variation that can be seen in a lot of moth species fascinating and makes even the common species like CQs and HCs worth a closer look.
I did not get any micros and in fact have only had 2 species so far this year, by this time last year I had seen 11 species of micro. For the macros, I am up to 10 species this year whereas last year I was on 13.

I am off work next week and was hoping to be able to get out looking for some butterflies but it looks like being a wet week with the added possibility of some more snow around here on Monday. Fingers crossed that there may be some windows in the weather later in the week.

Bye for now,

Neil.

I've got my fingers and toes crossed for some good weather later next week Neil It's about time Spring got on and sprang Lovely moth shots as always Neil though I did have to do a double take to make sure that one wasn't named after a type of tea, Earl Grey indeed

Have a goodun

Wurzel

More spring beauties, Neil, and yes, the colour variation is absolutely fascinating. This phenomenon seems much more commonplace in moths than in butterflies.

Good stuff Neil, fingers crossed for your weather.

Cheers Wurzel...yes, the Early Grey does get misspelled sometimes on some of the moth Facebook groups that I am on

Hi David, The colour variation of some moth species does seem more pronounced than in our butterflies but once you start looking you start to realise that some butterflies are more variable than often realised.

Thanks Andrew, I had a brief window today and Thursday & Friday are looking promising.

Tuesday 3rd April.

Yet another dull and mostly wet weekend although we did miss the snow that fell a bit further north. From Sunday afternoon until yesterday (Monday) afternoon we had more than 24 hours of non-stop rain which falling on my already soggy garden had left some large puddles of standing water. The rain stopped just after 2.00pm and the temperature actually started to rise a few degrees and with 9 degrees forecast for overnight I decided to put the moth trap out on one of the drier parts of the lawn.
The result was 18 moths, my highest count yet this year although 14 of them were Common Quakers, many of which are now looking worn and faded. The other 4 moths included singles of Hebrew Character and Red-green Carpet plus a couple of micros, Acleris cristana in a colour form I have never seen before, and Eudonia angustea. The micros were the first I have seen for a few weeks, I guess they don't like the weather we have been having lately either.
This afternoon, after a cloudy morning, the sun broke through a few times during which it actually felt quite pleasant and almost like spring so I decided to go for it and chance a visit round to my local spot at Bickenhill to see if anything was stirring.
On walking along the usual paths it soon became obvious that things are well behind where they would normally be by now at this site. Usually the Blackthorn is in full blossom by now, in fact last year it was already starting to go over in the first week of April, but today it was still in bud. Having said that it will probably only take a couple of decent days of sunshine to burst forth in flower.
This is usually my most reliable local site for awakening hibernators and although it was very quiet I did manage to see a few butterflies. A single Small Tortoiseshell came close a couple of times but disappeared over a hedge and didn't come back and a couple of male Brimstones were patrolling the hedges. I originally thought the Brimstones were just the one individual doing a circuit until I saw them cross each others path and have a brief 'tussle' before continuing their wanderings.
The usual 'Comma Corner' was uninhabited but I did find an example of this species in another sheltered spot and this was the only butterfly that deigned to pose for me albeit briefly before another bank of clouds came over and it flew up into the trees.
With the clouds now looking like they had set in for a while I headed back home and had just got in when the rain started again.

Tomorrow looks like another wet day but fingers crossed for Thursday and Friday which are looking to be the best days this week...at least if the current forecasts are to be believed.

Bye for now,

Neil.

Keep hanging in there, Neil. This is the month when things will really get going. Mind you, I said that last month!

Hi! Neil, at least your seeing Butterflies It still feels like the Winter here, we nearly got blown a way today the wind was so strong Hope fully the next couple of days will be better Goldie

Great to see you adding butterflies in among the moths Neil Lovely bright Comma, they seem to glow even more in the gloomier light of spring

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Things may be slow, but at least they ARE moving, Neil, as your Comma sighting proves. We should all expect some action fairly soon as the season can only be kept on hold for a finite time.

Many thanks for all your comments Mark, Goldie, Wurzel and David
Things are slowly getting going and I managed to get out for a couple of hours yesterday...

Thursday 5th April.

After a clear night and a frosty early morning, Thursday slowly turned into a beautiful day with plenty of sun and clear blue sky although there was still an underlying chill in the air from a light but steady breeze from the north.
I spent the morning in the garden accompanied by the music of bird song and spotted a few big queen bumble bees buzzing about plus my first bee flies this year.

With the temperature slowly rising to low double figures by the afternoon I decided to pay a return visit to my local spot at Bickenhill to see if the sun had tempted any more butterflies out.
Following my usual route I soon spotted a couple of patrolling male Brimstones, quite possibly the same ones I had seen here on Tuesday during my previous visit. These were soon followed by a Comma and then a Small Tortoiseshell, the latter being a faded example that was to turn up all over the site during the next couple of hours.


The next butterfly seen was my first Peacock of year which means that I had now seen all the hibernators that I would normally expect to see around here.
Red Admirals are not a spring butterfly for me and, although there has been some evidence that they are now occasionally overwintering in the Midlands, I don't think that this is the year to change that.

Continuing on my circuit I saw a few more Brimstones, Commas and Peacocks and at least one more Small Tortoiseshell, a lovely condition example that sods law meant was far too flighty for a photo. I was especially pleased to see the Peacocks as the summer brood last year had a very poor showing, I can only guess that they had tucked themselves into hibernation soon after emergence.
Wandering on around to the other side of the site where most of the blackthorn is I noticed that a lot of it is still in bud but was pleased to see that one short stretch was now in full flower and was keen to see if I would find any butterflies on the blossom. Approaching slowly I was pleased to see a Comma and a Peacock both engrossed in feeding on the blossom and I spent some time watching them flit from flower to flower and managed to take some of my favourite type of photo of this time of year – butterflies on spring blossom.
The Small Tortoiseshell that I mentioned earlier also turned up here, the 5th time that I had seen this individual in different spots around the site in the previous hour and a half or so.
As well as the butterflies, I also noticed various types of bees flying around and heard my first Chiffchaffs of the season. It still felt like things were only just getting going here but nevertheless it was a cracking couple of hours on what felt like the first proper spring day this year

Bye for now,

Neil.

It's good to see things starting to happen in the Midlands, Neil.
indeed I'd say you have had a better time of it than us down here !.
Love to see the hibernators on Blackthorn against a clear background,
you have captured that to perfection.

Great stuff !
Trevor.

Nice shots of the three species on the blackthorn, Neil. I remember a trip to Ryton a few years back, and all the same butterflies were up in the trees like that. A West Midlands thing perhaps...

Dave

Agreed, lovely shots of the butterflies in the Blackthorn, Neil

Mike

Fantastic shots Neil I'd tried to get a shot of the Peacocks I saw on the Blossom but they never made the effort to do that just stayed on the ground and I've yet to see a Comma. Goldie

As others have commented on cracking set of shots of the butterflies in the Blackthorn Neil Things are shaping up nicely let's hope it keeps on going

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Great selection Neil, especially the blossom shots.

Thanks for all your great comments Trevor, Dave, Mike, Goldie, Wurzel and Andrew

Butterflies on spring blossom is something that I always look out for and try to get some photos of every year.

Since last Thursday the clouds rolled in and it has been very grey and gloomy here. We have just had over 24 hours of rain which has turned the garden soggy again.

Before the rain arrived I had the moth trap out a couple of times and had some more of the usual common species such as Common Quakers and Hebrew Characters still appearing in nice fresh condition and some interesting variation.
The pale looking Common Quaker below led to some interesting debate as to it's identity when I posted it on the Warwickshire Moth Group Facebook page until I emailed the photo to my CMR who confirmed it as a Common Quaker.
I am still not seeing many micros, the only ones this week being a couple of Beautiful Plume Moths (Amblyptilia acanthadactyla)
I also had another nice example of the moth that reminds Wurzel of a cup of tea
The next couple of days are looking a bit grotty still but there seems to be a hint of things warming up next week.

Bye for now,

Neil.

Unusual Moth the Plume moth Neil, I don't think I've seen one, they remind me of a Daddy Long Legs , that's what we call them up here I don't know their proper name. Goldie

Those are joyous scenes, Neil! I'm sure it was worth the long wait to see so many adult hibernators like you did.

Prepare yourself for next week, as things look to be about to take off significantly!