www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Neils information adds further to the range of valezina David, I have always thought it rather strange that these females were supposedly so restricted in their range, even allowing for the vagaries of our native butterflies in such a small island. Resources such as UK Butterflies and it's countrywide membership will continue to alter the maps and some of the long held assumptions. I'm always ready to expect the unexpected, but thoroughly dislike the perpetuation of myth ...let us be the 'New Aurelians' and leave our own legacy

BW's

Bill

"When in doubt - venture out"

Interesting observation, Neil & Bill, and on the subject of distribution....

Saturday 25th July 2015 - Surprise on the doorstep....

Castle Meadows in Abergavenny is a wonderful place in spring. The sheltered south-facing aspect attracts huge numbers of early Small Tortoiseshells and Peacocks whilst Holly Blues are fairly commonplace in the adjacent Linda Vista Gardens.

In late summer though it's a bit of a write-off. The grass grows long and there isn't a great variety of plant life to attract butterflies, nor, to my knowledge, are there any colonies of Purple or White Letter Hairstreaks to compensate for this lack of variety. In fact, it's one of those places where you can expect to see the usual suspects for the time of year and little if nothing else.

On Saturday I needed to get some sun on my back because the weather here in south Wales has been dire beyond description lately. I just fancied an hour or so in a scenic location with a few fresh Vanessids/Common Blues to keep me company.

Well, I got both the above but also had a bit of an unexpected (but very pleasant) surprise.

Apart from Meadow Browns, a few Whites and the odd Small Tortoiseshell nectaring on creeping thistle, I saw nothing until I got to the penultimate field to the east of this location.

I spotted a golden skipper which, to my expectation, turned out to be a male Small Skipper. However, the second skipper I saw nectaring on the thistles caught my eye. I took an image from distance and then played it back:
It looked unmistakeably 'Essex' to me so I moved in closer:
This species has been recorded in Cardiff and I have seen it myself near Usk, but to find it in Abergavenny was a bit of a shock, especially when moving on the the easternmost field in the meadows, which is the most sheltered of all:
There were three dozen plus skippers at least in this location. I studied 19 separate individuals and, astonishingly, 14 of them were Essex Skippers:
I also managed to find a mating pair. In the next image, it is the female attached precariously to the grass blade with the male in 'free-fall':
A different angle clearly shows the black undersides to the antennal tips:
They were 'buzzed' by another individual which prompted them to fly to a more comfortable looking location:
I'm not aware that this species has been recorded in Abergavenny before, so I intend to report it to the local VC co-ordinator. If the colony is a viable one, it will be nice to return to observe them in future years as previously I have usually only seen them when visiting sites in England for other, rarer species.

It was a new experience to be in a position to concentrate first and foremost on this species at a particular site. I doubt many of us venture out with Essex Skipper as the target species, but this could well provide an opportunity for me to do just that in future.

Excellent discovery David just a bit more info Essex Skipper has been recorded from several different locations in Monmouthshire in the last few years; Martin Anthoney (County Recorder) apparently had the first county record for the species in the Newport area, since then it has been discovered as far north as Blaenserchan, not so far from Abergavenny. Of special interest to you - the species has been recorded from the Swansea area, which you may well be aware of?

Personally I think the species is under-recorded in south Wales, and as you know you have to spend time with the busy smessex clan to sort them out

Consider letting Martin know of your new finding, I'm sure he would be very interested.

BW's

Bill

"When in doubt - venture out"

Thursday 6th August 2015 - Northern Time Warp....

After visiting the Isle of Man on 5th August, I undertook what seems to now have become an annual pilgrimage to the environs of the Lake District to indulge myself in those species frequenting these northern latitudes.

After checking in for the first time to Smardale Gill in 2014, I was back at Arnside Knott this year and what struck me was just how 'late' everything seemed to be.

The weather has been pretty grim up in these parts and perhaps that explains why Dark Green Fritillaries and Ringlets were still going strong (albeit that individuals of those species seen were quite faded).

In previous trips, Scotch Argus were mainly past their best, but this year they were almost all in excellent condition. The part cloudy conditions also allowed decent opportunities to closely approach this normally skittish species. Here's a view looking east from the Knott with an indication of the cloud cover:
Here are two male aethiops:
This female had abnormally well developed ocelli:
Several worn Dark Green Fritillaries were seen:
A single female High Brown Fritillary was observed too:
There were a fair few faded Ringlets as well, which made me feel as though it was still mid-July. What's more, Meadow Browns were often still looking quite fresh:
I got a bit of a surprise when I saw what I first assumed to be a late female Northern Brown Argus:
However, on inspecting the images 'full screen', this individual shows faint traces of blue around the thorax as well as some white edging to the orange markings on the hindwings. If it is a female Common Blue, then I am perplexed, since I'd expect any icarus specimens at this time of year to be second brood, meaning that they should be gleaming. In addition, one would also expect to see plenty of males, but I never saw a single one!

Later on, I saw another individual that I am almost convinced is salmacis. Why? Well, this one didn't have any blue suffusion at all, nor did she have any white edging to the orange markings on the hindwings:
In addition, she was laying eggs on rock rose:
Here's the evidence:
In just less than three hours, the following species were noted:

Hedge Brown, Meadow Brown, Ringlet, Speckled Wood, Grayling, Scotch Argus, Dark Green Fritillary, High Brown Fritillary, Peacock, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Small Skipper, Northern Brown Argus and possible female Common Blue.

Amazingly, no Whites were seen at all, although several were observed flying by the roadside driving into and away from the site.

That's definitely a NBA, not a Common Blue. Your underside shot has the "colon" of spots that a Common Blue wouldn't have (though one is very faint). The blue sheen to the thorax is misleading - a Brown Argus (of either species) has no blue scales, but may have this sheen.

I'm very envious of all these sightings - lovely shots of the Scotch Argus. I would guess some might still be around in a fortnight when I may have a chance of getting up there.

Dave

millerd wrote:I would guess some might still be around in a fortnight when I may have a chance of getting up there.

I think you'll be okay, Dave. I saw a fair few (albeit faded) on 18th August 2012, and this year is a few days behind that.

Saturday 8th August 2015 - Early visit to my favourite site....

A bit early for Brown Hairstreak spotting in Pembrokeshire, but with warm temperatures and cloudless skies forecast for the entire day in this exposed part of the UK, I set off at 9am to simply bask in the delights this beautiful place has to offer.

I figured that the ash trees on the perimeter of this field were likely to be the areas where male Brown Hairstreaks congregated, however, I was disappointed as despite spending probably at least an hour in total looking at the canopies of these trees (as well as others nearby), I didn't see any butterfly activity except for the occasional Holly Blue, of which I probably saw a dozen at least:
Peacocks were particularly in evidence, with at least 30 seen. Red Admirals were in double figures too. Many of these were imbibing from the buddleia growing just 20 yards into the horses' field:
There were plenty more in the thistle patch in the second field, with Hedge Brown, Comma and Small Tortoiseshell seen here too:
I ventured onto the foreshore to take stock of how things looked, and visited the limestone ridge towards the eastern end of the site, and although there were no Wall Browns (which appear sporadically here), I saw Large, Small & Green Veined White, as well as Small Skipper, Speckled Wood, Ringlet, Meadow Brown, Common Blue and Small Copper.

I returned to the horses' field at noon, and spent time at the most sheltered corner of this spot, where I found a territorial Small Copper:
I kind of 'camped out' here for a while, as this was a very productive area for Brown Hairstreaks in 2014:
Many a butterfly flew past, usually Meadow or Hedge Browns, but one caught my eye as I couldn't reconcile its flight pattern with either Hedge Brown or Small Copper. It soon settled to give me quite a surprise:
I certainly hadn't been expecting to see a female Brown Hairstreak this early in August, much less see one pottering about on blackthorn suckers as if to 'sniff out' an ideal egg laying location. Much bending of the abdomen was observed but she never actually deposited any eggs.
Eventually she was content to just bask:
A couple of Silver Washed Fritillaries pushed the day's tally to 17 species prior to me leaving at ten past two. A very satisfactory day, and weather permitting I'll be back at least twice more before the season is over.

Hi David, just caught up with your report from Arnside. Interesting comparison with my trip up there the previous week when the Scotch Argus were just starting and I only saw males.

That is a beautiful fresh Brown Hairstreak too.

Great stuff

Neil.

Lovely Brown Hairstreak shots, David, they do seem to ovi-practice quite a lot - guess they're just searching for the exact right spot. Looking at your photos I think you should go back at least a couple of times

Wednesday 12th August 2015 - Too good an opportunity to miss....

With winds from the south east, meaning rare near perfect conditions in the south west of Wales, I deemed it imperative to book a last minute day off work in order to pay a quick second visit to the Brown Hairstreak site in Pembrokeshire.

I felt a tad short-changed in that I saw no males flying around the ash canopies when I visited on Saturday, so by 8.40am I arrived in the little car park to devote 5 hours to scanning the tree tops.

I'm pleased to say that this time there were several individuals observed high up, but, sadly, no females were seen at ground level this time round.

It's always hard to definitively identify a butterfly when it's flying so far away from you, but I'm absolutely certain I saw a minimum of six males in the ash trees, and very possibly as many as ten.

One male I can report with certainty was this one:
Most photos I took were merely 'hit and hope', as it's particularly difficult to locate the butterfly in your viewfinder amongst the faraway foliage even when you can see it clearly with the naked eye! Still, this image at least proves that males are present in given ash trees, although a couple of individuals didn't seem 'right' to me. They lacked that orange tint in flight, and a little later on I spent a while observing a Hairstreak that fell precisely into this category:
To my knowledge, Purple Hairstreaks were first recorded here only two years ago, and it's still a bit of a mystery as to why they're here, as oak trees are very few in number and the only one present in this first field is a rather young, stunted specimen. Clearly, it doesn't prove to be an obstacle to quercus:
Just like last Saturday, I saw 17 different species. Two new ones were recorded - Painted Lady & Purple Hairstreak, whilst Ringlet and Small Skipper were notable absentees from last time round.

Once again, Peacocks were in strong numbers, particularly on the buddleia in the first field:
This impeccably fresh Comma also proved irresistible:
Six Silver Washed Fritillaries were seen during this visit, with one male seemingly wedded to the hemp agrimony in the old glade on the foreshore:
There was another uplifting moment when a faded, male SWF briefly indulged in a little nectar-imbibing on the buddleia by the observation tower. I took several photos of it alongside both Peacocks and Red Admirals but, sadly, it isn't possible to demand that all species pose with their wings open simultaneously so that curious humans can take photos!!

A very satisfying day overall. Barely a cloud passed by in nearly 5 hours and the return was as follows:

Hedge Brown 60-80
Meadow Brown 40-60
Peacock 20-30
Red Admiral 8-12
Brown Hairstreak 6-10
Holly Blue 6-10
Silver Washed Fritillary 6
Small Copper 5
Large White 5
Small White 4
Speckled Wood 4
Common Blue 3
Comma 3
Small Tortoiseshell 2
Painted Lady 2
Purple Hairstreak 1-3
Green Veined White 1

Saturday 15th August 2015 - Betulae Bonanza on record breaking day....

A third visit to the Brown Hairstreak site at West Williamston in Pembrokeshire within a week saw surprises galore and records shattered.

My previous best tally for sightings of this species here in a single day was 10 in late August 2013, but today there was an absolute minimum of 12 different individuals seen, and very possibly double that total.

I arrived at 8.35am and had barely set foot into the first field when I saw my first male BH in the ash tree overlooking the car park. A thorough investigation into the activity in the ash canopies saw at least 8 different males, with a particular flurry around 9.30am when 2 separate 'dogfights' were observed between warring individuals.

As ever here, these insects do not descend to earth to take nectar; instead they are wedded to the upper reaches of the tree canopy meaning that the only images possible are those taken with maximum zoom from distance:
At about 10.15am this activity died down to the point where I deemed it wasteful to spend further time attempting to study it. Instead, I wandered around the field, at all times inspecting the hedgerows and the trees for any further possible sightings.

A particularly satisfying interlude was when two different female Holly Blues alighted on bramble blooms/leaves and opened their wings, which was unexpected given the sunny conditions:
A caeruleopunctata Small Copper was seen too:
Two Painted Ladies were present in the upper field, but both ran the gauntlet of regular harassment from the half dozen or so male Silver Washed Fritillaries present:
Then, just prior to midday, I finally spotted a female Brown Hairstreak low down in the field:
There were a couple of people who had come to the 'open day' having never seen a Brown Hairstreak before, and it was fascinating to watch their reaction to this most exquisite of British insects. We watched this first individual for a good 20 minutes before we were distracted by another female who appeared simultaneously. Both were in immaculate condition and were a joy to behold:
I even had the privilege of one of these females landing on my shoulder:
One of the females also laid the first recorded egg on this site in 2015. Bizarrely, she chose a very poorly blackthorn sucker which doesn't look as though it will survive into 2016. Still, I suppose these females are as yet very much in 'experimental' mode:
Of the four females seen, one had noticeable wing damage, as if some kind of liquid had caused stains on the upperwings:
No Purple Hairstreaks were seen, and Peacock numbers were well down on even last Wednesday. In total, 15 species were seen in a 6 hour stay in this single field. Normally, I wander throughout the site, but given the fact that it was a Hairstreak open-day, I decided to concentrate on a small area, which obviously diminished the numbers of butterflies recorded:

Hedge Brown 30-40
Brown Hairstreak 12-20
Holly Blue 5-10
Red Admiral 5-10
Silver Washed Fritillary 5-10
Meadow Brown 5-10
Peacock 5-10
Speckled Wood 5
Large White 4
Small Copper 2
Small White 2
Painted Lady 2
Common Blue 1
Comma 1
Green Veined White 1

A beautiful set of photos David. They are all gorgeous but I especially like the last 2 BH The Painted Lady shot is one I have been trying to get for a long time - wonderful underside .... and how does everyone manage to get blue spots on their SC????

Hi David, in any other post those cracking Holly blue shots would have attracted more comment but the series of gorgeous Brown Hairstreak photos have overshadowed them somewhat.

Great stuff

Neil.

Many thanks for the feedback, everyone.

Sadly, my plans to take four days off within the next week to further my experience with this species look to have been stymied by the abnormally atrocious weather which has been forecast for this part of Wales.

Looks like it'll be Bank Holiday weekend before I next get down there, which is an awful indictment of the vagaries of the British 'summer' climate.

I sometimes wonder how butterflies survive at all in this outpost!

This is August, not November!!

Just catching up with your Brown Hairsteak photos, David.
Only one word for them ... WOW !!
Chris

Saturday 29th August 2015 - Weather takes its toll....

Tuesday 18th August was the last convivial day weatherwise in Pembrokeshire. Since then, conditions have been truly appalling for August which is why I wanted to visit the West Williamston Brown Hairstreak site today to see what effect it has had.

Whilst things weren't exactly ideal, it was certainly sufficiently clement for these insects to go about their usual routine - 30% sunny spells, light to moderate winds and temperatures around 18c.

Well, having arrived just after 10am I was heading back to my car at 1.30pm having not seen a single Brown Hairstreak, even though general butterfly numbers were fairly reasonable.

I did one last circuit of the area that was cut in the upper field last year and lo and behold, I managed to spot a solitary female betulae just as I was resigned to getting into my car to head home empty handed.

The time was 1.33pm and a look at her left profile suggested she was a 'tidy' specimen:
However, when she opened her wings, it became clear that she had a deformed right hindwing:
She visited 3 different blackthorn suckers, and did something I've never seen before on the first.

She fidgeted around in typical betulae ovi-posturing fashion at first:
Then she laid an egg:
I expected her to move away, but she remained and continued to probe the same area with her abdomen:
She then proceeded to lay a second egg immediately above her first:
Here are the two eggs side-by-side after she'd shuffled off up towards the top of the blackthorn sucker:
A cursory inspection of some of the other new blackthorn growth threw up this little treasure trove:
Aside from this, there were plenty of other species to be observed. Small Tortoiseshells were about in numbers on the sea asters near the high tide mark as well as the thistles in the last field before the foreshore. This one was particularly attractive:
Surprisingly, Peacock numbers were still in double figures:
Painted Ladies were also fairly ubiquitous. I managed a single long range shot of this quite dark specimen:
Hedge Browns were still about too, although all but three seen were females:
A bigger surprise was the appearance of a Meadow Brown:
I spent my last two hours in the upper field, and throughout this period a lovely female Large White kept me company:
A dozen or so Common Blues were seen, including this stunning female:
In approximately 4 hours on site, the following species were observed:

Small Tortoiseshell 30-40
Hedge Brown 15-20
Common Blue 10-15
Speckled Wood 10-15
Peacock 10-15
Painted Lady 13
Small Copper 6
Green Veined White 3
Small White 1
Red Admiral 1
Holly Blue 1
Meadow Brown 1
Large White 1
Brown Hairstreak 1

I hope to get back down for an egg count during September, and in the meantime I pray that weather conditions improve sufficiently that those Brown Hairstreaks still remaining can go about their business. After a promising start here, things have gone downhill spectacularly.

Saturday 5th September - Busy betulae.....

Once again I was cursing the weather forecasters when I arrived at the Pembrokeshire Brown Hairstreak site at 10.05 this morning. Light cloud was predicted until 11am whereupon skies would progressively clear. Nowhere did it suggest that rain would be falling in this part of the country but that's what I had to put up with for the first half hour here.

I dutifully did an egg count in the upper field nearest the car park and having reached 14, I noticed that by 10.50am skies were clearing and suddenly the sun came out and warmed things up considerably.

After a fruitless 20 minutes searching this first field I decided to move on down to the foreshore to see what other species were about.

Walking through the sea asters, I was delighted to once again see double figure numbers of Tortoiseshells. However, I was most surprised to encounter my first Brown Hairstreak of the day in this exposed part of the site:
I followed this individual for just over 5 minutes until she flew up over the shrub line:
I carried on wandering through the sea asters and stumbled upon a rather tatty looking female Silver Washed Fritillary. This is the latest date upon which I've ever seen this species. Here she is in company with one of the four female Hedge Browns seen:
And an image of her by herself whiling away the final days of her short life, blissfully unharassed by males:
Walking back along the blackthorn line, I spotted my second Brown Hairstreak just prior to midday. Although these butterflies are no longer immaculate at this time of their flight period, they are all individually recognisable due to the various blemishes they have acquired. The first specimen had a 'nick' missing out of the lower left hindwing, whilst this one was missing a tail:
I watched her ovi-posturing as well as basking for a good half hour:
She kept settling on fairly mature blackthorn but I never saw her actually lay an egg:
I then briefly had that wonderful moment when a second Brown Hairstreak buzzed past me whilst I was observing a different individual. This one flew up and over the shrub line straight away and was the only one I didn't get an image of. However, whilst searching the blackthorn for eggs, I spotted a fourth betulae basking on convolvulus leaves:
I duly made my way back to the first field, but couldn't resist this Red Admiral en route:
This pristine Comma was equally irresistible:
A further search for ova disturbed a fifth Brown Hairstreak by the perimeter of the first field:
By 2pm, the clouds had evaporated and I decided to stay later than I do normally. This paid dividends, as at 2.03pm I saw my sixth and final female of the day, and I immediately recognised her as the individual I saw laying eggs last Saturday:
There was absolutely no mistaking the deformed hindwing of this female, and it made me so proud to know that she'd survived another pretty dire week of weather and avoided the myriad of predators along the way. Whilst tracking her, there were two occasions when spiders came close to her and I was ready to intervene both times to protect her. She was also the only individual of the day that I observed actually laying an egg. She eventually flew up into the ash tree at the back of the field next to the telegraph pole at 2.22pm, having first enjoyed a well-earned rest on the perimeter fence:
Six females is an excellent return at this site, and a final egg tally of 54 isn't bad either. Clearly, these butterflies have been actively egg laying in the past week as last Saturday I only found 11 ova. On two occasions I found triplets:
Just under four hours on site returned the following:

Speckled Wood 30-40
Small Tortoiseshell 15-25
Small Copper 8
Brown Hairstreak 6
Red Admiral 5
Common Blue 4
Hedge Brown 4
Large White 3
Peacock 3
Silver Washed Fritillary 1
Comma 1

I hope to pay one last visit here in a couple of weeks to do a further egg count. Given the flurry of activity recently as well as a reasonable weather forecast for next week, I hope that this count will break the 100 barrier!

Thursday 10th September 2015 - Last hot day of the year....

More than ever, I'd been keeping my eye on the weather forecast this week. South-easterlies gaining in strength from Tuesday resulted in 20c temperatures and blue skies in Pembrokeshire today, so I duly booked a day's annual leave to visit the Brown Hairstreak site in Pembrokeshire for a record breaking seventh time in a year!!

This one was more of a social visit though, as I had a friend with me who had just sat an accountancy exam the previous day and was in need of a simplistic 'back to nature' experience, so unlike other trips, this one saw me neglect my time-consuming studies of how many eggs had been laid, and we simply meandered around the site basking in the rare glory of a mid-September day with no clouds whatsoever and temperatures nudging the seventies Fahrenheit!

My friend proved to have excellent eyes, as she spotted the first two Brown Hairstreaks whilst they were basking on blackthorn. Normally, I only notice this species when I observe them in flight. It just proves that no matter how much experience you have, a different pair of eyes and a different modus operandum can occasionally 'trump' you.

Four females were seen in total on the foreshore. They were all a bit the worse for wear, but two of them were actively egg laying, and in addition we were able to provide a first ever view of this rare species to a couple who had travelled a fair way to be here today which is always very satisfying:
There's still a fair range of species flying here. We saw 13 in total. Apart from the 4 Brown Hairstreaks, the following were observed:

Small Tortoiseshell 30-40
Speckled Wood 10-20
Common Blue 5-10
Small White 4
Red Admiral 3
Hedge Brown 3
Painted Lady 3
Small Copper 2
Peacock 1
Large White 1
Meadow Brown 1
Holly Blue 1

This Tortoiseshell stood out because of the abnormally expanded black area on the forewings:
Having attained such a tally prior to 1pm, I felt it was my duty to refrain from further hunting in the quite windy conditions, so we decamped to the gloriously rugged Pembrokeshore coastline to take in St. Govan's Chapel:
The coastline round here is spectacular:
The Peacock at West Williamston didn't come to ground, but my friend managed to nail the one we saw on the coast which briefly settled in a sheltered dip:
To cap the day off, I spotted my first UK Clouded Yellow fluttering along the main A477 about 10 minutes into our journey home. Like a fool possessed, I veered off the highway and parked on the cycle lane of the road and got out to try and track this critter down. After a few minutes, I spotted it flying again and noticed that it was a flighty male. It came down about 40 yards away but in spite of a thorough inspection, I was unable to flush it out and must have looked pretty ridiculous to passing motorists walking up and down the same stretch of roadside with my camera at the ready

Still, if Clouded Yellows have reached THIS western outpost, then I suspect that they must be about in greater numbers further east. With my work virtually over at the Brown Hairstreak site now for 2015, I at least have another target to concentrate on before October arrives and obliterates what's left of the butterflying season!

Thursday 17th September 2015 – Good day for an egg count....

The weather forecast for today was probably the most disgracefully inaccurate one I’ve ever known. Even at 9am, as I was getting my things together to pay another visit to Pembrokeshire, we were promised sunny intervals and light cloud all day.

Arriving at 10.20am, the sunny intervals were precisely TWO in number, after which a bank of grey cloud rolled in which thickened enough to produce rain by 12.40pm, at which point I decided to call it quits.

Still, the day was not without its successes. I did a timed Brown Hairstreak egg count in the upper field, reaching a creditable 61 in exactly an hour. I found a further 7 on the foreshore bringing the total tally to 68.

There WERE butterflies about – a dozen or so Speckled Woods which seem impervious to dank conditions, five Small Tortoiseshells and singleton Painted Lady and Red Admiral.

Here’s the dismal scene (Met Office – you should be ashamed!)
Painted Lady in the top field:
Last butterfly seen before the rain arrived:

David, I`ve long believed the Met Office prepares its forecasts with London, the south and the south east in mind, and take little or no interest in the rest of us. Back in July when we were promised a heatwave, and indeed I was sitting at home watching tennis at a sweltering Wimbledon, the rain was absolutely p***ing down outside ( I live 10 miles north of Cardiff). What annoys me most is that two of the Met`s foremost presenters on the BBC, Carol Kirkwood and Matt Taylor, were born or raised in Scotland, so they at least should be aware that there is a world outside of Bracknell ! And of all the public funded companies the Met Office has probably had more money given it to purchase up to date computer equipment to ensure its operating efficiency than any other government department. And they still cant detect a b****y great rain cloud over south Wales. It remains to be seen whether the replacement to the Met will be any more accurate.

Right, rant over ! I`m glad you had success in finding Brown Hairstreak eggs and managed to see at least 3 butterfly species ! At least your journey wasn`t in vain. We can but hope for a late sunny spell with the chance of a few more sightings.

Jenks.

Sunday 27th September 2015 - Coastal capers.....

Time to make the most of the unseasonably good weather today without having specific butterfly species in mind.

Me and my neighbour walked round Whitford Burrows on the north west Gower coast between 11.30am and 2pm today. Red Admirals numbered about a dozen or so (most were found nectaring on the ivy on the lanes leading down from the car park). Eight or nine Speckled Woods were seen too, along with singleton Comma, Small Tortoiseshell, Small Copper and Meadow Brown.

It was still glorious when we arrived back at the car, so we took a little detour to Port Eynon which is on the south coast of the peninsula.

A couple of Small Whites were seen amongst the dunes, along with some everlasting pea, which I paid attention to just in case by some miracle a wayward Long Tailed Blue had found its way this far west!

No such luck, but there was a most pleasant surprise by way of a beautiful, female Clouded Yellow which was observed enjoying herself on the valerian blooms:
We watched her for a good ten minutes or more as she fluttered delicately amongst the dunes, occasionally alighting on the ground as if to inject some warmth into her:
However, she wasn't interested in any nectar source other than valerian, and several times she moved in a wide arc only to suddenly dart back down on the nearest flower:
Here's the area where she was found:
Whilst it was a beautiful day, with temperatures reaching 17c and barely a cloud to bother the sun, one can't help wondering why we can't have a dose of these conditions in May, June, July or August. Apparently, it's set to continue, but there are precious few butterflies left to benefit from it, although I daresay Red Admirals will have a field day!