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Thanks for the comments Bugboy, Wurzel and David. Appreciated as always

Monday 29th March.

The end of last week was certainly a bit lively here with a ‘lot of weather’ as the weathermen say, very windy with squally showers of rain and hail. The weekend stayed cold and windy and although the sun made some brief brave attempts to break through, on the whole it was a gloomy couple of days.

After another windy night, this morning (Monday) began to improve and with the wind dropping and the cloud thinning a bit by early afternoon, I decided to have a wander down to my local spot by Wagon Lane Park.

The first thing that I noticed was that the blackthorn is now starting to flower so I lingered around this area for a while to see if anything came to it.

It wasn’t long before I started to see a few butterflies, with a couple each of Small Tortoiseshells and Commas plus a single Peacock, all chasing each other up and down the hedgerow. With a bit of a breeze still blowing, these were usually settling lower down amongst the vegetation along the base of the hedgerow rather than higher up on the blossom.
I carried on around my usual circuit and reckon that during the hour or so that I spent here I saw around 7 of 8 Small Tortoiseshells, 5 Peacocks and 4 Commas.
As usual, exact numbers are made difficult by the distance these species can travel when chasing each other about. For example, I saw one particular Small Tortoiseshell, identified by a piece missing from one hindwing, in two completely different parts of this site approx. 500 meters apart and separated by a dense hedge.

I was looking out for an opportunity to take a photo or two of a butterfly on blossom and circling back to where the blackthorn is now flowering, I spotted a Peacock flying into the hedge. I tried to take a few photos but he stayed mostly within the branches so I couldn’t get a decent unobscured shot. The heavily cropped one below is about the best I managed.
I had better luck a little later when I spotted a Small Tortoiseshell and got some shots of him (or her) on the blossom.
These springtime ‘butterfly on blossom’ type of images are always amongst my favourites of the year as not only are they pleasing in their own right but to me they herald the start of the season ‘proper’.

A much warmer and more pleasant afternoon than we have had of late albeit a lot cloudier than forecast. Quite breezy still as well although at least it was coming from a more southerly direction and had lost the chill that it had last week.

It looks like we are going from one extreme to another with some really warm weather over the next day or two before a return to colder conditions again by the end of the week…just in time for the Easter weekend

Bye for now and stay safe,

Neil.

Looks like you had a very similar afternoon to me (and I'm sure many other people across the country). I always find it interesting how the season varies across the country, for obvious reasons of course. The Blackthorn around me has been in flower for a good few weeks now and there's a patch which invariably is in full bloom in the last week of February. This afternoon I noticed many patches are now going over and coming into leaf.

A definite case of Small Tortoiseshell envy here, Neil. They do look brilliant on the blossom (as do the Peacocks and Commas as well of course), and those are a great set of photos. As Buggy mentions, the blackthorn has been out a while down here, though I've been fooled locally by very similar-looking mirabelle plum trees which seem to bloom a few days earlier. The most spectacular trees round here at the moment though are the magnolias - huge mounds of pink and white. Fingers crossed they don't get frosted or wind-blown as they do spoil so easily.

Cheers,

Dave

Thanks Buggy. That stand of Blackthorn is the earliest to flower around my immediate local patch. It was noticeable today that the sun has brought more blossom out but there are still plenty of buds.

Cheers Dave. If you have Small Tortoiseshell envy, probably best not to look at the next report then


Tuesday 30th March.

After a clear and chilly night with a light frost this morning, the sun soon started to warm things up and before long we were looking at it becoming a beautiful day. Not quite the clear blue skies that we were forecast but the cloud that we did have was that thin high level stuff that just filters the sun a bit.

After catching up with some garden jobs this morning, this afternoon I decided to have another wander down to my local spot by Wagon Lane. There is no point going anywhere else yet as my other local spots would only provide the same re-emerging hibernators. By now it had turned into the warmest day we have had here so far this year and this was the first time I went out with just short sleeves and no jumper or jacket.

As soon as I arrived, I saw a couple of Small Tortoiseshells spiraling up above the first bramble patch, rapidly followed by a few more. I did my usual circuit and saw loads more Small Tortoiseshells and it became obvious that they were the most numerous species here today with easily 20 plus seen.
As well as the males territorial sparring, I saw a number of courtship chases but in every case the pair disappeared somewhere inaccessible before I could see the outcome.
Peacocks and Commas were both seen in similar numbers to yesterday with 5 of each counted, although the photos I managed to take of some of these show them to be different individuals to those seen the day before.
I also saw my first Small White of the year but it showed absolutely no sign of stopping as it motored past me along the hedgerow. That made four species for me so far, still no Brimstone but that is not so unusual for me here with these usually waiting until April to turn up here.

I noticed a lot of Bee-flies about and I also heard my first Chiffchaff of the year. All in all, a cracking afternoon.

Bye for now and stay safe,

Neil.

A couple of fantastic posts Neil You're certainly doing better than me for the Commas - I've still only seen two this year and I totally get the frustration with the courting Small Torts - they're quite the exhibitionist when it comes to courting but much more coy when it comes to ' the main event' as it were There was a photo of pair in cop on Facebook this evening and it was suggested that looking around 5pm is the best time to catch them'at it'

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

That's quite a Small Tortoiseshell bonanza, Neil. They seem to be doing alright round your way.

Great to see all those butterflies nectaring on the blackthorn blossom. Definitely one of the main highlights of any year, and one presumes that Orange Tips will soon be here to join in!

Cheers Wurzel. In every case when I have watched courting Small Tortoiseshells, the chase has gone into dense vegetation of some sort and been impossible to follow so even if they have mated it would have been out of sight.

Thanks David. A few Orange-tips reported now from around the midlands but none yet from my patch.

Friday 2nd April – Good Friday

After the past couple of days of nice weather, it was back to being overcast and pretty cold when I walked down the road to my local shops this morning, not only was I once again wearing a jumper and jacket but before I was halfway there my hands were wishing I had worn some gloves too.
Later, the clouds gradually broke up until, contrary to expectations (and yesterday’s forecast for today), this afternoon didn’t turn out too bad. I hadn’t planned on going out anywhere today but with some decent sunshine developing, I was tempted to have another walk down to my local spot by Wagon Lane Park.
As expected on a Bank Holiday afternoon, the park itself looked to be busy but the area of rough ground to the side of the park itself was no busier than usual with just a few dog walkers passing through along the footpaths, all of which I am happy to say had their dogs on leads.
Since yesterday, the wind has veered back around to be blowing from the north-east and has a cold feel to it. The sun this afternoon had some good warmth but when it disappeared behind a cloud you could feel the chill in the breeze.

As on my last visit here a couple of days ago, I soon started to see Small Tortoiseshells but in the cooler conditions today they were far less active. Most of those that I spotted were either basking or taking short flights when I put them up as I wandered around on my usual circuit.
No doubt due to the cooler conditions, there were fewer Small Tortoiseshells today than on my previous visit but I still reckon I saw 18 to 20 different individuals spread out around the site.
Apart from these, I only saw two other butterflies, these being one each of Peacock and Comma.
I guess the rest of their kinds were still tucked up out of that chilly breeze. I have noticed before that Small Tortoiseshells will often fly when it is still just that bit too cool for any of the other hibernators.

Bye for now and stay safe,

Neil.

Lovely crisp, clear photos Neil with such vibrant colours.

I like to read of your butterfly expeditions because you see to have the same species as I. Furthermore, I am originally from Solihull myself so I know the areas that you write about.

Lovely report Neil - I reckon you're spot on about the Small Torts - they definitely make the others hibernators look like a bunch of wusses The first couple stand out for me as there doesn't seem to be much contrast between the black markings on the leading edge of the fore wings - nice looking individuals

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

Lovely shots of the ST Neil. I'm quite envious, especially given the numbers you are seeing. Please send some this way as they are in very short supply!

Hi! Neil, I saw some Small Torts but my courting couple were definitely hiding in the undergrowth Your shots are great Goldie

Thanks Otep. Interesting to know that you are originally from Solihull, you will appreciate the lack of 'premium' species around here then.

Cheers Wurzel. The variation in Small Tortoiseshells always stands out to me when I see a number together. It is one way that I use to count numbers, if I was to count every sighting there would be far more but photos have proved to me that I am often seeing the same individuals multiple times.

I wish I could Pauline. They do seem to be struggling in parts of the south and south-east, like they were here a few years back but they have recovered here since. Hopefully they will recover there too eventually.

Thanks Goldie. I am glad to see that you are seeing some butterflies up there.

Monday 5th April - Garden Moths

Bank Holiday Monday and we have some light flurries of snow outside as I write this. Mind you, it is not the first time that I have known snow at Easter although the last time was some years ago.

Time for an update on my garden moths.

Numbers picked up a bit during the last few days of March, although the clear skies during the day which brought such nice warm weather would then persist into the night leading to a rapid drop in temperature and some light frosts in the morning.

I ran the trap a couple of times with the catch still consisting mostly of the usual Common Quakers and Hebrew Characters, but the night of 23rd produced a nice Pale Pinion. This is a moth that has only appeared here twice before, both times in 2019 so I was chuffed to see this one. It was quite a dark individual which did make me briefly wonder if it was a Tawny Pinion, a species that I have yet to see here, but it lacked the diagnostic dark thorax of that species and so confirmed it to be a 'Pale'.
Following the warmest day of the year here, the last night of the month (Wednesday 31st) brought my highest tally so far this year with 21 moths of 11 species including NFYs of Early Thorn, Small Quaker, Red-green Carpet, Double-striped Pug and Twenty-plume Moth.
This brings my species tally so far this year up to 19 species, 14 of which are macros with just 5 micro species so far. Despite feeling like a slow start, this is actually fairly average for my garden here and is broadly in line with other Warwickshire moth trappers that I know that are trapping in similar gardens to mine.

Since then, the return to colder weather with the wind blowing from the north again has meant that I have only put the trap out once more. This was on the night of April 2nd when the colder conditions resulted in just 5 Common Quakers.

It looks to be a cold and windy few days ahead, lets hope it warms up again soon so that I can see a few more butterflies. I am still stuck on 4 species here (Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Comma and Small White) and I have yet to see a butterfly in the garden.

Bye for now and stay safe.

Neil.

Envious as always of the number of Small Torts you seem to find .
The score for me locally is Large Tort 1, Small Tort 1, so far.
The Small Tort was a total surprise given it's location.

Some great shots there!

Stay safe and well,
Trevor.

Pleased to see decent numbers of Small Torts round your way, Neil. I hope this cold snap doesn't account for too many; most of the ones I'm currently seeing are precious egg-laying females and we certainly don't want those freezing to death!!

Nice line-up of moths as usual. The Early Thorn is one I occasionally see, and is one of the few to hold its wings in similar fashion to a butterfly, which always gives me a bit of a shock until I realise what it is.

Thanks Trevor. My score so far is roughly 50-60 Small Tortoiseshells and 0 Large Tortoiseshells so I reckon that puts us about even

Cheers David. I reckon the Small Tortoiseshells are well practiced at hiding away, after all it is what they do for around a third of each year.

Thursday 8th April.

The first half of this week felt at times that we had gone back in time to winter with rain, sleet, hail and snow flurries all taking their turn. The few fleeting glimpses of the sun failed to make much impression with the temperature on most days failing to rise above the mid single figure range.

After a cold night and a frosty start the sun actually stayed out for most of Thursday morning and for a while it felt almost pleasant. I had to take Jane into Solihull in the morning to pick up a new pair of specs from the opticians but on our return and after grabbing a quick sandwich for lunch I wandered down to my local spot by Wagon Lane Park.

Unfortunately, by now the clouds were building up again and taking the warmth out of the air but nevertheless I soon started seeing Small Tortoiseshells in the usual spots.
I counted 9 individuals today and noticed that some of them, when settling, went well down into the vegetation to get out of the cool breeze. The only other butterfly seen was a solitary Small White that flew off into a nearby garden before I could get a photo.

It is not looking too promising over the weekend but it looks to be warming up a bit later next week, fingers crossed.

Bye now and stay safe,

Neil.

More lovely Small Torts Neil, the ones up there still seem to be in good nick compared to some of the battered ones I'm finding Hopefully we'll start getting a bit more consistency with the weather soon and the numbers will really swell

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

Hi! Neil, glad to see your still seeing lovely Small Tort's , since I posted my last shots nothing seems to be flying, much too cold here, low Temp's and Snow this morning( Hope fully )the WARMER WEATHER will arrive soon . Goldie

Cheers Wurzel. Yes, plenty of good condition Small Torts up here and from what I saw today they are still re-appearing from hibernation.

Hi Goldie. We had quite a bit of snow on Sunday and into Monday here too and it has been bitterly cold. Today was an improvement and it looks to be getting a bit warmer next week if the forecasts can be believed (Yes, I still look despite their shocking inaccuracy these days).

Tuesday 13th April

It seems that most of the country has had some wintry weather over the past few days and we have had our share here including quite a few flurries of snow, some of it quite heavy although none that lasted for too long. In between these episodes, the sun has come out and it has looked pleasant from inside looking out but once outside, the cold wind has been very much in evidence. My highly developed scientific method of telling the temperature by if my hands feel cold has been telling me to wear gloves or stop inside.
Today (Tuesday 13th) the wind dropped and plenty of sun this morning allowed it to warm up a bit so that by early afternoon, it really was feeling pleasant again so I wandered down to my local spot by Wagon Lane Park.

The first stand of Blackthorn is still going strong with most of the blossom surviving the recent overnight frosts.
The second large stand that always flowers a bit later is now also well out, although there are still plenty of buds not yet opened on this one.
My apologies for yet more photos of Small Tortoiseshells, but they are simply the most numerous butterflies around here so far this spring…by a long shot. My usual circuit produced an easy 30 plus today and although I recognised some individuals from previous visits, there were definitely some new ones that had appeared since.
There were not that many other butterflies flying with just 4 Commas and 2 very flighty Peacocks seen...
...along with a couple of Small Whites, just one of which I managed to get a ropy record shot of.
I spotted another white that may well have been my first Green-veined White of the year but I couldn’t get a close enough view to confirm it.

I was on my return leg of the circuit and just passing through a gap in the hedgerows when a butterfly flew up in front of me and settled again a little further down the path, my first Speckled Wood of the season. I managed to sneak up and just managed the one shot before it flew up and over the hedge.
Shortly after this, the sun went into hiding behind a large grey cloud so I carried on my way back towards home.

Still no Brimstone or Orange-tips (nor Holly Blue) around here although I have seen quite a few reported from further over in the West Midlands, mostly from towards the Severn Valley. It is surprising the effect a couple of hundred extra meters of altitude here can have.

Despite the sleet and snow that we had over the past few days, we have not had any significant rain here for a while now and I couldn’t help but notice how dry the paths were looking today. Apart from a potential light shower or two, there isn’t much rain in the forecast for the foreseeable future either and as much as I don’t like to wish for it, we could really do with a good downpour soon.

Bye for now and stay safe,

Neil.

You can never have enough Small Torts Neil And another lovely set again I've still yet to see a Specklie - I keep going to all the right places but they don;t seem to have emerged in any great numbers yet

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

That's a lovely swathe of flowering blackthorn, Neil. Pleased to say it's reaching its peak round my way too. Shame it's still a little on the cold side, but it's a visual lift nonetheless.

Good to see your local Torties are out in good numbers. I never tire of seeing them, especially on the tree blossom. Great that Specklies have arrived in your neck of the woods too. I know how much you cherish this species.