Neil Freeman

[Wurzel]

Fantastic set of images Neil - lovely looking Small Pearls and that mint condish Marshie is lush - I hope they hang on at Bentley Wood Looking forward to some more reports

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

Fantastic shots of the Lizard Neil, and lovely shots of the Marsh Frit and Pearl Frit It's a place I've always wanted to visit, I've put it on my list of places to go Goldie

Thanks Goldie. You really must visit there sometime, I would especially recommend May/June for the wildflowers as well as the butterflies but it is a great place at any time.

Nice report, Neil. I long to get back there myself; it's been a while.
BWs, Neil

Thanks Neil. I don't blame you, it is a special place.

What can I say, Neil Superb report and images.
All butterflies fresh and mint. The Small Pearl should emerge at Park Corner soon.

Have a great time!.
Trevor.

Thanks Trevor, definitely a case of quality over quantity. Good luck with the Small Pearls at Park Corner Heath, it looks set to warm up this coming weekend so they may start appearing.

Fantastic set of images Neil - lovely looking Small Pearls and that mint condish Marshie is lush - I hope they hang on at Bentley Wood Looking forward to some more reports

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

Thanks Wurzel. Fingers crossed for you at Bentley Wood although I read somewhere recently that it has been suffering from increased visitor pressure. Seems to be a bit of a problem with a few of the more popular sites this past 12 months or so.

The Lizard May 17th – May 22nd Part 3.

Wall Browns.

Not usually one of my main targets, but since they can no longer be found in Warwickshire, I am always hopeful that I may see a Wall Brown or two on our trips which are often to suitable coastal locations. Sometimes I am successful and sometimes not, depending on the timing of the trip and where they are in their flight period in any given season.
Looking at how this year’s season has panned out so far, I was fairly sure that there would be some first brood examples around, the only question was if the weather would be good enough for them to be flying. Having said that, I have seen them quite active in quite cloudy weather before, as long as the air temperature is high enough.

In the end I saw half a dozen individuals scattered about at different locations. The first one was on the Tuesday (18th) morning during my walk back from seeing the Small Pearls by Kynance Cove, when I spotted one flying along the path, but it disappeared down the cliff without settling.
The second one was a bit later the same day when we walked down the path from the village to the Lighthouse and saw one flying back and forth along the shelter of the stone walls along here. A cloud covered the sun which sent him down and gave me the chance to approach and grab some photos.

Wall Brown male - Lizard Lighthouse 18.05.2021

A couple of minutes later the cloud moved on and he was on the move again but didn’t go far before settling again. After this the sun stayed out for a while and he was back to actively flying back and forth along his stretch of stone wall.

Wall Brown male - Lizard Lighthouse 18.05.2021

On the Wednesday (19th) morning, when I was looking unsuccessfully for Marsh Fritillaries at the site by the main road towards the village, I saw another couple of Wall Browns. One of these was a nice looking male which I noticed had small double eye-spots on his forewings.

Wall Brown male - The Lizard 19.05.2021

The other one was a female that looked like she had been around the block a few times.

Wall Brown female - The Lizard 19.05.2021

I was taking a couple of photos of the female when the male came over and tried his luck, but she quickly took off with him following in pursuit and I lost them through the hedgerow.

Wall Brown pair - The Lizard 19.05.2021

Later that afternoon, we were passing this site again on our way back to Lizard Village so I decided to stop off for another look on the off chance that the decent spells of sun that day may have brought out a Marsh Fritillary. No luck with a Marshie but I did spot the male Wall Brown again in almost exactly the same spot he was in earlier so I took a few more photos of him.

Wall Brown male - The Lizard 19.05.2021

Wall Brown male - The Lizard 19.05.2021

I had also seen a couple of other individuals earlier on Wednesday, one along the path by Predannack Wollas Farm and another on the way to Carleon Cove, neither of which settled whilst I was watching them.

One more report to go to finish off the rest of the stuff I saw.

To be continued…

Neil.

[Wurzel]

Wonderful Walls Neil - another 'hopefully at the weekend' species for me . Loving counting all the spots and eyes - nice variety in those

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[essexbuzzard]

Lovely report and pictures, Neil.

We were hoping to go down there for a short break this weekend, but it hasn’t worked out for us.

My sources down there say that the weather has been better in Cornwall, and elsewhere in the SW and South Wales, this spring, in particular a much warmer and sunnier April. So things are slightly more advanced there than up here, though still behind schedule.

[Neil Freeman]

Wonderful Walls Neil - another 'hopefully at the weekend' species for me . Loving counting all the spots and eyes - nice variety in those

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

Cheers Wurzel. Good luck at the weekend, it is looking quite promising for a change.

Lovely report and pictures, Neil.

We were hoping to go down there for a short break this weekend, but it hasn’t worked out for us.

My sources down there say that the weather has been better in Cornwall, and elsewhere in the SW and South Wales, this spring, in particular a much warmer and sunnier April. So things are slightly more advanced there than up here, though still behind schedule.

Thanks Mark. That would tie in with my impressions, a week or two behind down there whereas here in the midlands it has almost felt like we are still in April...or November!
We found it busy but not too crowded last week. With this weekend being a bank holiday, and with the weather looking to be picking up, I would imagine it will be very busy down there, possibly too busy for my liking.

The Lizard May 17th – May 22nd Part 4.

What else did I see down on the Lizard? Well, regarding butterflies, not a lot on top of those that I have already mentioned. I put this entirely down to the weather this year, both the long drawn out cold conditions this spring and also the constant wind down there that varied from ‘brisk’ at the beginning of the week to gale force on Thursday and Friday.

Half a dozen Small Coppers were seen scattered around various spots and in varying condition with some looking pretty ragged. The individual in the two shots below, seen at Carleon Cove on the Wednesday (19th) was probably the best one that I got close to.

Small Copper - Carleon Cove 19.05.2021

Small Copper - Carleon Cove 19.05.2021

A couple of fresh looking male Common Blues were seen in one of the sheltered little valleys on the coast path when I was heading back from Kynance Cove on Tuesday (18th).

Common Blue - Kynance Cove 18.05.2021

A few whites were seen at random locations with 2 Large, 3 Small, and 2 Green-veined confirmed along with another half a dozen or so that remained unidentified due to being too far away or too mobile (or both). The Large Whites, both seen on Tuesday (18th) were the first of these that I had seen this year.

A couple of male Orange-tips were seen patrolling along the more sheltered hedgerows and a single female was seen at Carleon Cove on the Wednesday (19th). The shot below shows her in a half-hearted rejection pose that was prompted by a Small White flying over her.

Orange-tip female - Carleon Cove 19.05.2021

A single Peacock was hanging on at Carleon Cove on the Wednesday and was still very sprightly despite having seen much better days.

Peacock - Carleon Cove 19.05.2021

Occasionally I would spot a Common Lizard basking on a rock, or more often just their tails as they scuttled off on my approach. I spotted one at Carleon Cove in time to sneak up and get a shot before it realised I was there.

A Lizard on The Lizard - Carleon cove 19.05.2021

Birds that were seen (or more often heard) included Skylarks that accompanied my walks along the coast path and a Cuckoo (my first of the year) that I heard when I stopped off to (unsuccessfully) check the Marsh Fritillary site alongside the road towards Lizard Village. Stonechats and Meadow Pipits were also seen on most days.

Staying right down by Lizard Point, it would be remiss of me not to have a look for the Cornish Choughs and sure enough I saw them a couple of times, usually late in the day on the hillside above Pistil Meadow just a little way to the west of the most southerly point. This seems to be a favoured feeding spot for them later in the day as I have seen them probing for grubs there a number of times in previous years.

Cornish Choughs - Pistil Meadow 18.05.2021

Cornish Choughs - Pistil Meadow 18.05.2021

The path to the Lighthouse from the village also provided the unusual sight of a sheep standing on top of the stone wall and watching people pass by.

King of the Castle - Lighthouse path 18.05.2021

And to finish off with, a couple of Small Pearl habitat shots.

Undercliff to the south of Kynance Cove 18.05.2021

Serpentine factory ruins at Carleon Cove 21.05.2021

Since returning to the midlands on Saturday, the weather has been worse here than we had it down there last week but hopefully things look to be improving over the weekend and into next week.

Bye for now and stay safe,

Neil.

[Wurzel]

Great shots Neil but my favourites have to be the Choughs - brilliant birds they are and much better looking than their Alpine cousins

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[David M]

I'm so pleased you had a productive trip, Neil. I feared for you when you announced the dates you were going, as that part of the country usually has similar weather to the Gower, and it was pretty windy and cloudy here between 17th and 22nd.

Great that you managed to find Small Pearl Bordered and Marsh Fritillaries, and the Wall Browns were a welcome bonus too.

Some beautiful scenery and other flora/fauna as you say. This is for sure one of the most delightful parts of the UK (even when the weather is less than satisfactory).

[Neil Freeman]

Great shots Neil but my favourites have to be the Choughs - brilliant birds they are and much better looking than their Alpine cousins

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

Cheers Wurzel. Yes, they are cracking birds and I always make an effort to see them when we are down there. Mind you, it was easy this time, just a 5 minute walk from our B&B

I'm so pleased you had a productive trip, Neil. I feared for you when you announced the dates you were going, as that part of the country usually has similar weather to the Gower, and it was pretty windy and cloudy here between 17th and 22nd.

Great that you managed to find Small Pearl Bordered and Marsh Fritillaries, and the Wall Browns were a welcome bonus too.

Some beautiful scenery and other flora/fauna as you say. This is for sure one of the most delightful parts of the UK (even when the weather is less than satisfactory).

Thanks David. I must admit I was a bit fearful myself when I saw the forecast. We saw plenty of cloud and wind, particularly on the Thursday and Friday but fortunately most of the rain fell further inland.

Tuesday 25th May.

Sunday (23rd) was pretty grotty here with loads of dull grey cloud and then rain blowing in later in the afternoon. This continued into Monday morning with some of the rain being very heavy and the rest of the day again being dull and gloomy.
Tuesday was much brighter and by early afternoon we ended up with some nice warm sunny spells. Pottering around the garden with my camera to hand as usual, I spotted a nice female Green-veined White fluttering about and grabbed a couple of photos when she settled.

Green-veined White female - Coverdale 25.05.2021

A little later I thought I saw her return again and took a few more photos which showed that this one was a different individual.

Green-veined White female - Coverdale 25.05.2021

Wednesday 26th May.

On Wednesday morning, I dropped Jane off at her mom’s house for a couple of hours and then with the promise of a decent morning I decided to carry on to Blythe Valley Park, my first visit there this year.
I parked up and on heading towards the nearest gate into the first footpath, I spotted a male Orange-tip on the other side of a 3 bar wooden fence. I took a couple of photos through the fence before he flew off towards some nearby trees.

Orange-tip - Blythe Valley 26.05.2021

I wandered around for an hour or so and saw half a dozen more male Orange-tips, most looking a bit worn now but still in better condition than I usually see them around this time in previous years, a testament to the late season we are having this year.

Orange-tip - Blythe Valley 26.05.2021

I then decided to hang around a patch of cuckoo flower and wait to see if one would show up. I didn’t have long to wait as one arrived within a minute.

Orange-tip - Blythe Valley 26.05.2021

Orange-tip - Blythe Valley 26.05.2021

Orange-tip - Blythe Valley 26.05.2021

As well as a couple of Orange-tips, at least two different male Green-veined Whites showed up on this patch…

Green-veined White - Blythe Valley 26.05.2021

Green-veined White - Blythe Valley 26.05.2021

…as did a Peacock, looking to be in reasonable condition still given the weather we have had this spring.

Peacock - Blythe Valley 26.05.2021

Not looking quite so good was a Small Tortoiseshell that made me wonder what it was at first, until it settled and I got a clear view.

Small Tortoiseshell - Blythe Valley 26.05.2021

As is often the case these days, the clouds had been building up through the morning until by around 11.00 it was almost totally overcast so I made a move back to meet Jane at her mom’s house.

Thursday 27th May.

A warmer day but I was fairly busy so not much chance to look for butterflies although I did spot singles of Holly blue, Orange-tip and Speckled Wood passing through the garden at various times during the day.

Friday 28th May.

A mostly cloudy day but this morning it was that high level stuff that allows some diffused sunlight through and it felt quite warm. This afternoon the cloud thickened up again and we had some drizzly rain later. Before that happened though, I spotted a nice female Speckled Wood come into the garden and grabbed a couple of photos before she moved on.

Speckled Wood female - Coverdale 28.05.2021

We are forecast a bit more rain tonight but then after some cloud to start with tomorrow (Saturday) it looks to be warming up quite a bit from Sunday and into next week...at last

Bye for now and stay safe,

Neil.

[millerd]

Some great Orange Tip shots, Neil - looks like they will be with us into June this year, which is good in some ways though it does reflect the poor weather this spring. A nice Specklie too - I haven't seen one for a week or two now round here.

Cheers,

Dave

[Neil Freeman]

Cheers Dave. That was the first Specklie I had seen since coming back from Cornwall but have seen a few more since.

Garden Moths - May

Not surprisingly, the cold and wet May, following on from a cold and dry April, has also had an impact on the numbers of moths in my garden. So much so that I have only had the trap out three times this month as a lot of nights were too cold or too windy. Up until this Friday, the two nights were May 9th which resulted in 18 moths of 11 species and May 14th with just 5 of 4. This compares with May over the past few years when the trap was out 12 times in 2018, 8 times in 2019 and 13 times last year.
Friday night (28th) was the first time that it had looked like being reasonable conditions for a good two weeks with some cloud cover to keep the overnight temperature up and just a light breeze. The result was 28 moths of 15 species, mostly geometers and micros, and included no less than 8 species that were firsts here for the year.

Brimstone Moth - Coverdale 28.05.2021

Garden Carpet - Coverdale 28.05.2021

Green Carpet - Coverdale 28.05.2021

May Highflyer - Coverdale 28.05.2021

Foxglove Pug - Coverdale 28.05.2021

With the upturn in the weather over the Bank Holiday and potentially looking warm for a further few days yet, it is looking more promising, although the high pressure looks like it will be leading to clear nights which are not the best for moth trapping (never happy am I ).

Bye for now and stay safe.

Neil.

[Wurzel]

A lovely selection of Whites Neil I especially like the second hot of the female Green-veined (they're proving a bit elusive round this way) that is a brilliant, stand out shot I must confess to feeling somewhat shocked - the weathermen actually got it right for once

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

...I must confess to feeling somewhat shocked - the weathermen actually got it right for once ...

Wurzel

Indeed Wurzel, we have gone from one extreme to the other again.

Sunday 30th May.

After a Saturday (29th) that stayed stubbornly cloudy for most of the day, a Sunday morning layer of cloud burnt off by around 10.30am to leave the rest of the day with clear blue skies and not a cloud in sight with temperatures rapidly rising. Being a bank holiday weekend, I had already decided that I wasn’t going anywhere, partly so that I could crack on with some jobs around the house and garden, but also because I have also found that as I get older, I am less tolerant of some of the muppets out there and have found that I prefer to avoid public places when they are likely to be busy, such as on a sunny Bank Holiday.

Whilst I was in the garden I saw a steady procession of Green-veined whites, Orange-tips and Holly Blues passing through, or maybe as is often the case, the same ones coming around on repeat circuits.
With the warm sun and clear skies, the only one that stopped still for more than a millisecond was a male GVW in the morning just before the skies totally cleared.

Green-veined White male - Coverdale 30.05.2021

I have a Hawthorn in the garden that was originally a self-sown seedling some years ago and which I transferred whilst still small to a position in the border at the bottom of the garden. It has now grown somewhat larger and this year the blossom is looking particularly nice and is really glowing in the sun. The photo below really doesn’t do it justice.

Hawthorn (May) blossom in my garden 30.05.2021

Monday 31st May.

A similar day to yesterday but after a clear night it was quite nippy to start with and the cloud took until around 11.00am to burn off completely. I saw the same butterflies passing through again with the addition of a fresh looking male Speckled Wood that was either chasing everything like a mad thing or sitting somewhere inaccessible with his wings clamped firmly shut.

Later in the afternoon I watched a female Brimstone, the first of this species I have actually seen this year, fly into the garden and start investigating my Alder Buckthorn shrubs and then start laying on the fresh young leaves.

Brimstone female - Coverdale 31.05.2021

Brimstone female - Coverdale 31.05.2021

Brimstone female - Coverdale 31.05.2021

During the next hour or so she kept returning and laying a few more eggs before either fluttering off along the border or dropping down to top up her fuel reserves.

Brimstone female - Coverdale 31.05.2021

After she had returned a few times, I counted over thirty eggs, some laid singly and some in groups where she had revisited the same leaf a number of times.There would actually be more eggs than this as some were laid well above head height or in other positions that I could not reach to check. One group of a dozen eggs is the highest number that I have ever seen laid on one leaf with all being laid by this one female today.

Brimstone eggs - Coverdale 31.05.2021

Despite some books saying that they will only lay on plants in full sun, I watched her fly into the shrubs and choose leaves in the shade, something that I have also seen in previous years. Buckthorn and Alder Buckthorn are not that common around my patch, hence why Brimstones are not that common here either, so I wonder if the females here are a bit less choosy about where to lay.

Brimstone female laying in the shade - Coverdale 31.05.2021

I also watched her as she settled briefly on some of the other shrubs in the garden which include Holly, Hawthorn, Hazel and Privet, where she appeared to test the leaves before rejecting them and returning to the Alder Buckthorn.

She continued lurking around and occasionally flying off and then reappearing again until around 4.30pm when she flew off for the last time.

Bye for now and stay safe,

Neil.

[Pauline]

Great observations there Neil and brilliant shots to accompany them. I have never seen that many eggs laid by one female and never that many on one leaf. I wonder if it is anything to do with the weather we have had with butterflies just desperate to deposit their eggs, and, as you point out, a shortage of Alder Buckthorn in your area.

[David M]

That is a prodigious number of eggs laid by that female Brimstone, Neil. She must have been exhausted.

Are you going to rear any?

Spring seems to be hanging on nicely in your neck of the woods with Brimstones, Whites, Orange Tips, Peacocks and Small Tortoiseshells still making their presence felt.

It's been a bizarre last few weeks, with species such as Grizzled & Dingy Skipper still looking fresh (presumably due to deferring their normal emergence time due to the cold weather).

With sun & warmth now in full sway, we could have a plethora of different species active over the next week or so, at a time when things are usually a bit quiet.

What price Dark Green Fritillaries flying with Grizzled Skippers?

[Neil Freeman]

Thanks Pauline. That's the largest number of eggs I have ever seen on one leaf too. It is turning into a strange year in many respects and will no doubt lead to a few 'out of the ordinary' behaviours.

Thanks David. It definitely still feels like we are somewhere around mid May here.

Tuesday 1st June.

Flaming June they used to call it, well lets hope it is better than sodding May. It has certainly started off well with another warm and sunny day with the temperature rapidly rising to the low twenties by midday.

This morning, we went to our daughters and after staying long enough to be sociable and having a coffee, I left Jane there and went round to my local spot at Bickenhill to have a look. This was my first visit there this year, in fact with the grotty weather we have had so far this year, I am well behind with visiting my local sites.

I wandered around my usual circuit and found it to be fairly quiet with regard to butterflies. Half a dozen or so Orange-tips were seen, at least four males in hyper mode in the warm sun and a couple of females that would stop occasionally on some cuckoo flower, either to lay eggs or take nectar.
I checked a few plants for eggs and found a few plus a couple of first instar larvae.

Orange-tip female - Bickenhill 01.06.2021

Orange-tip larva (first instar) - Bickenhill 01.06.2021

The only other butterflies seen were a couple each of Green-veined Whites and Holly Blues, again in full on active patrolling mode.
A couple each of Burnet Companion and Mother Shipton Moths were also seen but with these also being highly active and with the bright sun giving a harsh light making photos a challenge, I didn’t bother trying to follow them.

I circled back to my car and then carried on to my other local spot at Castle Hills. My circuit here produced a few more butterflies including more Orange-tips and Green-veined Whites, a couple of Peacocks, and singles of Small Tortoiseshell and Holly blue, but overall numbers are still on the low side around here.

A single male Common Blue was my first one locally this year.

Common Blue - Castle Hills 01.06.2021

I also spotted my first Small Heath of the year, one of three seen here today.

Small Heath - Castle Hills 01.06.2021

This site often produces a few Small Coppers and Brown Argus although only ever in small numbers in the first brood and none seen today.

A couple of the meadows here were looking nice with large expanses of buttercups putting on a good display.

Buttercups - Castle Hills 01.06.2021

It was good to reacquaint myself with a couple of local sites but dare I say I could have done with a little less heat.

Back home in the garden later in the afternoon, the female Brimstone from yesterday put in another appearance. By now a few fluffy summer clouds had bubbled up and occasionally covered the sun briefly, thereby sending her to ground where I grabbed a few more photos.

Brimstone female - Coverdale 01.06.2021

She revisited the Alder Buckthorns a few times and laid some more eggs but I didn’t bother trying to take any more photos and let her get on with it undisturbed. Later, I did another count and got up to 56 eggs that I could see. No doubt there are a few more hidden away where I can’t get to.

Despite a couple of days of warm sunny weather, I very much get the impression we are still playing catch up here with things a good couple of weeks behind where they have been in the past few years.

In the past, when we have a good spring, it is often followed by a poor summer and a good summer often follows a poor spring. It will be interesting to see what the rest of June brings.

Bye for now and stay safe,

Neil.

[Wurzel]

That's a lovely looking Orange-tip Neil and that meadow looks brilliant Things are really behind down this way too - the Dukes have only just got going in numbers the last few days and the Common Blue numbers have only just started to build Fingers crossed that we get a good summer

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

Cheers Wurzel. Yes, it is certainly a strange year so far.

Wednesday 2nd June.

After my visit to my local site at Blythe Valley Park last week, I decided to return there this morning (Wednesday 2nd) to see if things had progressed much and in particular to see if I could find any Common Blues, Brown Argus or Small Coppers there.
I arrived just before 10.00am with the temperature on my car display already reading 20c so it was looking to be another warm one although the forecast had said that more cloud would be blowing in later from the south-west.

I soon saw a few Orange-tips with around half a dozen males patrolling along the hedgerows plus a similar number of unidentified whites and a male Brimstone, the first male I have seen around here this year.

Looking in first likely spot for Common Blues, I found a fresh male followed by a couple more in the next meadow I looked in. During the hour or so that I spent here I ended up seeing a total of just five Common Blues, all fresh looking males indicating that they are just getting started here.

Common Blue - Blythe Valley 02.06.2021

Common Blue - Blythe Valley 02.06.2021

A couple of Burnet Companion Moths were also seen. This time last year there were dozens of them here, another sign of how late the season is running here.

Burnet Companion - Blythe Valley 02.06.2021

Still no Small Coppers or Brown Argus here. I am wondering if they are just late like everything else around here (I hope so) or whether they have been clobbered by the frosts we had for night after night back in March/April and then the very wet May. One thing that I did notice was that the Ox-eye Daisies here are still in bud and they are normally flowering when I have been in previous years and seen the Common Blues/Brown Argus/Small Coppers here.

Lots of birds singing as I wandered around, some of which I recognised (Robins, Wrens, Chiffchaff) and some that sound familiar but I cannot place the owner. One particular call drew my attention up to where I spotted what I think is a Reed Bunting, the first one I have seen around here if it is.

Reed Bunting? - Blythe Valley 02.06.2021

I’ll come back and have another look here next week.

Bye for now and stay safe,

Neil.

[bugboy]

Male Reed Bunting for sure. Like the other Buntings (Yellowhammer, Corn Bunting etc) not the most renowned songster but once you get your ear in still quite distinctive

[Neil Freeman]

Thanks for the confirmation Bugboy. It attracted my attention by not sounding like one of the usual ones I hear around here.

Cheers,

Neil

[David M]

Orange Tips & Brimstones make for a peculiar start to June, Neil, although I saw one of the latter myself only yesterday!!

This next couple of weeks is going to be a strange affair as the warm weather entices out early summer species to coincide with the late April/early May species that left it late to emerge due to the horrendous weather during May.

There could be a few interesting combos, e.g. Dark Green Fritillary & Dingy Skipper!