www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Thanks Essex, they certainly have, and conveniently on my doorstep too!
Thanks Wurzel, the weather continues to conspire against me
Thanks David, it seems like an age ago since that warm spell in February.
Kingfisher pairs share most of the nesting and rearing duties. They can lay quite large clutches, as many as 10 (but half that is more normal) so once the chicks are old enough to not require brooding, that’s a lot of hungry mouths to keep full of fish, far too many for one parent to cope with.

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March 2023

Saturday 18th was a mostly gloomy affair. Rain in the morning subsided and the clouds broke for a short time for brighter conditions to tempt me out. Unfortunately it was short lived and I spent most of the afternoon sheltering from persistent showers in the bird hide on Walthamstow Wetlands. The kingfishers were being very vocal and occasionally showed themselves. A Wren spent a lot of time foraging right in front of the hide and further out a Great-crested Grebe was patrolling. The sun did return around 4 but this was far too late for any butterflies to show themselves. Talking of butterflies, I did actually see one . Settling down in the hide before the first shower I noticed a dark butterfly fluttering around the old reeds. The earlier sunny spell had long since passed and it was looking for somewhere to hide away. I couldn’t see any colours but presumed it was either a Red Admiral or a Peacock and when it vanished down a small hole in last years now flattened reeds I presumed it to be the latter. I quickly took a couple of shots but thought I’d missed getting a confirmed ID until I got the pics on my computer where I discovered I could tick of my fourth species of the year, just!

March 2023

Sunday 19th was a drier day the previous one but the weather forecasters promised much more than what actually transpired. I left with the intention of having a wander around Tottenham Marshes, probably the best place within walking distance from my flat to find the first wave of hibernators. Well I did make it there but my camera never left my bag, the promised sunny spells never materialised and the gloomy grey blanket above my head was anything but butterfly friendly at this time of year! Not wanting to waste the day I headed south back to the Wetlands. One of the Kingfishers made a brief distant appearance, battering something senseless against various branches. I took a few record shots which showed just enough detail to see the victim was a very limp (and no doubt very dead by now) newt. Later in the afternoon I found some live newts in a small wooded pond. The Wren was back again, today joined by a Chiffchaff whilst further out on an island a pair of Parakeets had taken exception to a Crow who was minding its own business. In front of the Island a pair of Shelduck were getting in the mood, well the male was, I think the female was just glad when it was all over!

Great images of the parakeets harassing the crow, Paul. I presume they're a common sight round your way?

March 2023

Tuesday 21st was another day in a growing list of being tempted out based on an inaccurate forecast. I went down into Sussex again, hoping the sunny spells and above average temperatures I was promised would awaken some butterflies. The sun didn’t bother showing up til 4 and the stiff, blustery wind did nothing to take the temperature above woolly hat conditions!

The birds hadn’t believed any of the forecasts, mixed flocks of finches and Yellowhammers still scoured the fields for food, showing no signs of pairing up for breeding. The feeding stations for farmland birds, common in this part of the world, acted like magnets for numerous species. Best spot of the day was a Firecrest, managing slightly better pictures than last time I saw one at Bookham. A hovering male Kestrel finished off the rather drab, grey day. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wednesday 22nd. Things were significantly better today, albeit for only a couple of hours. I took another wander up to Tottenham Marshes, arriving around the same time as the sun did. Not long into my walk I found a nice Comma. After he scarpered, I doubled back to scan a Blackthorn hedge, almost immediately putting up a Red Admiral who politely settled on a nearby bramble leaf. After that excellent start things quietened down again. I had to wait another Half hour before a male Brimstone fluttered past non-stop. A little later in a more exposed area a distance pale butterfly fluttering in the wind like a piece of tissue paper caught my eye. Suddenly I was wishing for a cloud to settle it down, which duly arrived but before I could get a snap a passing dog put it up and it got swept off in the breeze. I did get a close enough look to confirm a male Small White.

I found another Brimstone, this time a female and this time it stopped to feed long enough to get a distant shot. The final sighting was a second Comma who gave me the slip. I pretty good day given the recent run of not so great days. We can only hope the cold winter and wet spring will mean oodles of butterflies this year, everywhere is now starting to look nice and lush which can only be a good thing!

"the weather continues to conspire against me" me also Bugboy - beautiful blue skies all morning and then as I grab my camera ready for a foray out the cloud rolls in bringing driving rain with it Sill it's a delight to see your posts starting to feature butterflies - I've yet to bag me a Peacock shot this year

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Nice Comma, Paul. They have somehow eluded me so far this spring, although the last couple of times I've been out I've seen Brimstones and a Peacock.

Looks like Monday could be decent - cool but sunny. Butterflies are hard-wired to know they should be active now so I expect things to pick up real soon.

Thanks Wurzel. As the next two days weather proves it does continue to conspire against me, however yesterday I got a rare day of reprieve. Apart from a couple of days next week I’ve been unable to take any leave from work in April, so that bodes well for the weather!
Thanks David, yes yesterday was a pretty decent day, the butterflies still made me work hard though, it took a good six hours to reach the dizzy heights of eight butterflies!

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March 2023

Monday 27th. A rare sunny day on a day I wasn’t at work. Although the temperature had dropped the wind was light and, at least to start with, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. The day started well, a close view of one the Kingfishers as I walked through the Wetlands. And ended with a surprise appearance of a flock of Siskin on Walthamstow Marshes, the males looking like they’re getting their summer plumage and looking very yellow. The main course though was found wandering around Tottenham Marshes. The first butterfly of the day was my first Small Tortoiseshell of the season. I was hoping to find more given they are more tolerant of cooler conditions than the other adult hibernators but this was the only one seen, the day actually belonged to Peacocks. The first was found half an hour later feeding on some flowering Cherry which would have made a lovely image had a passing bird not spooked it. It didn’t go far though. Despite the cloudless skies I had to wait another hour and half for the next Peacock to appear. I had now started my second circuit of the site and this second Peacock had replaced the earlier Small Tort. At the same time a Small White was fluttering around but made now attempt to settle anywhere. Peacock number three appeared after cloud cover had begun to bubble up in one of the main hotspots when the season gets going. I suspect the hotspots have yet to be found by awakening hibernators, they simply haven't had the opportunity to find them. A fourth flew up from some celandine when I was distracted by something else. The fifth and final one I managed to photograph I found under the now mostly overcast skies, still optimistically basking. Later in the afternoon I briefly saw another Peacock on Walthamstow Marshes. Off course normal proceedings have returned and there’s just cloud and rain for the next couple of days which I’m off. I’ve got another five days off from Saturday, apologies in advance!

Same weather conditions here yesterday, but air very cool, saw nothing.
I should think your spirits were lifted with an ST and Peacocks, and that Kingfisher again!

Great stuff!
Trevor.

Considering the weather this month, I’d say you’ve done pretty well there. Well done.

Great to see the Siskins Bugboy and then the contrasting Peacocks I've seen one of those so far this year but it didn't hang about for a photo
Looks like March came in like a Lion and went out like a damp squib
Have a goodun
Wurzel

Kingfisher, Siskin, Peacock & Small Tortoiseshell on a mild, early spring day....surely there's an adjective to describe that level of pleasure, Paul?

Bliss, perhaps?

Thanks Trevor, I see you’re finally off the mark too now and I imagine your old railway track will start producing the goods en-masse this week.
Thanks Essex, it was a relief to see more than a fleeting glance of something!
Thanks Wurzel, I’m just glad to see the back of March this year!
Thanks David, it was certainly a breath of fresh air after the weeks of nasty weather we’ve had.

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April 2023

Sunday 2nd was the first of 4 days that were destined to be butterfly friendly (if the weather seers were anything to be believed). Well the first day didn’t quite start as they predicted, the blanket of cloud took an age to clear and by lunchtime I was beginning to think the day wasn’t going to happen. I spent the morning wandering Walthamstow Marshes and Wetlands willing the stubborn cloud to move. The Kingfishers have now become tiny blue smudges at the centre of the viewfinder as they take turns digging a nest out on one of the Islands.

The Hedgerows have suddenly become rather noisy, our breeding Blackcaps have returned from their winter holidays in the Med and west Africa and now the males are noisily claiming territories. Joining them in the springtime melodic cacophony were the Chiffchaffs. It wasn’t until midday that I noticed the cloud seemed to be breaking further north from where it was drifting, my queue to head off to Tottenham Marshes.

A Peacock showed up first. The sunny spells were still short lived so he posed well. I had another Small White flyby (my third here now, probably something to do with the nearby allotments) but had to wait another half hour before something else settled. Crossing a field where Small Tortoiseshells normally frequent I saw another White flutter down into a large bed of Red Dead-nettle. I presumed it was another Small but as it had settled I picked up the pace to catch it before it took off again. I was still quite a distance away when I saw the markings, my first Green-veined of the year, and a nicely marked female too. I think she was on her maiden voyage and was feeding avidly, not bothered in the slightest by me. Another long wait (well 20 minutes) and I found another species, a rather weather worn Red Admiral. Nearby I spooked a second Peacock and had a couple Brimstone flybys. Next I returned to my favourite hotspot which earlier had turned up nothing, the afternoon sun had woken up a couple of Comma who were busy fighting over the best spot in-between basking. Looking at my pictures later, I only managed to get one of them I spent quite a while with these two but when I wandered off a small brown butterfly fluttered weakly past, another new species and probably also on its maiden flight. After initially landing in the grass he found a particularly nice spot to sit and posed like a trooper! A little while later a second Specklie turned up just long enough for a couple of record shots. I then came across a second Red Admiral, except on closer inspection it was the same one as before, about a mile from that first spot. That was very nearly it for the day but rather than walking back home I decided to take the bus. The stop backs onto a small nature reserve and flying around a patch of Dandelions were a couple of Peacock. I wouldn’t normally bother with photos in such an urban spot with ‘normals’ passing by giving me weird looks, but the years been slim pickings so far so I swallowed my pride. As befits a couple of males loitering around a bus stop in Tottenham, they both looked somewhat worse for wear! Remarkably this is my first day of the year where I’ve hit double figures and the days quota of Peacock made that the first species to hit double figures for the year, it really is a slow start.

It's happening at last, a for the GVW and Specklie.
Someone reported an OT today.

Bring it on!
Trevor.

Thanks Trevor, just needed a few days of sun and they come out to play

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April 2023

Monday 3rd. I’d initially pencilled in a trip into Sussex to try and search out a Large Tortoiseshell today but at the last minute, with an improved weather forecast, I postponed that for 24 hours, a fortuitous decision as it turned out! I decided to spend some time closer to home in Epping Forest instead. To be fair, I’d be very surprised if there weren’t a few LT lurking somewhere here too. Annoyingly the day turned out to be a carbon copy of the previous day, thick cloud rolling in in the morning and only dispersing again mid afternoon so I had little time to explore in suitable weather.

A few birds were about whilst I checked out various stands of Blackthorn, some was in flower but the bits that have attracted most attention from butterflies in the past were still in bud. It wasn’t until nearly 2pm that a couple of Peacock became the first butterflies of the day and as the cloud finally broke up several more came out. I spent most of the remaining sunny hours at a butterfly hotspot where three paths converge. An egg laying Red Admiral showed up first, too many dead bramble stems between me and her chosen Nettle sprigs to get close to her but here’s one of her eggs. Several Brimstone, all males were doing the rounds and occasionally settling. At least five Commas were present although two only fleetingly, being seen off rather quickly by the ‘resident’ male in that particular sunny corner. A couple of Peacock also showed up, looking almost scale perfect

i know what's coming !

Some great bird shots recently Paul. I had a Blackcap (male) and Brambling in the garden today - not for the first time but it's been a while. Nice find with the LT too - they seem to be just everywhere at the moment.

Not sure what you’re referring too Trevor
Thanks Pauline, I’ve yet to get a decent view of a Brambling

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April 2023

Tuesday 4th. A near perfect early spring day, save for a rather nippy brisk breeze. I’d set my sights optimistically high today. I’d used my winter forays into the hills around Amberley to locate any patches of Blackthorn suitably located in sheltered, sunbathed aspects where just maybe I might find a wandering Large Tortoiseshell. It was a little disappointing to find much of it still a few weeks away from blooming and for a large part of the morning I had not a sniff of a butterfly of any species. Walking down towards Perry Hill from Kithurst Hill I put up a couple of Peacock, but walking into the sun meant they saw me long before I saw them. It wasn’t until the path opened out and became a little windswept that I found some flowering Blackthorn and something to photograph. So that was four butterflies with two in the can, maybe the afternoon would liven up. Arriving at Perry Hill my attention was drawn to a large mature Blackthorn in full bloom at the bottom of the slope, more specifically a large butterfly shaped orange splodge. My heart was naturally speeding up by the second as I slowly approached and a near mint Large Tortoiseshell coalesced before my eyes. Just as I went in for the first record shot it flew off and there then proceeded a frustrating couple of minutes as I tried and failed to get better shots with it constantly fluttering off just as I tried to close in. I hung around long after it vanished over the hedge, a better behaved Peacock the only company. I figured there might be a chance it would hang around in the general area and come back to feed later in the day before roosting, so to kill some time I wandered off to investigate Burpham Meadows near North Stoke where 6 years ago, nearly to the day (April 3rd in 2017) I saw my first ever Large Tortoiseshell. Today there wasn’t much around, Brimstones fluttered back and forth, a solitary Comma shot past me and a handful of Peacock were all I saw as I waded through thick ankle deep mud. A Small Tortoiseshell ambushed me on the way back to Perry Hill, nipping into a farmyard before I got a chance to photograph it but shortly after it (or another one) shot past me and nipped over into a field where it tormented me by persistently landing on the wrong side of a barbed wire fence of a field I wasn't sure I could enter without being chased off by an angry farmer. I spent the final hour at the foot of Perry Hill, keeping a close eye on the Blackthorn. I thought I’d struck lucky again as I approached it but this time the butterfly shaped orange splodge turned out to be a rather large female Comma. Another Peacock was the only other butterfly to return for a late afternoon feeding session before I left Whilst numbers of butterflies still remain low compared to recent years, definitely a worthwhile trip. It would seem like the cold winter has benefited the Large Tortoiseshell which are now popping up all over the place. Makes you wonder if there was another influx from the continent last year, perhaps the heatwave forced a northerly/westerly movement or have our now resident population reached some sort of tipping point making them suddenly more visible, exciting times whatever the reason!

Cracking find with the LT Paul

Like you, I am finding overall numbers to be down on recent years. I guess this is down to last years summer heatwave/drought. I hope that events prove me wrong but I still have some niggling concerns about the knock on effects for this season.

Cheers,

Neil.

It was your visit to Perry Hill I was referring to.
I can feel your frustration, so near, yet so far. Still, an LT is an LT and a great find .

trevor wrote: ↑Fri Apr 07, 2023 6:27 pm...Still, an LT is an LT and a great find.

Indeed so.

Well done, Paul. It's clearly polychloros even though the butterfly is posing at an awkward angle.

I'd love to know what your heart rate bpm was when you realised its identity.