millerd wrote: ↑Tue Jun 02, 2020 6:24 pm
A visit to Bookham Commons this afternoon (2nd June) gave me sightings of my first White Admirals of 2020. I saw four or five individuals, but they were very active and spent a great deal of time flying in and out of trees and bushes from light to shade and back again. It's no wonder they don't stay pristine for very long! There are only a few bramble flowers open here yet, but the Admirals did find them once or twice - but nowhere near the path! A couple of shots for the record of what must be a pretty early date for my first sighting of the species.WA1 020620.JPGWA2 020620.JPG
Dave
Thanks Dave,
I don't think that there ever has been a Spring sighting (End of May) of a United Kingdom, wild White Admiral (WA) butterfly on the wing.
I am sure it will be noted that this year was the earliest wild emergence from pupa, although, might one quote a reference from the 1800s?
There was a Climate Change hashtag for that.
First week of June in Lincolnshire had been quite cool (15 degrees C, not much WA flight time). I had an interest in Bookham Common when I lived in Surrey. I saw fresh WA June 13th 2014, and June 20th 2015. One could expect the Silver-washed Fritillary to emerge at about the same time as WA and Purple Emperor (PE) about 7-10 days later.
2017 was a very early emergence year for the PE (June 11th).
https://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=AwrC0F8 ... 3pLN6T0uY-
(That was a relevant link).