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Well about time we had some sunny weather! At last I managed to complete my transect, which started off quite disappointingly, but picked up a bit in the grassy meadow area. I saw one fresh new green-veined white and a fresh small tortoiseshell, my first meadow browns of the year and a good number of ringlets. There were hundreds of chimney sweepers trying to put me off too!

I paid a quick visit to John Muir Country Park at lunch time where there were plenty of ringlets on the wing. There were also quite a lot of common blues flying and I spotted a couple of small tortoiseshells, a red admiral, a green-veined white and three dark green fritillaries. They were all very active and wouldn't stop for a picture!
However, I found an elephant hawk moth that was a lot more obliging. What an amazing looking creature. There were also a lot of cinebar moth catepillars on the ragwort plants
Later when I got home I saw a couple more red admirals, so it is looking like a good year for them.

A quick visit to Yellowcraig on the East Lothian coast yesterday lunchtime revealed similar butterflies to the previous day's visit to John Muir Country Park. This time, at least, the dark green fritillary stopped and allowed me to take a picture.
Today I went down to see my father who lives near Selkirk. After lunch we walked up to a magical little corner about half a mile from his house. I visited this area a couple of years ago and was amazed at the number and variety of butterflies I saw. As with most times I've gone looking for butterflies this year it clouded over on our way there, but there was still a good number of butterflies in the area. This is a little valley above some woodland that follows a burn up onto the moors. For the first 500 metres the valley is south-west facing and very sheltered. There is a lot of rockrose and other wild flowers growing there amongst the heather and a wetter area along side the burn with meadow sweet and sedges.
The longer grass was swarming with ringlets. Most of them were sitting, waiting for the sun to re-appear, many with their wings wide open. Others were finding other things to do.
It wasn't long before I spotted a northern brown argus egg.
Although the adults were a little more elusive. Eventually, I disturbed one as I walked along the track.
And after that I saw a couple more. After I took this picture this one went on to lay some eggs.
There were a few common blues around...
...and a lot of small heaths. The season seems to be a lot later in the Borders than in East Lothian where most of the small heaths have disappeared for the year. These ones also seemed to be more brightly coloured.
On my way back down the track a small pearl bordered fritillary flew past me, but unfortunately I lost sight of it. However, that was the first spbf I have ever seen. The number of butterflies was amazing. Hundreds of ringlets, probably close to 100 small heaths, about 20 common blues and 10 northern brown argus and that fritillary. It was interesting that I didn't see any meadow browns or dark green fritillaries that I have previously seen there. I can only imagine how many butterflies there would have been if only the sun had made an appearance.
Up until recently this area was grazed by sheep, but for the last two years it has been left and some trees planted. I am not too sure if this will be beneficial or not, as there are areas of bracken and heather that could spread and smother the smaller wild flowers.

Nice one Nick! The Ringlet on the left is an aberration, BTW!

Cheers,

- Pete

Pete Eeles wrote:The Ringlet on the left is an aberration, BTW!

Thanks Pete. I hadn't realised. In my ignorance I had just assumed that it was different markings on males and females! The last time I visited that area two years ago I took a picture of a mating pair of ringlets and when I looked at the pictures later I realised that one of them was a meadow brown!

I met a local enthusiast, Abbie Marland, this lunch time at a site near Longniddry where graylings have been reported. I wasn't aware that they occurred there, but it seems that there has been a small colony there for some years.
Abbie has recently discovered narrow bordered five spot burnet moths at the same site and there was an incredible number of them there.
Since this discovery she has seen them at various other sites around East Lothian, so they may have been around for some time and mistaken for six spots!

We chose a nice gravely area of the site as the most likely place to find graylings and despite the weather we were not to be disappointed. At least they were easy enough to spot when they were in flight, but amazingly well camouflaged when they landed.
Unfortunately the dull weather and strong wind didn't help with photography, but at least we did manage a few shots.
At times there were five graylings in the air at one time and we estimated that there must have been more than ten of them in the small area we checked. It is interesting that there are various suitable sites along the coast for graylings, but they don't appear to have spread from this site. Unfortunately this area is destined for development, so I hope that a small corner can be left untouched.
I hope to go back on a sunny, still day to have a longer look for grayling, but I don't think that will be any time soon judging by the weather forecast!
This is the third new species for me in East Lothian this year!

We have just returned from a two-week family holiday to Lanzarote. I can’t really recommend it as a good place to look for butterflies, but it is a fascinating island because of its volcanic history. Much of the island is barren lava with other areas of sparse vegetation. Apparently in the spring there are areas of wild flowers, but at this time of year there are only a few woody or succulent plants surviving. According to the Oxford Photographic Guide to the Butterflies of Britain and Europe there are only 14 species of butterflies recorded on Lanzarote, some of which only occur between December and June when there is more vegetation around.
The temperature – high 20s and constant wind of around 30 to 35km/h meant that the few butterflies I saw were very active and not at all easy to photograph. On average I probably only saw two or three butterflies a day and they were all around our holiday resort where the irrigation provided flowering plants for them to feed on.
The first butterfly I saw was a geranium bronze. They seem to have colonised everywhere I have been on holiday for the last few years!
There was another small bluish/grey butterfly around and it took a couple of days before it landed for long enough for me to identify. It turned out to be a Lang’s short-tailed blue, but it seemed smaller than normal. A day or two later a similar looking butterfly flew past me on the coast and briefly landed on a rock at the side of a promenade. I was really delighted to see that it was an African grass blue. It didn’t stop long enough for a picture, but later on the holiday I discovered they were inhabiting a small corner of the resort where I was able to get some pictures. Another new butterfly for me was the monarch, which has recently become established in Lanzarote. There was one that patrolled the shrubs along-side the swimming pool for the first ten days of our holiday. It would constantly fly around from about 10am until 4pm. It was a beautiful bright orange and so large. I mentioned to my wife that I wondered how it would breed if it didn’t leave the area. A day or two after it disappeared, I spotted a smaller, less brightly coloured individual flying around the resort. I hope they managed to meet up! One day this butterfly landed in a bush outside our villa. I could have sworn that it was a brown argus, with dark brown upper sides with a row of orange spots around the edges of the wings. I took this rather poor picture, which now makes me think it was a female common blue. The brown argus isn’t recorded for Lanzarote, so the common blue makes more sense! Other than that I saw a few small whites and a red admiral. So, a total of seven species, two of which were new to me. A better result than I was expecting. An interesting place, though, and if I was to go back I would like to visit in April when the spring flowers are out.

A colleague offered to take over my butterfly transect whilst I was on holiday, but unfortunately the weather was so bad over the two weeks that she didn't manage to do any walks. The weather was kind enough for me to do one on my return on the 27th July and I was surprised to see a dramatic fall in the number of ringlets. Only two were seen compared to 53 two weeks earlier. There were quite a few green-veined whites around, but only a couple of small tortoiseshells and a couple of meadow browns despite the good weather.
I have also been away for the last two weeks and again the weather was too bad for any transects. However, I have been told that graylings have been found at a second site in East Lothian, which is good news. The other site where they occur is due to be developed into light industrial units in the next few years.
It was good to see a number of butterflies in the garden on Sunday. The buddleia was a big hit and at one point had four small tortoiseshells, four peacocks a green-veined white and a small white on it. I saw a very fresh looking meadow brown in a local stubble field and a few large whites flying around the village.
Today looked promising for a transect, but it clouded over at lunch time so I hope I get a chance later in the week.

At last the weather was good enough for me to complete my transect today. The route follows the River Tyne upstream and it was obvious that it had all been under water last week. I guess that is a good enough reason for my colleague not do to have done it then! As it was the water level in a burn that I usually cross was so high that I had to take a 20 minute diversion to get to the other side.
The number of butterflies I saw was lower than I had expected, but all of the thistles and ragwort were covered in silt, so not attractive to them. I did see a good variety of butterflies, though, including large white, small white, green-veined white, comma, peacock, red admiral and small copper.

I made the most of a rare sunny day and headed down to the John Muir Way at Bilsdean to look for walls at lunchtime. They first made an appearance here last year and now appear to be resident. On an 800 metre section of the path I saw 11 walls, more than 10 small whites, a couple of red admirals, a small tortoiseshell and a small copper. It was good to see that the walls seem to be moving further north along the path, but strange that they were all males.
The small copper appeared to be laying eggs on a small dock plant on the path. It was pushing its way under blades of grass and going through the motions of laying an egg, but after it had flown off, I couldn't find any eggs on the leaves.
In the afternoon I had arranged to meet a landowner who had recently bought some land near Dunbar. He wanted to talk to me about public access and landowner liability. It turns out that he is a very keen ornithologist and he has planted up the fields with wild bird cover and a hay mix. This is also very attractive to butterflies and it was lovely to see so many amongst the grasses and wild flowers. There were still a few meadow browns flying there, along with red admirals, small tortoiseshells, small coppers and various whites. On the way back to his house a wall landed on the track in front of us, so they really do seem to be extending northwards!

I was lucky enough to return to Mauritius for two weeks with the family late July/early August. Despite it being the middle of winter, there were still a reasonable number of butterflies around. The temperatures were in the mid 20s, mostly sunny with occasional heavy showers early in the morning.
About 40 species of butterflies have been recorded on Mauritius, but ten of them are considered to either be casuals or now extinct. A number of the species or sub-species are endemic to Mauritius.
On our journey from the airport to the hotel I spotted a number of African Migrants – Catopsilia florella, which was a good sign. These large white butterflies were quite abundant and the females have both a white and a yellow form. They are very active checking out flowering shrubs and during the holiday I saw plenty, but I didn’t see one settle.
The most common butterfly was the African grass blue, Zizeeria knysna. These were all over any grassy areas or flowering shrubs. I have never seen butterflies in such numbers.
Almost as common was Lang’s short-tailed blue, Leptotes pirithous. This is known as the common blue in Africa and they tended to spend much of their time nectaring on Lantana and other shrubs.
The third blue that seemed to be everywhere was the tiny grass blue, Zizula hylax. These dinky wee butterflies have a wing span of less than 20mm and their small size proved difficult for my camera’s auto focus.
This small bush in the hotel grounds must have contained over 100 of the above species. I spent a while looking for the clover blue, Zizina antanossa, which is very similar to the African grass blue but missing the spot in the basal part of the underside of the forewing. Although I didn’t find any I did spot two other species.
This is a faded plains cupid, Chilades pandava, missing its tails and eye spots. No doubt bitten off by a bird, thinking it was going for its head.
And this is Pseudonacaduba sichela reticulum, a subspecies of the African line blue only occurring on Mauritius.
The other blue that I saw was the brown playboy, Virachola antalus. This species seemed quite bold and tended not to fly off when approached. It would quite often drop from a tree onto some flowers below looking just like a falling leaf.
Another butterfly that enjoyed the shade of the trees was Henotesia narcissus. It tended to spend most of its time sitting amongst dead leaves in dappled sunlight, flying only short distances and keeping quite low to the ground.
A butterfly that I really wanted to see was Junonia rhadama, the brilliant blue. I was pleased to see quite a few of them, but they were very wary. It was difficult to get within six feet of them, but with some careful stalking I was able to get a few pictures. They have a wing span of about 50mm and the male is more brightly coloured and has one eye spot on each hind wing.
The female has two eye spots and is less blue.
I spent ages one morning following this Malagasy grass yellow, Eurema floricola. This little bright yellow butterfly has a narrow black edge to the top of its wings. They seemed to fly quite low and rarely seemed to settle. This one took a break when a cloud came over, allowing me to get a picture.
Another butterfly that rarely settled was the common leopard, Phalanta phalantha. It would fly from flower to flower, feeding for a few seconds with its wings still flapping slightly. As with most of the larger butterflies, they seemed very wary. On a slightly overcast day I found three of them amongst some vegetation sitting with their wings open and I was able to approach them quite closely.
I saw two Hesperiidae during my visit. The first was a fleeting glimpse of Borbo borbonica, the olive haired swift. It flew up from the grass where I was walking and landed a few feet ahead of me. I managed a quick picture and then it flew off and vanished.
Slightly more obvious was the striped policeman, Coeliades forestan abrogates. This would flit from flower to flower feeding vigorously with its wings vibrating slightly. I only ever saw them on Lantana flowers.
Two butterflies that I regularly saw, but which never seemed to land were the plain tiger, Danaus chrysippus and the lovely citrus swallowtail, Papilo demodocus.
This is an interesting butterfly. I think it is Hypolimnas anthedon drucei, but according to the butterfly book I bought “it is exceedingly rare or extinct in Mauritius”. Only four specimens have been caught on the island, the most recent in 1953. I am trying to find out more from the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation.
This is the evening brown, Melanitis leda. An amazing butterfly that flies in the evening as it is going dark. At first I thought I had been seeing large moths. By day they rest amongst the dry leaves under trees, only flying when disturbed. This one appeared one night in the corridor outside our room.
I visited the Ile aux Aigrettes, an island nature reserve looked after by the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation. This is a fascinating place and it was great to hear of the work that the Foundation are undertaking to protect indigenous species. It was also very sad to learn of all of the extinctions that have occurred since humans have discovered Mauritius. Not only the dodo, but the blue parrot, giant skink and giant tortoise amongst others have been lost.
Similar species of giant tortoise have been introduced onto the island to help with seed germination and the control of invasive species. Various other species have been brought back from the brink of extinction. It was amazing to learn that most of the natural shrubs have two different kinds of leaves. The lower ones tend to have red or yellow markings and are not palatable for tortoises, whereas the leaves above about a metre are green and lush.
I managed a poor picture of a pink pigeon. There were only nine remaining in 1990 and thanks to an intensive conservation programme there are now over 400 at three locations around Mauritius.
There only remains 1.2% of the native forest on Mauritius. Much of the island has been cleared for sugar cane production. What I had thought was natural woodland on the higher land turns out to be mostly invasive species that have taken over after the ebony trees were cleared.
It was still a fantastic country to visit with such friendly people. I can’t complain at having seen 17 species of butterflies in the middle of their winter!

On Thursday last week I had to survey a route for a new footpath along the River Tyne. This involved pushing my way through nettles and thistles and various areas of wild flowers, but despite the great weather I only saw two peacocks and a green-veined white.
At lunch time I visited Meadowmill, where an old slag heap has been re-shaped into a pyramid overlooking the site of the Battle of Prestonpans. A colony of grayling was found here earlier in the year and I was keen to see them. Unfortunately, it seems I was too late in the year, but I did see about thirty meadow browns and one of them stopped to lay an egg in front of me!
I then went along to Blindwells to look for the graylings there. Again, I didn't see any, confirming that I was probably too late. However, I watched a small copper and it too went on to lay an egg. There were also quite a few small whites and green-veined whites around.
I photographed this small copper and noticed later that it has longer tails than I can remember seeing on any previous adults.
It seems ironic that these ex-industrial sites seem to be better for butterflies than the natural enviroinment along the river!

A rare, still, sunny day here today after all of the wind we have been experiencing. Quite a few autumn colours on the trees, but today there were peacocks, red admirals, small tortoiseshells and small whites flying in reasonable numbers. I still haven't seen a painted lady in East Lothian this year. In fact I am only aware of three having been recorded here so far!

I have had confirmation from the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation that the butterfly I saw while on holiday was indeed Hypolimnas anthedon dubius. According to the book I have it has only been recorded on Mauritius four times and was last recorded there in 1953. I guess it may have been spotted a few other times without it being identified. It also occurs on Madagascar, over 600 miles away, but it does make me wonder how it managed to get there. Are they quietly breeding on Mauritius or did this one somehow manage to get there from Madagascar?
It is funny that I quite innocently took the pictures on the second day of my holiday not knowing how rare the butterfly was!

Thanks Wurzel. I was so lucky to be able to visit somewhere like that. It was amazing that each species of butterfly I saw was new to me and in some places the density was unlike anything I have experienced in Scotland. I can't imagine what it must be like during their summer!

I thought I would check out a few sites in East Lothian last Thursday. The weather seemed pretty good - 17 degrees, sunny and still, but there wasn't too much around. I saw a couple of small whites near East Linton and then went to John Muir Country Park where I saw one speckled wood at the (now) usual spot. That appeared to be all there, until just before I arrived back at the car when I saw two small tortoiseshells and a peacock. I did see a nice angles shades moth, though. At lunch time I did my transect in Haddington and didn't see one butterfly. Typically a large grey cloud came over while I was doing it and then the sun shone for the rest of the afternoon while I was stuck in the office!
I borrowed the office's Lumix FZ38, but I'm not too sure about the results. Although it was great being able to zoom in, rather than creep up to the butterflies I wasn't able to get such sharp results as with my Canon compact. I think a bit more practice is required.
After four days of truly miserable weather I thought that I probably wouldn't see any more butterflies this year. However, today I met some contractors by the River Tyne near East Linton and saw six red admirals and a peacock while I was talking to them.

I did my last transect of the year last Thursday. It was probably the best weather that I have had for my transect all year, but there weren't that many butterflies around - a couple of peacocks, a small tortoise shell, a small white and five red admirals. I felt quite melancholy as I walked along as the forecast for the rest of the week was for rain and strong winds.
At work I am putting in a new footpath following the River Tyne. Thanks to Iain Cowe's description of where to look for red admiral chrysalises I managed to find one a few days ago where the path was about to go. I used this as an excuse to pick the nettle that the chrysalis was on and I took it home. Last Wednesday the chrysalis changed from brown with golden flecks to a darker colour with red and white markings showing through. I said to the kids that it may emerge the following morning, and sure enough at seven o'clock on Thursday morning my son came running upstairs to tell me that the butterfly had hatched! I was surprised to see that it had completely firmed up and must have emerged a few hours earlier. I carefully carried it outside to put it on a sunny spot on the house, thinking that it would need to warm up, but it seemed more interested in flying and it did three laps of the garden before disappearing over the hedge. On Wednesday this week I returned to where we are building the path. Despite it being windy and only 12 degrees I was amazed at the number of red admirals that were sheltering in the new habitat we had accidentally created. More than 40 of them flew up as we walked along a section of about 200 metres. I have never seen so many red admirals in one place.

I've only just caught up with your diary, after a long ime - I don't know how it slipped under my radar. Fantastic stuff! Wonderful pictures of amazing butterflies.

What book did you use for Mauritius? I'm fascinated by those species, and their relation to other tropical butterflies.

Guy

Thanks Guy. The book I bought in Mauritius is J R Williams' Butterflies of Mauritius, which was edited and reprinted in 2007. It is only 48 pages. The ever-helpful Mauritian Wildlife Foundation sent me a link to this paper http://lepidopteraresearchfoundation.or ... 30-145.pdf that was produced shortly after the first edition of Williams' book. I also have Steve Woodhall's Butterflies of Southern Africa, which covers some of the species that are found in Mauritius. It has limited information about the 1800 species occurring in Southern Africa, but it it's worth having just to leaf through the pictures and wonder at the diversity of butterflies that live there.

Thanks Nick. Yes, I have the South African book, and also comprehensive guides to West Africa and Tanzania. Little by little I'm trying to build up a useful libary...

You've taken some great pictures of those Mauritian species.

Guy