www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Lincolnshire -8th April 18c South facing Wall to wall sunshine
A good day for spotting freshly emerged butterflies.
Brimstone-After seeing approx 40 different males in March & April, I saw today for the first time, at least four different females.
Small White, Green-veined White becoming more numerous.
My first Holly Blues (4), my first Speckled Wood in the Orchard and after several hours searching in Sleaford near the River Slea, my first Orange Tip.
Cookoo Flower associated with the OT still looks immature.

Remarkable array of spring butterflies seen on Saturday at Whiteford Burrows on the north west Gower coast. Silly numbers of Holly Blues and Speckled Woods, whilst there were plenty of Orange Tips about, a few very agreeably nectaring on blackthorn blossom:
Eleven different species seen:

Holly Blue 40-60
Speckled Wood 40-60
Orange Tip 30-40
Brimstone 10-20
Large White 2
Peacock 2
Small Tortoiseshell 2
Comma 2
Red Admiral 2
Green Veined White 2
Small White 1

My first Swallows and Green Hairstreaks of the year at Denbies in Surrey yesterday.

I missed out on Grizzled Skipper but I did meet a chap from Dorking who reported seeing some.

Lee Hurrell wrote:My first Swallows and Green Hairstreaks of the year at Denbies in Surrey yesterday.

I missed out on Grizzled Skipper but I did meet a chap from Dorking who reported seeing some.

Good to hear the Green Hairstreaks are out there. Didn't see any last Thursday but I did see an ovipositing Grizzled Skipper, so they've been out for a week now it would seem!

A bit late by UKB standards, but this OT in my garden was very welcome today
Tony M.

A few pictures from the weekend, here in Kent managed to add Holly Blue (several),several Speckled woods, a single Red Admiral,and on a flying visit to an absolutely
packed Dungeness, I managed to find 4 Small Coppers,my first of the year (the one pictured is number 2 !) didn,t see any Grizzled Skips at Dungeness,
although I believe that Hoggers found one,over the weekend.I also made three visits to a regular,local Grizzle site but no joy here (yet) either,some memorable time spent in the company of numerous male Orange -Tips, and finally the females have started emerging,the season has started really well for me. !! Regards Allan.W.

A visit to Seaton seafront in south Cornwall yesterday (9th April, 2017 12:20pm - 2-30pm) along the undercliff to the East of the main beach yielded an incredible 14++ Clouded Yellows (!!!) all of which were perfectly fresh and have obviously overwintered as larvae here (!!). Also seen in yesterday's cast were 1 x Wall Brown, 5 Small Coppers (photo of a pair flirting with each other!!), 2 x Holly Blues, 1 x Small White and 2 x Peacocks. Clouded Yellows have been recorded as overwintering here in 2006. Anyone wishing to see these butterflies then they need to park at Seaton beach car park and walk left (east) along the concrete walkway eastwards above the beach and after 200 yards or so the undercliff/slope on your left changes to grass and small daisies with plenty of clover. from here onwards you should see a good number of Clouded Yellows flying close to the ground vegetation but staying local and not leaving the site. Very warm & sunny and 18 degrees centigrade. The Clouded Yellows are very difficult to photograph when sunny at flying on a steep grassy slope & they don't settle for long! Cheers to all.....Lee Slaughter & family (Lisa, Robert & Michael Slaughter).[image][/image]

Hello Lee ,(and all ),
Some great sightings there Lee ! 14+ Cloudies,what a find and a Wall,I remember Reading about very early Cloudies down in your neck of the woods
a few years back,perhaps an early morning trip's in order ,and finding some roosting individuals (if you're lucky).
Regards Allan.W. (ps. Don't forget to have a look in the main car park at St.Mawes later in the season,a mass of large mature Elms......never know...... White Letters ?)

Hi Allan.........Good to hear from you & thanks for your wishes. Hope you & yours are well too?
Yes we are lucky to witness these Clouded Yellows currently resident at Seaton having emerged there. It happened here in Cornwall once before in 2006/2007 winter. Also occurred once at Bournemouth or nearby during the past 15 years too?
We will check out St Mawes car park out in early July following your recommendation.
Love your photos last year of aberrant Small Coppers! Brilliant!

All the best Allan.

Lee, Lisa & boys.

A full day at North Stoke, Sussex did not produce the target species, but there was a wide range of alternatives on offer and I also bumped into UKB's Bugboy. Totals for the day were: 20+ Orange-tip (including a mating pair), 20+ Green-veined White, 8 Brimstone, 1 Large White, 20+ Peacock, 4 Small Tortoiseshell, 4 Comma, 2 Red Admiral (plus another over-wintering larva), 3 Speckled Wood, 6 Holly Blue and 3 Small Copper. Lots of egg-laying was going on, including a Small Tortoiseshell barging-in alongside a Peacock as they both competed for a favoured leaf.
The resultant combined egg mass shows the slightly paler Small Tortoiseshell eggs on the right hand side. They are partially covered by those of the Peacock which stayed longer and laid a larger batch.

On the way out we also saw a stoat jumping around in the field.

Vince

That web will be a picture when the larvae emerge, if they do the same day, I dont know if any of our web producing butterfly species co-habit in the same web. If a red admiral or comma lay on the same leaf, it will be very interesting.

Wow Lee, those overwintering Clouded Yellows sound great, guessing the fairly mild and quite dry winter, an unusual combination, has helped! I saw a couple near the PBF colony last year, but 14 plus sounds great!

MrSp0ck wrote:That web will be a picture when the larvae emerge, if they do the same day, I dont know if any of our web producing butterfly species co-habit in the same web. If a red admiral or comma lay on the same leaf, it will be very interesting.

I don't know if Small Torts and Peacocks do it, but I've heard it's not uncommon to see Heath Fritillaries going rogue amongst Glannie nests in the Baltic (in meadow habitats where both feed on Plantains) - would love to see it!

Cheers,

Will

William wrote:

MrSp0ck wrote:That web will be a picture when the larvae emerge, if they do the same day, I dont know if any of our web producing butterfly species co-habit in the same web. If a red admiral or comma lay on the same leaf, it will be very interesting.

I don't know if Small Torts and Peacocks do it, but I've heard it's not uncommon to see Heath Fritillaries going rogue amongst Glannie nests in the Baltic (in meadow habitats where both feed on Plantains) - would love to see it!

Cheers,

Will

I did think of those 2 species, but in the UK ruled it out, as they cant mix at the moment, i also thought of Marsh and Heath in the West Country, but again dont think the foodplants grow together. Heath and Glanvilles would be possible where the Heath Frits are using Plantain, but again the populations dont mix. There was a photo of a Heath Fritillary in Kent feeding on Plantain, rather than Cow-wheat.

MrSp0ck wrote:That web will be a picture when the larvae emerge, if they do the same day, I dont know if any of our web producing butterfly species co-habit in the same web. If a red admiral or comma lay on the same leaf, it will be very interesting.

William wrote:I don't know if Small Torts and Peacocks do it, but I've heard it's not uncommon to see Heath Fritillaries going rogue amongst Glannie nests in the Baltic (in meadow habitats where both feed on Plantains) - would love to see it!

Hi chaps, there is a photo in the Species Album by Tim Norriss which shows Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell larvae co-habiting in the wild. app.php/gallery/image/5090
They look to be in their fourth instar.

Vince

Vince Massimo wrote:

MrSp0ck wrote:That web will be a picture when the larvae emerge, if they do the same day, I dont know if any of our web producing butterfly species co-habit in the same web. If a red admiral or comma lay on the same leaf, it will be very interesting.

William wrote:I don't know if Small Torts and Peacocks do it, but I've heard it's not uncommon to see Heath Fritillaries going rogue amongst Glannie nests in the Baltic (in meadow habitats where both feed on Plantains) - would love to see it!

Hi chaps, there is a photo in the Species Album by Tim Norriss which shows Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell larvae co-habiting in the wild. app.php/gallery/image/5090
They look to be in their fourth instar.

Vince

Superb! Cheers Vince.

MrSp0ck wrote: There was a photo of a Heath Fritillary in Kent feeding on Plantain, rather than Cow-wheat.

There was! My first and only UK sighting of a Heath Fritillary (to date).

app.php/gallery/image/18121
app.php/gallery/image/18122

Best wishes,

Lee

Vince Massimo wrote:Lots of egg-laying was going on, including a Small Tortoiseshell barging-in alongside a Peacock as they both competed for a favoured leaf.

Excellent find, Vince!

Cheers,

- Pete

6th April 2017
Cross O Cliff Orchard described by Lincolnshire County Council as:"Lincoln's Secret Orchard" .
This video was made on 6th April just before I saw any Holly Blue or Orange Tip there (I have seen them now). Also within the last week, many more spring Speckled Woods have emerged.
https://youtu.be/PI0Il-Fj-J8
Kind Regards

15/4/2017
Male Wall Brown this morning at High and Over, Seaford.