www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Great stuff Dave - six species in November is really good going - I've only manged 3 or 4 before during one very good November I would go with Common Darter for the dragonfly - they seem to 'rust' as they age and then their 'red paint' peels off

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

What can I say Dave, Lousy weather here, I'll have to wait until next year, nothing here since the 6th Of October. Goldie

Some great November finds there Dave. If the fat Lady holds off for a while longer
your local patch might produce some late Holly Blues.

Then she can sing her heart out!.

Stay well,
Trevor.

Thanks all. Since that last post I've only seen one butterfly - a Red Admiral on 9th November. This is despite warm days and a certain amount of sunshine. However, no Holly Blues have been around since the beginning of October and though the last one of 2019 was on 27th November, I have a feeling that it's all over for 2020.

I shall now embark on a retrospective of 2020, concentrating on my local patch - highlights from elsewhere will probably pop up in the species favourites threads. With luck, I shall finish it before the 2021 season starts!

2020 kicked off in March...

Dave

Looking forward to the 'looking back' posts Dave Mind you that's all I ever seem to post

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

You'll have to wait a little longer Wurzel, as no sooner had I declared the season over than I found another couple of butterflies.

On Sunday 15th November, the overnight rain and wind abruptly cleared, leaving wall-to-wall sunshine for an hour or two. It was quite warm in the sun, and I paddled off around a portion of my usual local walk - it was very soggy indeed underfoot. I didn't really expect to see anything, and consequently failed to notice a Comma basking on the ground under an ivy-covered wall. I disturbed it, and after toying with settling on the ivy it departed on the breeze downwind and out of sight. This did mean that I started to search all the other bits of ivy a bit more carefully, and before long came upon a Red Admiral. Aside from missing the tips from both forewings, it looked pretty new and had probably emerged very recently. Dave

Well that Red Admiral is certainly worth waiting a bit longer for the 'look back' Dave

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Clipped wing tips or not, that's a very fine end of season Red Admiral.
For me I think that is about it for 2020.

Stay safe and well,
Trevor.

That was indeed a nice one to end on. I've been out locally during several short spells of reasonably warm sunshine since, but I think that it does now look like 2020 is over here. Consequently I can now look back at the season, and as mentioned before, I shall largely concentrate on my local patch, plus the inclusion of Staines Moor (as it is within walking distance and has been a major revelation for any fan of the Small Copper!).

First, an overview of my local patch.

A large part of the ground I cover on local walks is the area bounded by the M25 (to the west), the A3112 (to the south), the River Colne (to the east) and up to the Old Bath Road (to the north). It is basically grassland, though bounded in places with woodland and bramble thickets. The soil is poor, being for the most part composed of the spoil dug out when Heathrow Terminal Five was constructed, and the land is owned by Heathrow and maintained by the Airport as part of the Heathrow Biodiversity Conservation Area. Aside from supporting a healthy wildflower and therefore butterfly population, I believe there are a good variety of other invertebrates (I see many dragonflies, and have found wasp spiders and stag beetles in the past). It also hosts nesting birds, including skylarks and lapwings, and there is a lot of other passing birdlife (I am no expert here!).

When Heathrow expansion was on the cards, this whole area would have been swallowed by development. Heathrow was committed to replacement of like for like, but appeared not to realise that sites like this take years to evolve and you cannot create a replacement overnight. Thankfully the current COVID pandemic seems to have thoroughly dampened down any enthusiasm for the expansion - I doubt there is currently any money in anyone's pocket to finance such a huge venture and it will be many months (maybe years) before air traffic returns to levels known before 2020.

Unfortunately there has recently been a threat to the area of a different nature. Since its creation, Heathrow has maintained a route from one end to the other for the benefit of walkers, cyclists and horseriders. Simple gates were installed. However, over the last twelve months, local off-road motorcyclists and quadbikers have discovered the area, and at weekends in particular have been (ab)using it more and more, churning up the grass and in recent weeks creating large areas of mud. The gates proved no obstacle - they were attacked with boltcutters and physically removed. Replacements went the same way within 48 hours of installation. Rigorous policing by Heathrow conservation staff is not a practical option (in cash-strapped times it can hardly be a high priority, and staff do not work weekends when most damage occurs). Nevertheless, in conjunction with the local council, access points have recently been obstructed by large concrete blocks. Pedestrians can pass through, and pedal cycles can be lifted over with care. Unfortunately, horses can no longer access the site. It remains to be seen how the bikers react to this latest development.

The remainder of my patch is the area around Hithermoor Lake, with the River Colne running alongside. There is mixed deciduous woodland, good stands of ivy and plenty of brambles and nettles. Wild buddleias are a useful feature as well. One open bit of grass would support good numbers of wildflowers if only it wasn't mown two or three times every year - one year when the midsummer mow was somehow overlooked, there were many more butterflies! Apparently local people really do complain if the grass doesn't look like their front lawn... This area around the lake is where the season usually kicks off, and 2020 was no exception.

MARCH

March began to warm up at the end of the first week, and became increasingly sunny, putting the extremely wet February into distant memory. Overall, the average daily high at Heathrow was nearly 12 degrees, with 15 or 16 being reached on a few days. Overall, 148 hours of sun were logged (near enough four and threequarter hours a day), a welcome trend that was to continue for the rest of the Spring.

The first butterflies appeared on 11th, in 15 degree sunshine. Three species too - a Small Tortoiseshell, a Peacock and no fewer than seven Brimstones. Three more species were seen before the month was out: Comma (13th), Small White (23rd) and Orange Tip (25th). All six were seen on 26th. Spring had arrived.

Dave

I still don't get why people want every green space mown to a height of 4 cm Still a cracking set of shots Dave - that pair of Peacocks are stunning It's good to remember that there were some good things about March 2020

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

It baffles me too Wurzel, though there is one advantage - when the grass is short it's much easier to spot and avoid the piles of dog excrement...

That was my first ever shot of courting Peacocks at ground level, despite having seen this behaviour in Small Tortoiseshells many times.

APRIL

April turned into another sunny month (233 hours at Heathrow, or around 7hrs 45mins a day), and it became warm, sometimes very warm (average daily high 18 degrees, with 12 days recording 20 degrees or better). With the exception of one brief outing to Bedfont Lakes CP, I remained local under the constraints of lockdown but because of the excellent weather managed to go out at some point on 26 out of 30 days. Six more species made their first appearances: Speckled Wood (4th), Holly Blue (5th), Red Admiral (6th), Large White (7th), Green-veined White (7th) and Small Copper (25th). Several days had counts of well over 100 butterflies, and eleven species (out of twelve) were seen on some days. Notable counts included a staggering 45 Peacocks on 7th, and a respectable 32 Holly Blues on 26th. Orange Tips had a good month as well, with counts on many days mid-month reaching 20-25 individuals, including the first females. The visit to Bedfont Lakes on 23rd ticked off Green Hairstreak, so I had reached a respectable 13 species for the year at this point.

Dave

An interesting look back to April Dave.
A mrgreen for those superb shots of the very fresh male and female Holly Blues .

Keep well,
Trevor.

Thank you, Trevor - the Hollies are a staple of the local butterfly contingent, and I hope they will remain so.

On to May...

MAY

May has to be my favourite month of the year, both in terms of butterflies and more generally too. The greening of the countryside, longer hours of daylight, and overall warming up with the transformation into summer cannot be surpassed in my book. Sitting here at the opposite time of year at the tag end of November, under chilly damp grey skies, I find thoroughly depressing.

May 2020 was exceptional. Heathrow recorded almost exactly 310 hours of sunshine during the month, a record and equating nicely to an astonishing average of 10 hours a day. It was fairly warm too, with the average high for the month being just over 21 degrees, and the second half of the month recording several days over 25 degrees. Rainfall was almost non-existent throughout. Perfect conditions for butterflies, though with so much sunshine and long days, they would have been kept very active throughout and lifetimes (in terms of calendar days) may well have been shortened as a result.

On my local patch, six more species appeared in May: Brown Argus (5th), Small Heath (6th), Common Blue (9th), Large Skipper (27th), Painted Lady (27th) and Meadow Brown (28th). The splendid weather probably shortened the Orange Tip season, with the last one being seen on 19th May - a very early date as they usually continue into the first week of June in most years.

However, eighteen species were seen during the month, with a maximum of 14 on 27th. Overall day counts were lower than April, despite the greater diversity, with around 80 counted on several days. Holly Blues were most common at the start of the month (30+ recorded), but Common Blues (also 30+) and Brown Argus (15+) were the species seen most often later on. A trend for the year, with Common Blues considerably outnumbering Brown Argus, was therefore established at the outset, reversing the pattern of recent years.Before the end of May, some species were already producing another brood - Small Tortoiseshells......and Speckled Woods.I was able to go out locally on 28 out of 31 days in May (and managed to visit other sites as well - I think a separate post might be needed for that). This continuity allowed me to follow the appearance of a particular Small Copper throughout the month.I have a selection of shots between these two (which were taken four weeks apart), and others going into the first week of June. I have followed individuals Small Coppers before over several weeks, and their potential longevity is quite surprising (for such a small and active butterfly!).

May was the month when I discovered another productive area within walking distance of home, which is worth a separate post - Staines Moor.

Dave

A cracking set of shots Dave, even more pleasing to the amid the dank and drear Really interesting reading your reports with the species counts - also interesting to read about the shortening of the OT flight period - something I'd not thought about until I rad this and then realised that it was very similar over this way. Looking forward to further reports

Have a godun and stay safe

Wurzel

Hi! Dave , great shots, like Wurzel I loved the Peacock shots

Where I live the land they made into a small CP as got really over grown with Blackberries, the grass cutting this year was absent but it only encouraged a few Butterflies has the wild flowers have been covered by the berries. it's a real shame because it was a delight to see the Many Orange tips there, this year I saw a few but none stopped, lucky for me, I found them in my garden I did think maybe the CP being over grown did me a favour because I got most of the Spring Butterflies in my Garden Goldie

Cheers, both of you. There's been no sunshine here now for several days and over the weekend the irresponsible biking community has been continuing to turn areas of my local patch into vast expanses of mud, despite Heathrow's efforts to keep them out. Not very uplifting, so I shall continue with my retrospective and move on to my (re)discovery of Staines Moor.

MAY: Staines Moor

At the start of the month, with longer-distance travel still being discouraged, I made my way south on foot parallel to the River Colne and found a large area of damp grassland which is essentially floodplain and probably originally created by the Thames many moons ago. It is unspoiled, grazed by cattle and horses under a long-standing arrangement, and is an SSI. In particular, the anthills created here by a particular species are believed to be the largest of their type in the UK, and there are numbers of ground-nesting birds and various waterfowl. I quickly spotted that large areas of the ground were covered in sheeps sorrel, and before very long it was no surprise that Small Coppers appeared.

I came down here on nine days in May, and contined to visit throughout the summer. Small Coppers were without doubt the highlight during the month, with as many as 30 seen on one occasion, and including a lot of variability.In amongst this coppery feast was one that stood out as different, being golden in colour rather than orange: possibly ab. intermedia Other species seen here this month included Small Heath, Brown Argus and Common Blue, with one highlight (on 30th) being the appearance together of three Painted Ladies in what turned out to be a very poor year for them.Finding such a great site within 20 minutes walk from home was a real bonus.

Dave

Hi! Dave, lovely Coppers, It' great when you find places like that, I saw a Copper at Hall-Lee-Brook that was pale, I just thought it was faded with the weather may be it's an ab after all
I've got some flowers like the Sheeps sorrel in the garden, it's in the damp part of the rockery and just suddenly appeared The Peacock Butterfly seems to like it so I left it alone, I have seen it in some wooded area's , would this be where it's usually found? Goldie

Fantastic set of Coppers Dave -each one seems to be an individual but that golden yellow one really stands out It's good to have a couple of Local Patches - especially in so in 2020

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

Some great retrospective posts there Dave, they really brighten up a dark and wet morning here

Cheers,

Neil.

Thank you, Goldie - there's so much variety with the Coppers, I wouldn't be at all surprised if there was a paler one amongst those you saw.

Cheers, Wurzel - I'm lucky with my local area really, considering its location, but it does make you wonder what else lurks in the semi-suburban London fringes...

You're spot on there, Neil - a retrospective is a good way of blocking out the evil winter weather which descended today. Rain all day, seven degrees at best and dark by half two. I just take solace that in not much more than a fortnight the days start getting longer again...

Before I leave May, I'll mention the other species I managed to find away from my local area. I had a Chiltern day out on 15th, and managed to track down five new ones for the year: Small Blue (Pitstone), Duke of Burgundy (Ivinghoe), Adonis Blue, Grizzled Skipper and Dingy Skipper (all Aston Rowant, with the second two seen at Ivinghoe as well). I followed this on 16th with Wood Whites at Chiddingfold. 18th saw the annual pilgrimage to Cotley Hill (meeting up with Wurzel and Philzoid) where amongst other things were my first Marsh Fritillaries. Later the same day I took in Martin Down (a great variety here including more Marshies but nothing actually new) and then finally Bentley Wood where as well as even more Marsh Frits there were Pearls and Small Pearls as well. A selection... On now to June, and after a couple of sunny days, the weather changed considerably...

Dave