www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

WELCOME TO NOVEMBER

Yesterday (1 Nov) was another warm day with plenty of sunshine, and 3 Red Admirals were active on ivy at work.

Earlier this week,on another warm day,this Small Tortoiseshell was at Maldon,with a couple more Red Admiral.

That's a great find and shot Essex I wish I could find a November butterfly

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Love the Red Admirals Essex, I saw one yesterday but I'd no Camera I won't leave it behind again Goldie

REVIEW OF 2014


Here is my short review of 2014,from an enirely personal perspective.

A good spring and summer,with long spells of fine weather,that somehow failed to produce a bumper crop of butterflies. After great abundance in 2013, most summer species droped back to average numbers this year. But after a run of poor springs,the weather relented this year, and spring species seemed to do much better.

While it was distinctly average in terms of butterfly numbers,for me it was an excellent year, and i saw and photographed 56 of the 59 British and Irish species. Good weather through most of the season was a great help in finding especially butterflies whose colonies are a long way from home. Only Chequered Skipper, Irish Wood White and Glanville Fritillary were missed. Meanwhile, Esther managed to chalk off a few lifers, missing only Irish Wood White and Black Hairstreak.

HILIGHTS

Hilights this year were my March trip to Gibraltar and Malaga,where Spanish Festoons and Provence Orangetips put on a cracking display,and lifers included Monarch,Green-stripe White and Black-eyed Blue. Sesing hundreds of Marsh Fritillaries in a field in Cornwall stands out,too,as do my short trips to northern England,the first for several years. It was great to see species like Northern Brown Argus, Mountain Ringlet, Scotch Argus and Large Heath again. And,as always,i love to see the Silver-spotted Skippers in late summer.

LOWLIGHTS

My continued inability to get a decent photo of one of the most abundant buterflies of all- the Purple Hairstreak!

essexbuzzard wrote: LOWLIGHTS

My continued inability to get a decent photo of one of the most abundant buterflies of all- the Purple Hairstreak!

I empathise with you, EB.

That phenomenon represents a lifetime 'lowlight' for me, and I won't be satisfied until it is rectified!!

I think this is a species that you simply have to get lucky with.

I've got close,David. When i was at Fermyn Wood in July, we were watching a White-letter Hairstreak in a wych elm when a Purple Hairstreak flew up from under our feet! Having perhaps just emerged from the chrysalis guess what? It flew staight to the top of an oak.

One for another day.

HI Essex
How I agree with you about the Purple Hairstreak!.Every year I travel miles to see either new or rare species
which I can't find locally,and usually come home with lots of shots.But there are Purple Hairstreaks in an Oak
in the corner of my garden, not one shot! they are always 50ft up. I wonder if Neil Hulme has any special
potions to bring them down.
TREVOR.

Trevor,

It is often luck when you see Purple Hairstreaks low down but I might have already mentioned elsewhere on this forum that after some days of rain when honeydew may be washed off on the oak leaves that the PH may look elsewhere, possibly on lower vegetation.

Peter

Alright Essex - I feel your frustration with the Purple one - I don't know if it'll help but all of my low down Purple Hairstreaks have been on Bracken See you Saturday

Have a goodun

Wurzel

See you Saturday.

Anyone know where i can get a cherry picker ?

Somehow,i think a few eyebrows might be raised if i drove one of them through my local woods!

On Christmas day,before the festivities began, i went for a morning walk in Hatfield Forest,near Stansted airport. In the Summer,it is great for butterflies but now,it's just nice to be in this working mediaeval forest,well-preserved by the National Trust.

Winter thrushes were feasting on the hawthorn berries,and several bulfinches were seen. A weasel was too quick for the camera. This is the Essex stronghold for mistletoe,and is abundant not only on the trees,but even more on the gnarled, twisted old hawthorns on the open plains.

The last of the autumn leaves were still hanging on,the old mans beard was scrambling over the bushes, and i noticed the first hazel catkins were out-a case of autumn,winter and spring on the same day!

WHOOPERS EVERYWHERE!

In early January,i headed up to Lancashire and visited Martin Mere,managed by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust. They have a collection of wildfowl from many countries in the grounds,and with a shop,cafe and facilities,this is a great place to sped a day.

But is was tha wild birds that i came to see-and there were plenty of them! V-shape lines of pink-foot geese flew over. Lapwings by the hundred. Every so often,the lapwings and some golden plover,would fly up in spectacular style as a peregrine appeared. Ducks were everywhere,and several little ruffs were beside the mere.

In the morning,hundreds of whooper swans were on the mere,but they all seemed to be at the far end,beyond the reach of my camera. But i needn't have worried. After something to eat and drink in the cafe,it was 3pm-feeding time on the mere.
And most of the swans were now right in front of the hides. For a species that winters in flocks,they don't seem to get on very well! They were biting,pulling each other about,most agressive. But for me,it was a cracking display!

With the mild winter (so far) many snowdrops are out in the garden. On my morning walk last Thursday, hazel catkins were abundant,and the first primroses were in flower in the woods and on the grassy banks.

Hi Mark,

I think you have had a milder winter than we have in the midlands, it was mild here up until Christmas but since then we have had loads of frosts with many nights with temperature below zero with me seeing -2 or -3 quite a few times on my way to work at 6.30am.

Cheers,

Neil.

Neil Freeman wrote:Hi Mark,

I think you have had a milder winter than we have in the midlands, it was mild here up until Christmas but since then we have had loads of frosts with many nights with temperature below zero with me seeing -2 or -3 quite a few times on my way to work at 6.30am.

Cheers,

Neil.

You lucky blighter, Neil. Here in Swansea we've had two mornings at -4c and practically nothing besides.

Here's hoping the next fortnight will provide recompense.

This mildness is getting me down Essex when I drove past Daffs out in flower last weekend We need some cold weather

Have a goodun

Wurzel

BIRDWATCHING ON THE ESSEX COAST

Yesterday,with a welcome sunny day in prospect,i headed of to the Essex coast to see some birds. First over to Two Tree Island near Southend. A good start, with a long-tailed tit and singing song thrush near the car-park. With high tide near, many birds were flying off the mudflats and onto the island scrapes. These produced plenty of avocets, plus oystercatchers, teals, redshanks, godwits and lots of dunlins,among others. A very nice morning. Some of the images have been cropped.

Then onto Blue House Farm,an Essex Wildlife Trust reserve,and a working farm on the coastal grazing marshes. Hundreds, sometimes thousands of wintering brent geese graze these fields,and lines of geese are a common sight in these skies. Gadwalls,shelducks,wigeons and shovel ducks were seen and,near the sea wall,a pair of stonechats and a male reed bunting were a delight to see. A flock of pintails flew over. Birds of prey were about,too. Kestrel,buzzard,marsh harrier and sparrowhawk were seen.

Then,an hour before sunset,a ghostly barn owl appeared,eventually passing just yards away,a thrilling sight!

Great birdie pics, sounds like a fantastic birding trip!