millerd

[millerd]

4th and 5th remained warm, but were dull throughout and I didn't return to my local patch until 6th October when things changed and there was over 7 hours of sunshine along with the 19 degree temperatures. I saw 20 butterflies again, but only spread across five species. Even then, aside from one immaculate Red Admiral...

...I ended up concentrating entirely on the Holly Blues and their behaviour.

First of all, there was a fresh male...

...and then another, nearer at hand.

Not far away was an equally fresh female.

However, she had more important things to do than just pose for the camera.

an initial positioning move

ready to try again

this time she meant it and the egg-laying apparatus is extended

the egg is laid and she withdraws

A couple of close-ups from the last two shots. In the second, the chubby pale green disc of the egg can just be made out.

HB laying 061022.JPG (95.68 KiB) Viewed 392 times

HB egg 061022.JPG (130.77 KiB) Viewed 392 times

As always, Holly Blues provided interest right into the latest part of the season, with lovely individuals and great examples of behaviour.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Brilliant sequence there Dave Mind you I'm still reeling from hearing that you saw a Common blue yesterday

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[SarahM]

A wonderful series of photos again Dave, and great close ups of the egg laying and egg. I've not had a Holly Blue in the garden this year and wish I could see them as often as you do.

Sarah.

[David M]

Great sequence, Dave. It's precious enough to see a fresh female Holly Blue, but to have one ovipositing like that - especially in October - is a gift from above!

[millerd]

Thank you all! I was pleased that the autumn Holly Blues delivered as they always seem to do here, and an interesting variation on behaviour as well as the posing fresh specimens of both sexes.

7th October was just as warm, though not so sunny (all the first week of the month had temperatures around the 19 degree mark). There were more Holly Blues, but none were as well-behaved as those seen on 6th.

I also found a Speckled Wood - or maybe about two-thirds of one...

... plus a Common Blue, a Small White and a Red Admiral.

8th October boasted 9 hours of sunshine (though ironically was a bit cooler) and this led to a count of 22 butterflies on my local patch, made up of 8 species:

Common Blue 5
Red Admiral 5
Small White 4
Holly Blue 3
Brimstone 2
Speckled Wood 1
Comma 1
Large White 1

I ended up with photos of a different set of species today.

The extra sunshine really had the Red Admirals showing off.

I have to say the fully-flowering buddleia and the greenness of the trees in the background could fool you into thinking these shots were taken in July or August...

Dave

[millerd]

More warmth and sunshine on 9th October, but I didn't have the opportunity to go out for long. I still managed to count six Red Admirals (a good number here this autumn), but only one Common Blue and one Small White as well. Changes in the light between full sun and dark cloud really affect how the camera sees the colours. Red Admirals look scarlet in sun and much more carmine when it's obscured. The last of these three was beautifully new however you looked at it.

Dave

[millerd]

10th and 11th October were cooler days (though still above average for the time of year) and despite some sunshine I didn't see very much on my local walks. The Comma on 10th was a splendid bright example...

...but this is the same rather beaten up Specklie from a couple of days earlier.

The Red Admiral on 11th was a fresh one.

The Speckled Wood seen on the same day was spotted unexpectedly in the unusual location of a neighbour's privet hedge.

Luckily it was on the footpath side - I didn't have to trespass on privet property to get the photos...

Dave

[millerd]

As October progressed, sightings gradually diminished, rather as you might expect. However, despite a lack of numbers, and a lack of species variety, no two days seemed to turn out the same. The consistent aspect was the unusually warm nature of the month, and 12th October produced 18 degrees again locally, though not much actual sunshine.

Today, Holly Blues reappeared on the menu along with Red Admirals and another, much newer, Speckled Wood.

The Specklie (a female I'd say by the short abdomen and brighter appearance) was seen initially nectaring deep in one of the masses of ivy...

...before emerging to bask in a more traditional fashion.

Dave

[millerd]

After two days without butterflies on 13th and 14th, I was out on my local patch again on 15th and 16th October - which were both sunnier days again. A slightly different mix presented itself, and not quite what I expected: both days had Common Blues.

There were also Red Admirals on each day...

...plus a very new-looking Holly Blue on 16th.

Dave

[Wurzel]

An excellent set of reports Dave - it looks like you caught up after missing out on so many trips earlier in the year Those sightings of Common Blue are interesting - which brood number do you reckon they were? My fave shot is the back-lit Comma, it has the look of the Dark Knight/Caped Crusader about it Hopefully see you Saturday...fingers crossed the trains still run

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

More warmth and sunshine on 9th October...The last of these three was beautifully new however you looked at it.

That's quite some specimen, Dave. The amount of blue around the tornus is way higher than I've ever seen in this species.

[millerd]

Cheers, Wurzel - I've certainly been making the most of every bit of sunshine since the end of August, and luckily the weather has been pretty generous in that regard. Almost all my trips out have been local walks (with the notable exceptions of the LTB and QoS adventures at the end of September), but there is always something of interest, even now (22nd November). Meanwhile, I'm still chronicling the latter part of October...

Thank you, David - that Red Admiral was a cracker, and seeing now the extent of the blue hindwing markings, I wish I'd paid it more attention.

17th October: another 19 degree day with six hours of sunshine locally. Eleven butterflies took advantage of the conditions, comprising four Red Admirals, two each of Commas, Holly Blues and Peacocks, plus a Speckled Wood. Of these, only the Peacocks were camera-shy, both of them flying around the still leafy willows and basking frustratingly high up.

Dave

[millerd]

The following day, 18th October, was similar weatherwise, but the butterfly mix changed a little. I managed to count 14 individuals (the last time I would manage double digits this autumn), with five species. However, five of these were Common Blues (four males and one female), which came as a surprise as it had been ten days since I'd last counted so many. Despite this relative largesse, only one of them submitted to a photograph - though its condition was fairly typical.

There were also six Red Admirals (a total not exceeded since late July, surprisingly).

A Small White, a Holly Blue, and a rather tattered Specklie made up the numbers.

Dave

[millerd]

It was a bit cooler again on 19th October, and not so sunny, and finding butterflies was much more difficult - only a Small White and a couple of Red Admirals on my local patch today. At this time of year, the window of opportunity shortens every day, and unless conditions match perfectly, nothing will appear.

However, today did produce a bonus, and one that continues to bear fruit even now towards the end of November: I spotted a Red Admiral larval tent, and managed to photograph its tiny occupant.

It appears from the subsequent five weeks of observations of the nettle patch where I found this little chap that either he and/or others like him have been successfully growing...

Dave

[millerd]

After another couple of days without going out, I had walks in various parts of my local patch on all of the next three days. The weather continued unseasonably warm, and all three days had sightings but continued in the pattern of no two consecutive days being the same.

On October 22nd it was the turn of a Holly Blue and a couple of Peacocks to take the stage. As with the two I saw on 17th, the Peacocks remained awkwardly distant, but this time I managed to get a record shot of one of them.

The Holly Blue was more cooperative, but it wasn't sunny enough for it to open up.

The following day (23rd) there were two Holly Blues, joined this time by a Small White, a Red Admiral and a Speckled Wood. The Holly Blue was laying eggs by the look of things.

A change in the light made quite a difference to the look of the Specklie.

Finally, during a very brief look on 24th (I was driving north at lunchtime) I found just a single Red Admiral.

On several days this month I'd seen this type of dragonfly, but for once I got close enough for a photo...

...and then also a shot of this one.

I also took a snap of a nearby back garden fig tree - having lost most of its foliage, you could see it was covered in plump figs.

I hope they weren't wasted... One benefit of a long hot summer!

Dave

[essexbuzzard]

Looks like you have a Common darter there Dave, and the blue one is a Migrant hawker male. These two are the last species I see every year, indeed I saw a common darter on Tuesday. Probably my last of the year.

[Wurzel]

Brilliant shot of the cat and its tent Dave - I need to start looking out for those sorts of things but at the moment the "W" word is taking up most of my time Some of those Red Admirals are in pretty good nick but what is that Peacock doing up and about?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Thanks for the dragon IDs, Mark - I should probably take more notice of these throughout the year, since I see loads of them on my local patch.

Cheers, Wurzel - following that first tiny Red Admiral caterpillar a month ago, I've found quite a few more of various sizes in the same general spot, and as of yesterday they are still happily munching. Though one or two adults seem to still be around, they are outnumbered by their progeny at the moment!

For the next few days, I was up in Yorkshire staying with my sister. It was perhaps not quite as warm as it was back home, but there was still sunshine with it. On October 25th, I had a look at one of the nearest good sites to where I was based, namely Calley Heath. I thought I might perhaps see a late Small Copper, and something caught my eye for a moment that might have been one, but I couldn't track it down if so. However, shortly afterwards a Brimstone appeared, looking a bit confused by the warm sunshine as it wandered between bits of foliage where it then basked.

It was quite sluggish, clearly not properly awake, and happily crawled onto a finger.

Having followed its peregrinations along the edge of the heath for a while, I then spotted a Small Tortoiseshell flying between ragwort flowers, and alternating between nectaring and basking on the ground.

My last sighting of the species had been back on 2nd July!

The following day was just as warm and sunny, but a visit to Allerthorpe produced no butterflies until I was driving back, when I saw both a Brimstone and a Small/GV White from the car. Later on, a Red Admiral flew through my sister's garden in businesslike fashion. Not too bad for the last week of October - I frequently see nothing up here this late in the year.

Dave

[millerd]

Back home again on 29th October, which somewhat bizarrely turned into the warmest day of the month round here, with temperatures nudging 22 degrees. There was a bit of sunshine as well, and on my first local walk for a few days I found eight butterflies of four species:

Red Admiral 3
Holly Blue 2
Small White 2
Peacock 1

I ended up with photos of both Holly Blues, but none of the others.

I also disturbed an unfamiliar moth, which has been identified for me as a Rush Veneer (not something I had ever heard of).

My next outing was on 31st October, when it wasn't as warm (though still 18 degrees), and this time I could only find one very frail Holly Blue...

...and one female Small White. This time the latter butterfly stayed still enough for a photo or two.

October 2022 was certainly noteworthy from a weather point of view on my local patch, looking at the provisional stats from The Met Office for the weather station at nearby Heathrow. Long-term averages mentioned are for the most recent 30-year period, 1991 - 2020, a period which is of course already warmer than previous sets of 30 years.

Mean maximum temperature: 18.3 (L/T ave: 15.8 )
Mean minimum temperature: 10.4 (L/T ave: 8.8 )
Sunshine: 132.8 hrs (L/T ave: 115.2 hrs)
Rainfall: 81.4 mm (L/T ave: 65.1 mm)

Overall, that made it much warmer (2.5 degrees), a fair bit sunnier, and somewhat wetter than average. I think it was the warmth of the days that I noticed most, and the consistency of the temperature day to day. The lowest maximum all month was 16 degrees (on the 10th) and the highest was 22 degrees (on the 29th). There were no frosts, and nothing overnight lower than around 5 degrees. All this after what was a very warm summer...

Recent Novembers have all been pretty good for butterflies - how would 2022 be?

Dave

[Wurzel]

Cracking Brimstone shots Dave Looking forward to your November sightings

Have a goodun

Wurzel