www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Lovely Red Admirals Dave I haven't seen a butterfly for about a week now as the weather has been so bad - hopefully things will brighten up for the weekend.

Have a godun

Wurzel

No Red Admirals since last weekend, unfortunately, Wurzel

Up in Yorkshire for this weekend: it was blowing a gale up in Holmfirth, and the not unusual local phenomenon of sunshine and rain simultaneously, which is very strange for a soft southerner like me... In one of the sunnier bits today (Sunday 19th) I did see a Small Tortoiseshell battling the wind and hopping from garden to garden looking in vain for a sheltered flower or two. Dave

Lovely double rainbow shot Dave Isn't Holmfirth where they filmed 'Last of the Summer Wine'? Quite apt for this time of the season if it was.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Great butterfly shots for the end of the season Dave, the Holly Blue with wings wide open and the Clouded Yellow are especially magnificant

Mike

Great photos of Holmfirth Dave

Back when I was a youngster, my parents used to take us to visit some relatives (sadly no longer with us) who lived in Mirfield and we would often go sightseeing around the Holmfirth area. Seeing your photos has brought back some happy memories.

Cheers,

Neil.

Yes, Wurzel, that's where that series was filmed, and there are a number of related tourist attractions. All done very tastefully, mind. They are still recovering from the excitement of the Tour de France at the moment!

It is a lovely spot, and I'm pleased I've brought back some memories for you Neil.

Thank you for your kind comments, Mike - it has been an interesting wind-down too the season here, and not how you might predict it (apart from the Red Admirals!). I think I shall remember the Holly Blue for a long time.

No butterflies today (though a friend reported a Red Admiral yesterday from further up the River Colne towards Uxbridge). However, a walk at Runnymede with the leaves turning colourfully and a warm breeze blowing produced this little chap. I have seen many variations in the colour of ladybirds over the years, but not this particular one. It lacks pigment to such a degree that I wondered if it were albino - though the dark eyes appear to contradict this. Dave

That's a highly unusual insect, Dave. I've never seen anything quite like it.

Found it! It would seem to be the Orange Ladybird Halyzia sedecimguttata. It was once not common at all, but now is.

Obviously not that common or I would have recognised it without resorting to Google!

Dave

Great shots Dave of a species I've yet to encounter . I counted the spots - 16 - so is that the other name?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Yes, Wurzel - it seems to be alternatively written 16-guttata to avoid the Latin prefix... Cheating in my book!

Dave

Monday 27th October: The sun shone brightly this morning, it seemed warm and Elliot wanted to go to the beach. How could I refuse? Unfortunately, the sun turned to low cloud just past Southampton, and we arrived at the nearest bit of decent seaside (Southbourne) in not ideal conditions. However, nine-year-old boys are not daunted by such things, and he set about with bucket and spade like a good 'un. The sea wasn't cold, but really was too rough to swim in unfortunately. By early afternoon, the sun struggled through, the wind dropped a bit, and it became really pleasant. We walked along the prom to get a drink, and then a bit further. On the way back, I spotted a male Clouded Yellow on the slopes to the west of the Bistro On The Beach, and then chatted to a chap with a camera who pointed out another (female) settled on the ubiquitous sea asters. He has obviously made a study of this site, describing the Clouded Yellow caterpillars that were lurking in the undergrowth and the variety of plants on which they were feeding. January is apparently the only month he hasn't seen an adult butterfly here.
I also came across a couple of birds which I am struggling to identify from the lousy photos I took! Dave

That's a pretty productive visit for late October, Dave.

I only wish south Wales could see clouds lift (temperatures are fine) sufficiently for me to venture out.

At the moment I don't even know when I last saw a butterfly, and if things don't change very quickly, that will remain the epitaph on 2014!

Great report Dave - I'd probably go for Stonechat for the birds although Whinchat could be a possibility Like David I've struggled to see butterflies let alone photograph them over the last month , every time I've had the time the weather hasn't been conducive and when the weather has been good I haven't had the time

Have a goodun

Wurzel

David and Wurzel pretty well sum it up for me as well.

Mind you, one of the reasons I have been so busy at work lately is that we have been preparing for my department to move to another location. Next week will be the fist at this new site and as it happens it is in Ryton, just a couple of minutes away from Ryton Wood. Too late for this year now but as you can imagine I will be ideally placed for some sneaky visits after work next year I am already working on those brownie points

Cheers,

Neil.

Thanks once again for the comments, chaps. I am very envious of that as a workplace, Neil - I'd be there every day from late April onwards, I think! Just get saving those brownie points...

Tuesday 28th October: Well, this really is the season that just keeps on giving. It was another glorious day today, brilliant sun and Temperatures nudging 20 degrees. Elliot and I stayed close to home today, with a gentle circuit around the nearer parts of my local patch at around eleven o'clock or so. On the first patch of sunlit ivy, we found four Red Admirals and a Comma, alternately nectaring and swooping off on aerobatic sorties - A fine start. The nettles along this route are truly luxuriant at the moment, looking as they normally do in early May, rather than late October, which is a measure of the very mild autumn thus far. Emerging into full sun from a bit of woodland, we found a sheltered patch of ivy-covered wall. This particular patch had been cut back earlier in the year, but had regrown, though flowering had been delayed by the trim. This was proving much to the benefit of another six Red Admirals (a minimum count - we had six in sight at once briefly). And that was not all. Elliot shouted "blue butterfly!" and he was right: a Holly Blue was also flying back and forth across the ivy. It settled a couple of times, but not for long. The strong sun kept it from opening up more than a smidgen, but it was enough to see that it was a beautiful new female. After she had flown up over the wall out of sight, my eye was caught by something else dancing along very close to the foliage. This was a male Brimstone, clearly woken from its slumbers by the unusually warm sunshine and looking to settle down again in another cosy nook. I tracked him to one possible spot, but he emerged again and settled in the sun for a while before renewing his quest. We carried on to near the end of the circuit, where a final stand of sunlit ivy remained to be investigated. Just before the target bushes, another Holly Blue flew past about ten feet up along the hedge-line and disappeared. The ivy itself had another couple of Red Admirals and a Comma. On the point of calling it a day, I saw another flash of blue. A Holly Blue had settled just ahead on the nettles - male, and one that had been out a day or two. Whether this was no. 3 or just no.2 again, I can't really guess. After lunch, I nipped out very briefly again, but saw just one Red Admiral and one Comma - both in splendid autumnal poses, basking in the late afternoon light. If anyone had told me at the start of the season that I'd have been writing all this as a diary account for this date, I'd have been mighty sceptical! Amazingly, the weather forecast for Friday promises more of the same.

Dave

Wow! That is an incredible haul on the eve of November!

Yes, wow indeed! It has been a couple of weeks since I saw my last butterfly. I can't believe that Holly Blues are flying now. Do they manage to overwinter as adults? Surely there is no chance of any eggs making it through the winter.

Is all that I can add You are the go to man for Holly Blues for sure Dave

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thank you all. It was a very rewarding outing on a really lovely day. Memorable.

Holly Blues are always reliable round here, and though the overall numbers this year have been very average, I have seen them regularly, and in every month since the first one on 8th April. They have been a delightful bonus this month in particular, but there is a sting in the tail for them of course. They normally pass the winter as pupae, entering this stage from September onwards in normal years, and becoming dormant as the weather winds down. However, this year, the weather hasn't wound down, and particularly warm stretches (few if any cold nights this month and last) have kept development going. Consequently, days of bright warm sunshine have triggered emergence. Sadly, the butterflies out at the moment have no real prospect of keeping their own line going. They would need to mate, lay eggs, and for those eggs to hatch, caterpillars to feed up and successfully pupate - all in time for winter. The caterpillars in the late summer feed on ivy buds - but most buds have opened, flowered and are now turning into berries. Food would therefore be hard to come by. The shame is also that because some of the autumn pupae have now hatched, there will be fewer hatching in April and therefore reduced numbers to keep the circle turning. Late third broods are a really risky strategy!

Dave

Interesting comments, Dave.

As you rightly say, Holly Blue adults have prospered like never before, but they are out of their 'comfort zone'. This abnormally mild autumn has seen them emerge far too early and one wonders whether this will have an impact on next spring's generation.

I may be in a minority of one, but the sooner the truly cold weather arrives the better.