www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Thanks Dave and Nick

millerd wrote:Sunshine, Neil - I'm envious! None to speak of here all day...

Dave

It turned into a cracking afternoon , it has been a bit murky here since though, fairly warm still but mostly dull with a lot of cloud about.

Cheers,

Neil.

Sunday 29th September

Another busy week at work and a dry but dull day yesterday (Saturday) meant that I had not seen any butterflies since last Sunday.
After a bit of early cloud, today turned into a cracking early autumn day with plenty of sun breaking through by mid-day. The Ivy in the garden is just starting to flower and early this afternoon attracted a couple of Commas into the garden.
Feeling the need to get out for a bit but not having the time to venture far I decided to just have a nose around Castle Hills again to see what I could find.
During the course of a very pleasant, albeit a bit breezy, couple of hours I saw Commas, Small Tortoiseshells and Speckled Woods in good numbers plus a few Whites of which I positively identified Small and Green-veined with maybe at least one Large but too far away to be sure.
The stars of the day were the Small Tortoiseshells with probably a dozen or more seen around the meadows.



I also found a couple of male Common Blues that whilst not exactly in good condition, were in better shape than the tatty individuals that I found here last week.
There were also a couple of female Meadow Browns still hanging in there both of which looked to have a bit of life left in them. I only managed a pretty rubbish record shot of the one but I got clear enough views of both to tell that they were definitely two different individuals.
Seeing that others have started seeing a few more Red Admirals around I was on the lookout for these but unfortunately I didn’t see any today.

We are into October in a couple of days and with work during the week and the sun getting lower by the time I get home (that is if it is out at all) the season is rapidly drawing to its close. Soon be time to start looking back on the season and putting a retrospective post or two together.

Bye for now,

Neil.

Odd that you saw no Red Admirals, Neil.

They're very much the dominant species here in south Wales right now, and I expect that to continue right the way up to when all butterflies disappear.

Commas and Brimstones are thin on the ground, but Torts and RAs are positively ubiquitous.

Lovely shots Neil The first Comma, the underside, is lush! I also got out today but didn't see the variety that you had, I haven't seen a Meadow Brown for a few weeks now, it's getting to that time of year

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Pleased you are seeing plenty of Small Tortoiseshells,Neil.

I havn't seen any for a while now,hopefully they fed well in August,and have just gone into hibernation early-though second brood Torts were in lower numbers than i was hopeing,considering the number of caterpillars.

Thanks for sharing your lovely images.

I think the Tortoiseshells and Peacocks are well tucked up round here too, so I'm envious of you seeing them in good numbers still, Neil. One day when I'm up that way with the boys, we'll have to have a look at your local patch. Probably next year now.

And at least we know from David that all the Red Admirals are in South Wales for the Autumn... I've hardly seen any either.

Dave

Thanks for the comments David, Wurzel, Essex and Dave, much appreciated as always

Dave, if you head up this way next season you will have to let me know, it would be good to meet up again.

Another week at work so nothing seen again since last weekend. The leaves are well into changing colour around here and are starting to drop in in fair amounts, feeling like we are well into Autumn. The weather for the weekend looks a bit promising so I may have another nose around locally if I get the time, fingers crossed.

Cheers,

Neil.

Hi Neil, lovely photos of a nice selection of butterflies in your recent posts Small Tortoiseshells have been a bit thin on the ground around here of late, however we are finally begining to see a few Red Admirals.

Mike

Lovely photos as usual Neil, and so late in the year. I particularly like the 3rd Comma, all brown, with no obvious markings.

All the best, Nick.

Thanks for the comments Mike and Nick, very much appreciated as always

Sunday 6th October

Looking back at my diary at this time last year I posted the comment below on 6th October.

The third Saturday in a row with no rain (although there has been plenty in between) and I managed to get out again for a couple of hours.

This year has turned out almost exactly the same, the only difference being that it has been the past three Sundays that have turned out nice after some gloomy weekdays and so-so Saturdays.
I got the domestics done by early afternoon and set out on a trundle around Solihull to see what was still about.

First stop was Shadowbrook Meadows where as soon as I got out of the car I was greeted by a Speckled Wood and a Comma flitting along the hedgerow. A quick circuit of the meadows turned up a couple more Specklies and Commas and half a dozen or so Green-veined Whites in various conditions.
I then drove back through Catherine-de-Barnes and headed for a public footpath where I had seen loads of Commas at this time last year. Sure enough, on the very same bramble patches there were around a dozen Commas enjoying the Blackberries .
My last stop was at Castle Hills where I have been the past couple of Sundays and where I was interested to see if any of the Small Tortoiseshells were still about.
I followed my usual path, seeing a few Speckled Woods and Commas but it was much quieter than last week, the spots that I had seen the STs at last week were completely devoid of butterflies.

Going through a couple of meadows, I went a bit further than I usually do and came across a couple of large patches of what looked like a type of Michaelmas Daisy, probably a garden escapee.
This was where all the butterflies were, mostly Small Tortoiseshells with a couple of Commas.
Surprisingly there were also a couple of Peacocks albeit one very faded one and one with a big chunk out of its hind wing which looked like a bird had gone for the eye-spot and who wouldn't sit still for a photo. I often see the odd one or two around here right up until late September but this is the latest that I have seen them.
No Red Admirals again this week, maybe the few that have been seen around here are tucked up or heading South again, can't say I blame them looking at the forecast for colder conditions later in the week.

Bye for now,

Neil.

Nice report Neil and great shots It's great seeing butterflies into October, but I don't know if that Peacock will make it

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Cheers Wurzel, those could well be the last butterflies that I see this year The season always ends around here before it does down south and the weather this weekend has been lousy.

So, it looks like time to start looking back...

The weather around here has turned pretty grotty over the few days and we are now well into autumn with lashings of rain and high winds with the leaves turning and coming down off the trees in ever increasing numbers.

I have started to look back over the past season and sort through the many photos that I took during some fantastic trips around the country which included heading north to Arnside and south to Devon and Dorset as well as great sites in the midlands such as the Wyre Forest and Fermyn Woods.

My species tally for the year is 48. This is 2 short of last year when I managed to see 50 species during what was apparently a worse year for many species, not all though, as some species appeared to do worse this year.
Holly Blue numbers in particular have been well down locally. Ringlets also did not seem to be around in the same numbers but that one is a bit relative as there were still plenty, just not quite the hordes that there were last year.
After a late start to spring, Commas and Peacocks were about in good numbers as were Orange Tips when they finally showed up with me seeing more of the latter in my garden than for a few years.
Meadow Browns, Gatekeepers and Small and Essex Skippers seemed to do well locally but Large Skippers seemed down in numbers a bit although they were around for a while longer than usual.
I was particularly pleased to see Common Blues and Small Coppers bounce back from their poor showing last year, Small Copper numbers particularly were well up in the second brood although, unlike further south, it appears that due to the later start to the season we didn’t get time to fit in a third brood.
As with the rest of the country there were amazing numbers of all three common Whites about, particularly Large and Small. I also saw Small Tortoiseshells in the kind of numbers that I haven’t seen for years. Red Admirals on the other hand were thin on the ground with only a few seen locally including 2 in my garden.

Despite missing out on a number of species due to just not having the opportunity at the right time, I did add three more firsts to my list this year .

Marsh Fritillary during a family break to North Devon in June,
Heath Fritillary at Haddon Hill on my way to Heddon Valley for a few days later in June,
and Large Blue at Collard Hill when I stopped off on my way home from Heddon Valley.
These brought my total tally of British Butterflies up to 53 species with Glanville Fritillary, Black Hairstreak, Northern Brown Argus, Mountain Ringlet and Chequered Skipper still to be seen, with Cryptic Wood White if I ever go across the sea to Ireland.
Black Hairstreak seemed to have a good year going by the sightings and photos posted on UKB and would have been easy for me to get to, but their short flight period was mostly when I was in Devon. Oh well, can’t have everything… one for next year perhaps.

Other highlights of my season as described during the past year in this diary included;

- Good numbers of Pearl-bordered Fritillaries in the Wyre Forest.
- Being surrounded by Small Pearl-bordered Fritillaries at Marsland.
- The numbers of High Brown Fritillaries in the Heddon Valley.
- The amazing number of Purple Emperors at Fermyn Woods.
- Hundreds if not thousands of Scotch Argus at Arnside Knott as well as HB and DG Fritillaries and my first Clouded Yellow Photo.
- A fantastic early September week in Dorset with loads of Adonis Blues, Small Tortoiseshells and Clouded Yellows among the many butterflies seen.

All in all a great season with butterflies generally seen in very good numbers , in fact even when I was growing up in the 1970s there were years when I didn’t see as many butterflies as this year.

As I write this the rain is lashing down again outside and it has gone dark enough for me to put the lights on to see what I am doing. I think I will sort through some more photos to cheer myself up....

Bye for now,

Neil

Lots more fantastic photos Neil, thank you for the eye candy it may be wet and chilly outside but it's lovely and sunny in here

Best Wishes,

B,saurus

Your photo's are lovely Neill and I know what you mean about cheering up looking at your photo's .

You certainly traveled a lot, I'd love to see the Purple E may be I'll start to plan a few places for next year and that will cheer me up. Goldie

Some more great photos of the commas and Small Tortoiseshells Neil. The open winged shot of the ST has eluded me this year, so seeing yours in all their glory just shows me what i`m missing, maybe next year..

A lovely start to your Going Back.... look forward to seeing the rest.

All the best, Nick.

Thanks for the comments B saurus, Goldie and Nick, very much appreciated

I did do a fair bit of travelling but also managed to make the most of a couple of week long family breaks in Devon and Dorset. I also had a couple of shorter breaks with my wife Jane, 3 days in the Heddon Valley and 3 days at Arnside. Other than those trips, the furthest that I went was to Aston Rowant and Fermyn Woods, both about 90 minutes drive from my house, everywhere else being less than an hour away.

Cheers,

Neil.

You've put a great deal of effort in this year, Neil, and I'm glad you got to see so many species.

BTW, that Large Blue part-open winged shot simply oozes freshness! I bet that emerged the very morning you saw it.

Cheers David, although when I enjoy it so much it doesn't feel like effort

The past couple of nights, whilst Jane has been glued to the tele watching some soap or other, I have been going through some more photos. It seems that I took more shots than I realised showing two or more butterflies in the frame together.
So for this next look back I am going to post a selection of shots all with two or more butterflies in that bring back memories of some really great days and for me give a bit of a feeling of the sheer numbers of butterflies that were sometimes around.
and finally, one of the definite highlights of my year,
Whilst none of the photos above will ever win any prizes, they are all amongst my favourites because for me they capture the moment, and there were so many fantastic moments this year

Bye for now,

Neil.

That's a really interesting sequence, Neil, particularly the SPBFs which I presume are buzzing about a large clump of violets?

Amazing set of posts Neil - they sent my envy meter off the chart I would love to see Scotch Argus but they seem so far away Maybe if I win the lottery

Have a goodun

Wurzel