www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Lovely vivid colours on the brostreak photos!

Katrina wrote:Lovely vivid colours on the brostreak photos!

Thanks, Katrina. She posed very well, I must say.

Hi! David, I've no Idea where the sites are but thanks for the info about the LH, I'll have to look things up for next yearGoldie

Saturday 24th August 2019 - Early stages....

I took an hour out this morning to check Fairwood Common to see if I could find any Marsh Fritillary larval webs.
It was easier than I thought. I found about ten in total. This one had plenty of larvae active within it:

Monday 26th August 2019 - Betulae blank....

What a stroke of luck - perfect weather on late August Bank Holiday. 20c, light winds and sunny skies. Surely a cue for several Brown Hairstreaks in Pembrokeshire?

Sadly not. The only betulae I saw were in the form of two ova:
I think this is the first time I have ever failed to see one when visiting in the second half of August on a fine, sunny day. Given that I saw only one 11 days prior on 15th August it's all rather worrying, with Ash dieback confirmed on the site which might affect this species negatively.

In addition, the best place for them by the car park is no longer grazed by horses, meaning much of the blackthorn is strangled by grasses:
That said, other butterflies were on the wing. The last few faded Hedge Browns, for example:
Speckled Woods were fairly plentiful near the woodland edges, whilst three Small Coppers were also seen.

On the foreshore, there was plenty of activity with at least 50 Painted Ladies nectaring from the copious sea asters:
Pleasingly, there were at least 20 Small Tortoiseshells doing likewise. It's a few years since I saw so many here. Perhaps I just caught them on the right day.
Other species seen were Peacock, Common Blue, Small & Green Veined White.

It seems so hard to get the balance between over-grazing and under-grazing right! Add to that the various tree diseases that are spreading across the country and there can be a worrying lack of decent habitat for butterflies. They do appear to be quite resilient and they manage to seek out small clumps of appropriate food plants.
The valley where the Northern Brown Argus are above my house used to be grazed by sheep and it was always a bit of a concern that they may eat the Rockrose. Now the area has been planted with trees. They are not near the Rockrose, but the valley is no longer grazed, so the worry is that the Heather and Bracken may smother the Rockrose! Luckily there are regular surveys of all the suitable habitats in the area, so action can be taken when they are under threat.

Good to see your Small Tortoiseshell, I saw one last week, bringing my
East Sussex total to five for this year so far. Hope their numbers will bounce back in the future.

Trevor.

NickMorgan wrote:It seems so hard to get the balance between over-grazing and under-grazing right! Add to that the various tree diseases that are spreading across the country and there can be a worrying lack of decent habitat for butterflies. They do appear to be quite resilient and they manage to seek out small clumps of appropriate food plants.

Thanks, Nick. Yes, butterfly habitat management is not a concise science as we all know. Factor in as well such random things like sudden tree diseases and things become even more complex.

I think Brown Hairstreaks are having a poor year everywhere in the UK. Why that is I'm not sure, but statistics don't lie, and there have been far fewer adults reported this year than any in the last decade from what I can deduce.

I recall the same thing happening to Black Hairstreaks in the washout summer of 2012 (I think). Bizarrely, the following year they bounced back in almost unprecedented numbers, so as you say, butterflies are far more resilient than we sometimes think.

I sincerely hope this is true of Brown Hairstreaks.

Sunday 8th September 2019 - more encouraging....

After two fairly disappointing visits to the Brown Hairstreak mecca in Pembrokeshire in August, I decided to have another attempt given the sunny, warm weather and the fact that I wanted to do an egg count to ascertain how well/badly this species was doing this year.

Arriving at 10.10am, I duly counted a surprisingly high number of eggs in the top field near the car park, and had reached 32 by 11.13am whereupon my attempt to leap through a section of blackthorn surrounded by bramble caused this butterfly to reveal herself:
She laid awhile....she basked awhile, as ever is the case with this species:
I found two more on the foreshore. This one was spotted within 20 metres of the shrub cover, but eventually flew away towards the open estuary, which is something I haven't seen before:
This last one behaved far more normally, alternating between ovipositing/posturing and relaxing on vegetation:
This is one of the clearings which attract them:
Three Brown Hairstreaks is what I would consider the 'norm' at this site, so my fears brought about by my two previous visits had been somewhat assuaged. A final count of 40 ova gave further cause for encouragement, because last year I only found 28 at the end of September, so I have to wonder why the adults have been so shy in revealing themselves this year.

As ever, other species were on the wing. Hedge Browns have now gone, as have Silver Washed Fritillaries, but there were still good numbers (20+) of Painted Ladies around, as well as at least half a dozen Small Tortoiseshells. However, the greatest joy was finally seeing a few Red Admirals, which have been very scarce round my way during the last few weeks:
There were also a handful of Commas. This one showed its uppersides very nicely:
A little later, I found another in similar pose:
During a cloudy spell, I found a further specimen clinging to this blade of grass:
Other species seen were Small White, Green Veined White, Speckled Wood and Holly Blue.

Saturday 14th September 2019 - Painted Ladies....

I ventured down to Port Eynon on the south Gower coast this morning in beautiful autumn conditions. Truth be said, I didn't expect to see a great deal but it was just too sunny and warm to remain indoors.

It turned out to be one of the best days of the year, with the dunes at this site literally awash with butterflies:
Painted Ladies were around in phenomenal numbers. I was there for an hour and three quarters and I lost count very early on...I must have seen well into three figures! This sight was typical:
They were swarming all over the copious valerian blooms with often five or six within a yard of one another.

Small Whites were ubiquitous too - I reckon well over 50, including this beautifully marked female:
After bemoaning the poor showing of Small Tortoiseshells in this area during spring, they seem to be recovering well. There were certainly at least three dozen, many of which were feasting side by side on the valerian with the Painted Ladies:
On the flip side, I only saw three Red Admirals, which are usually quite common round here at this time of year, but there was compensation in the form of four Small Coppers:
A couple of Green Veined Whites were about:
I was quite surprised that there were still quite a few Common Blues flying. Some were faded but others looked in decent nick, such as this 'brown' female:
Even more surprising were the two Brown Argus I came across. One looked on its last legs but this one was still presentable:
One Speckled Wood was seen pottering about in the dunes, whilst I finally managed to see a Large White, although this male wouldn't come to rest at all and escaped having his image taken.

Good to see someones seeing some Brown Hairstreaks . Some very nice Comma's there as well

bugboy wrote:Good to see someones seeing some Brown Hairstreaks . Some very nice Comma's there as well

Yes, it's strange how they are so scarce this year, BB. That's why I was surprised to find 40 eggs laid. Even in a good year I wouldn't expect more that 60 or so in an hour's searching.

Saturday 14th September 2019 - Clouded Yellows....

Aside from the numerous Painted Ladies, Small Whites and Tortoiseshells, there was another treat in store on the Gower coast - Clouded Yellows.

They've been reported in such good numbers lately that I thought there would be a decent chance of seeing them, and I was lucky enough to encounter three.

The first was a rather wing battered female, pale in colour but still hungry for nectar:
Another female turned up about 50m further along the track. This one was in very good condition:
Whilst I was photographing this individual, a male Clouded Yellow suddenly appeared and the two flew all over the place for a while. The male returned several times, still searching for the female, although he would occasionally take a rest and either feed from the valerian or bask low to the ground:
Trying to catch them with their wings open is a satisfying pastime:
With the weather set fair for several days to come, I'm confident there'll be a few more of this species in my area.

Nice open-wing shots of the Clouded Yellow, Dave. I've have not been able to do this so far this year. I've only seen three in total and two of those were Spring fly-bys.

Good to see your Clouded Yellows, David.
I know in previous years you've commented that they avoid your area,
Now you have them, and I have yet to see one so far this year.

Trevor.

Glad I`m not the only "Welsher" to see Clouded Yellow this autumn ! I saw mine on Saturday on the part of the Wales Coastal path where I saw them last year on 6 August. So they were late arriving but better late than never.

Jenks.

Lovely Clouded Yellows David I hope they're still around in another week or so when I'm in Kent Goldie

Thanks, all. Yes, it's nice to have them around, and it doesn't happen too often in south Wales.

Goldie M wrote:Lovely Clouded Yellows David I hope they're still around in another week or so when I'm in Kent

I'm very confident you'll see a few, Goldie, and while you're there, I expect there to be Long Tailed Blues around too so keep your eyes peeled for developments over the next few days.

Lovely pictures of the Clouded Yellows, Dave - I have yet to see one in Britain! I understand they have been seen in Yorkshire though. Maybe a holiday in South Wales next year..
Janet

Janet Turnbull wrote:Lovely pictures of the Clouded Yellows, Dave - I have yet to see one in Britain! I understand they have been seen in Yorkshire though. Maybe a holiday in South Wales next year..

Steady on, Janet, we don't get THAT many!!

When I lived up north, there were a few years when I saw the odd one. I think in 1984 there were quite a few so don't give up on them.