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In the absence of any one else posting; a couple of red admiral were flying today in what little weak sunshine we had here in south Wiltshire. The snowdrops are emerging through the turf already in the garden, and frog spawn has been reported just over the border in Hampshire..!

Has anyone else noticed a huge amount of queen wasps hibernating (or attempting to) so far this year? Usually I come across one or two during the winter, however this year I must have found dozens to date. 17 queens have been evicted from my 'winter Land Rover' alone as I set about preparing it for the winter weather which we probably won't experience this year. From the 'big shed', I have probably cast out in excess of fifty in total. All germanica or vulgaris.

2012 - the year of the wasp. You heard it here first..!

Snowdrops, that is early have noticed a lot of wasps myself in my local haunts but didn't think about it. Have not seen a butterfly in 3 months so kinda missing seeing them, only saw 5 moths in two months, so missing seeing any leps. The grey sallow in my garden still has all its leaves (all yellowing though), which I thought was a little odd given its got quite cold on recent and snowed slightly and the other trees in garden don't have leaves, even the other 2 grey sallows about the same age.

Found what I assume to be a Large White pupa in the loft. The larva must have scaled the house wall and crept in under the eaves. I'm surprised to see it - we have grown very little potential foodplant this year, merely a small handful of nasturtiums on which there was no sign of the larvae.

I am aware that Dungeness Bird Observatory had a sighting of a Peacock on the 9th. It was sunny, but very cold.

Dave

Warm enough on Norfolk coast today (22nd) for a Caddis fly to be about in same place I saw one on 24/11. Also 1 small moth flew past & quite a few midges about. At least something with wings not covered in feathers were about lol. Merry Christmas to you all. Eric

Today (22nd Dec) I spotted a Red Admiral flying around a garden outside Rushden Northamptonshire. We have some flowers blooming. Generaly mild. Looks as if we can look forward to seeing more.

I found a queen wasp yesterday which must have come down from the loft with the Christmas decorations.

It was so mild today we were able to walk around outside without needing coats and it was quite pleasant in the sunshine at lunchtime.

I walked around locally at lunchtime today in glorious sunshine (around 13 degrees), but saw no butterflies. However, the growth of nettles locally is luxurious, unaffected by frost, and I do wonder if any Red Admiral caterpillars are happily holding out in there until spring. Gardens still have flowering roses, pelargoniums and non-hardy fuchsias. Weeping willows still hold onto a good number of leaves.

We do have an interesting climate: I can recall at least one June day around the solstice which was cooler than today.

Dave

Hi, we brought our Xmas decs down from loft on Dec 4th and were surprised when a butterfly flew out of a box. It flew about that day and then disappeared. Well our visitor reappeared this morning - alive and well! I had a look on here and made a nectar like solution soaked a napkin in this and placed near the butterfly - who is now happily sitting on this. I'm guessing that the mild weather has disturbed it. I'm looking for advice on what to do now - I have read one suggestion of placing the butterfly in a shoe box in the garage to encourage it to hibernate until spring? Any advice greatly appreciated.
I am unsure what type of butterfly it is - I will try to post pics if someone may be able to identify it?


We are in Menstrie, Central Scotland FK11

Thank you
Laura x

What a lovely christmas present!

It needs to be somewhere cool enough to hibernate but with access to the big wide world once things warm up.

I have been planting (or rather re-planting as I potted them up in the autumn) daffodils today and was buzzed by a big queen buff tailed bee. Just got to love the noise they make. the mahonia is flowering which probably brought her in, as is the elephants ears and also some sweet rocket!

I walked passed a big patch of snowdrops in full bloom on xmas eve! It's the eariest i've ever seen them.

The early stages of some butterflies can be found at this time of year - some are easier to find than others. I found a Brown Hairstreak egg at Wytham Woods near Oxford today, and looked but could not find Purple Emperor larvae. The hairstreak is right on the edge of its Oxfordshire range there so this was a nice find.

The woodland is permit-only but the permit is well worth applying for if you live locally or spend any amount of time in the area. It is one of the very few localities to support all five British hairstreaks.

Matsukaze wrote: It is one of the very few localities to support all five British hairstreaks.

I'd always thought there was nowhere in the country that could claim that!

Green Hairstreaks too, eh?

One winter moth male yesterday which I thought was dead but sprang to life when I started pulling it about.