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Something sadly now lacking in the former green and pleasant.

A few years ago, I planted a small sapling Purging Buckthorn in a shady part of my own little nature reserve I've been maintaining for a couple of decades now.

During springtime over the years, I would see the odd female Brimstone passing through but they would never stop, not even to feed on the many suitable flowers about the place. They had other things to do like finding foodplant for their ova. The little sapling has not made great progress. In fact I was disappointed with its slow growth unlike many other plants I've introduced to the site. Not spent much time there at all this spring and early summer, the foul weather and incessant rain made visits pointless even when time allowed. Had to go today for other things and had a look at the still small Buckthorn :~



Ahah! Closer inspection of the plant revealed much evidence of something getting at many leaves not seen last year. Too late to find any larvae in their usual location along the mid-rib of the leaves. All had no doubt pupated by now and may even be emerged and flying when conditions allowed. Even so, despite the gusting wind making things difficult, I checked all the leaves but could not find any larvae only evidence of their feeding. Just about to give up the search when I saw a typical Brimstone Larva at rest not on a leaf, but on a main twig low down near the ground. Near fully fed too. I took a quick picture of it but despite waiting for the gusting wind to give me a chance of a half decent picture, there was no let up so I quickly took this rather poor image as evidence using my small basic compact digital camera :~



There were one or two Ringlets and Meadow Browns about but not very active, only flying when I passed too close. Three weeks ago, the place was alive with Marbled Whites during a brief late afternoon visit. None seen today.

Best laid plans and all that. My plan to plant a Buckthorn has eventually paid off.

That's great news John - very inspirational and an example to follow

Cheers,

- Pete

Well done! let us know what happens later this summer.

I too have a small "nature reserve" next to my garden. In December 2010 I planted a few Purging Buckthorn saplings in the hope Brimstones might find them. My nearest colony is about 12 miles as the butterfly flies and even though I have never seen a Brimstone at home I have read and heard much about how far the females roam in search of buckthorn. Nothing happened last summer: there was no evidence of eggs, larvae or anything. Last winter on the theory that Brimstone females might prefer the type of buckthorn on which they were raised (my nearest colony is based on Alder Buckthorn) I planted an Alder B. sapling.

This Spring again no sign of any activity. And The saplings have not grown much at all. To be honest I doubt I will ever get Brimstone - the colony is just too far away and being to the east I'm not getting prevailing winds to bring the females.

I live in hope though!

Adrian

A_T wrote:Well done! let us know what happens later this summer.

RESULT. On a late afternoon fleeting visit to my field two days ago, a flash of bright yellow a few metres up in a sapling Oak caught my eye. A closer view revealed a freshly emerged male Brimstone. The butterfly was only a few metres away from the little Purging Buckthorn bush I planted there a few years ago. During the half hour I was there, despite warm sunshine and ideal flying conditions, it did not move :~

A_T wrote:
I too have a small "nature reserve" next to my garden. In December 2010 I planted a few Purging Buckthorn saplings in the hope Brimstones might find them. My nearest colony is about 12 miles as the butterfly flies and even though I have never seen a Brimstone at home I have read and heard much about how far the females roam in search of buckthorn. Nothing happened last summer: there was no evidence of eggs, larvae or anything. Last winter on the theory that Brimstone females might prefer the type of buckthorn on which they were raised (my nearest colony is based on Alder Buckthorn) I planted an Alder B. sapling.

This Spring again no sign of any activity. And The saplings have not grown much at all. To be honest I doubt I will ever get Brimstone - the colony is just too far away and being to the east I'm not getting prevailing winds to bring the females.

I live in hope though!

Adrian
.

Never give up. The females travel huge distances in the spring seeking out suitable bushes for their ova. I have seen them still flying strongly in their search some summers well into late June. By that time some may even be twelve months old and still flying strong. A super Butterfly.

Yes, never give up, tomorrow is another day and 2013 another year. Patience is a wossname...

About twenty years ago, the memorable day that Nigel Mansell and Ayrton Senna fought out the final stages of the Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix, whilst watching the action on my TV, something caught my attention. It was a female Brimstone flying against the outside glass of my large Greenhouse. There was a potted Alder Buckthorn in a large net cage inside. So I coaxed the female into the large cage and over the next few days, she laid a large number of ova on that potted bush. I fed her on a very weak honey solution and released her when she flew strongly on her way. far more larvae than my plant would support, I knew of a thicket of this plant in a wood on the Glos/Hfd border so tool the surplus larave and put them on those fine wild bushes.

In the forty years I've lived in my house, female Brimstones observed passing though at any time you could count on the fingers of one hand. No doubt many others have passed through unobserved during that time. I think I will buy a dozen P.Buckthorns come winter and plant them out all over the site. They are not expensive and local tree specialist grower lists them in their stock most winters. Late winter the best time to plant them out.

That's encouraging for me: I planted out 3 small seedlings of AB this Spring, in a place close to me, but with no other AB, though I do see plenty of Brimstones there.
At present they are all doing well, about 2 feet high, in amongst the edge of some brambles and I will keep them clear of other overgrowth as necessary.
I guess every little helps!

This is a really encouraging thread. I've planted some Purging Buckthorn in my garden this spring too. Not sure how far away the nearest Brimstone colony is, but I suspect its not too far away. Fingers crossed for next year.

On a similar theme, I planted some Birds Foot Trefoil in my garden in March 2011, in the vain hope that one day Common Blue might visit (nearest known colony is four miles away). Two months later I had a Common Blue in the garden! I suspect there must be a nearer colony that nobody has ever reported, but even so, it just shows that butterfly's sniff out their larval foodplant form quite some distance away!