www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Some sunshine today at Torquay and in the Royal Terrace Gardens (actually a cliff face facing the sea), 2 Large Whites including one male and a Red Admiral. More sunshine expected tomorrow so I will be looking out for the Large Whites again.

1 x fresh Painted Lady at 11.00am 1st November in a short sunny spell next to the South Devon Steam Railway just North of Totnes!! Lovely specimen even though temp only 7 degrees Centigrade!! Maybe locally bred as it was not flying strongly but it flew up as the steam train went past as it was basking on the railway embankment. I never realised they flew in such cool conditions!!
Cheers all,
Lee Slaughter (Cornwall).

Female Small White at approx midday on the cliff face at the royal terrrace garden at Torquay today.

Two Red Admirals in my garden this afternoon

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Wurzel wrote:Two Red Admirals in my garden this afternoon

You lucky blighter, Wurzel.

I've already resigned myself to having seen my last butterfly of 2012 on 21st October.

Whilst waiting in a queue of some two hundred people to meet Sir David Attenborough at a book signing I was joined by a Red Admiral who was obviously also keen to meet the President of BC! I can thoroughly recommend the book 'Drawn from Paradise' a fantastic coffee table book detailing how the birds of paradise have been captured by some of the most famous ornithological artists like Gould, Bouffon, Cooper etc. it was an absolute pleasure to meet the person who inspired my interest with his Zooquest series in my youth - I owe him a debt of gratitude.

Hi Mark,
"Whilst waiting in a queue of some two hundred people to meet Sir David Attenborough at a book signing ". You can never wash your hand again.
BWs, Neil

I was in Cadiz in Southern Spain in temperatures of 77 degrees F last Thursday and there were several long-tailed blues around. One two-tailed Pasha in Gibraltar Botanic Gardens last Monday too. Hope it doesn't upset too many here in the UK. Ian

Ian Pratt wrote:I was in Cadiz in Southern Spain in temperatures of 77 degrees F last Thursday and there were several long-tailed blues around. One two-tailed Pasha in Gibraltar Botanic Gardens last Monday too. Hope it doesn't upset too many here in the UK. Ian

Cheat!

I'm delighted to be able to contribute to this thread with a British sighting made today! I saw a Red Admiral in Cwm Clydach near Swansea at 11 o'clock this morning.

Red Admiral in my back garden today at about 12.15

Have a goodun

Wurzel

I disturbed one Red Admiral this morning Basking in bright, pleasant, warm(ish) sunshine at about 9.45am at Bishopstoke Recreation Ground whilst my son was football training.

Speckled Wood holding territory today in a clearing in Asham Wood, Somerset.

Latest I have ever seen Speckled Woods is 28th October (both in places not apparently ideal for them), I would suspect that in, suitable sheltered spots that there would be chance of them surviving well into November. Another frequent late survivor is the Small Copper, not seen any locally for a couple of months but it would be interesting to know if others have spotted any within the last couple of weeks.

35 years ago Anthony Archer-Locke from Plymouth set himself the challenge of seeing a different species of butterfly on the wing in normal circumstances for each month of the year. He did succeed although I no longer remember the details. It would be an interesting challenge to repeat.

I've heard of Speckled Woods surviving into December around here (in 2006 if I remember, which had a very warm autumn), although I'm not sure I've ever seen one beyond late October. In Cornwall I understand they have survived into the first few days of January before "disappearing" for February.

For an adult Speckled Wood, feeding is going to be a problem. I rarely see them nectaring so suppose they typically use honeydew, but I cannot imagine there is much of that about at this time of year.

A couple of inches of snow on the Mendips today - whilst it was followed by warm sunshine no butterflies were to be seen.

There was a red admiral flying at Kingley Vale, West Sussex today.

Matsukaze wrote: For an adult Speckled Wood, feeding is going to be a problem. I rarely see them nectaring so suppose they typically use honeydew, but I cannot imagine there is much of that about at this time of year.

Ivy is one of the few sources that I have seen them on late in the year...

Matsukaze wrote:Speckled Wood holding territory today in a clearing in Asham Wood, Somerset.

Impressive.

Matsukaze wrote:I've heard of Speckled Woods surviving into December around here (in 2006 if I remember, which had a very warm autumn), although I'm not sure I've ever seen one beyond late October. In Cornwall I understand they have survived into the first few days of January before "disappearing" for February.

For an adult Speckled Wood, feeding is going to be a problem. I rarely see them nectaring so suppose they typically use honeydew, but I cannot imagine there is much of that about at this time of year.

A couple of inches of snow on the Mendips today - whilst it was followed by warm sunshine no butterflies were to be seen.

A single Large White on Cliff at the royal terrace gardens this afternoon.

I have seen Ivy still in flower on 20th December and attracting large numbers of droneflies and other insects in South Cheshire and that on a cold but sunny day.

One thing with the speckled wood is that they seem to be able to survive in a very worn and battered state so that I would not be surprised at a few individuals being able to manage to survive for a long while in sheltered but sunny locations, and there some plants that do flower throughout the year. I have actually seen speckled woods nectaring on a wide variety of flowers and they do often emerge towards the end of March and are certainly usually about in fair number by the end of the second week in April .. a time when I suspect that not much (if any) honeydew would be available.

I have photos of Speckled Woods nectaring on Forget-me-nots and Berberis in March/April and on Ivy in September/October in my garden. I have not see any in the garden for a couple of weeks now, looks lke they have called it a day for this year.

A single Red Admiral flew across the road in front of me today as I left work just after 3.30pm this afternoon.

Cheers,

Neil F.

Red admiral and comma on the buddleia this morning despite there still being frost pockets in the shade.