May 2018

David M · Post by **David M** » Mon Apr 30, 2018 11:30 am

After a frustrating April, May looks to have early promise if the weather forecast is to be believed...

petesmith · Post by **petesmith** » Mon Apr 30, 2018 5:59 pm

Fingers crossed for that, David!
One advantage of now being retired is that I can make the most of any windows of half-decent weather. Conversely, having the freedom to do so, but being denied opportunities for butterflying, due to day after day of poor weather, is incredibly frustrating!
I am sure many of us in the UK are feeling the slowness of spring this year. Hopefully things will soon accelerate...

David M · Post by **David M** » Mon Apr 30, 2018 7:17 pm

petesmith wrote:Fingers crossed for that, David!
One advantage of now being retired is that I can make the most of any windows of half-decent weather. Conversely, having the freedom to do so, but being denied opportunities for butterflying, due to day after day of poor weather, is incredibly frustrating!

I'm envious yet sympathetic in equal measure, Pete.

I know where you're coming from. I'd love to be free on each and every sunny day but equally, on those days where conditions are unsuitable or downright awful (the majority, sadly) I'm happy that I'm still earning a living in work.

Realism is a key component of the British butterfly enthusiast!

Ideally, I'd like a guaranteed full time job from 1st September to 31st March each year!

Kip · Post by **Kip** » Tue May 01, 2018 8:27 pm

My first home Orange Tips of the year x2 in the garden today...... at long last!

Allan.W. · Post by **Allan.W.** » Sat May 05, 2018 8:10 pm

Today I managed a couple of visits, locally. The first was to a piece of scrubby land beside the local football stadium (Ashford United fc ) and managed to find a minimum of 5 Grizzled Skippers, my first was an egg laying female , laying on Cinqefoil ( or possibly Tormentil.......got to check ) ,little else butterfly wise but I was kept company by 4 singing Nightingales and a calling Cuckoo.
Later a bit farther afield we visited Samphire Ho ,near Dover mainly to photograph the Early Spider Orchids ,which we found a plenty ,this site is also an excellent butterfly site ,and today we found our first Dingy Skippers of the year (10) ,Wall Browns (6 min ) and 2 Green Hairstreaks ,which I don,t recall seeing here before.
Regards Allan.W

.

David M · Post by **David M** » Sat May 05, 2018 8:17 pm

Great to see, Allan, especially the mating pair of Dingies!

David M · Post by **David M** » Sat May 05, 2018 11:06 pm

Two sites visited in glorious conditions on the Gower today.

First up was Welshmoor, where 3 Green Hairstreaks were seen:

This pair of mating Green Veined Whites was an interesting distraction:

Other butterflies seen were Small Tortoiseshell, Holly Blue & Orange Tip.

Greenie · Post by **Greenie** » Sun May 06, 2018 6:26 am

A visit yesterday to Hayes Common , found 8/10 Brimstone , including 3 egg laying female , and 2 Peacock .
Best of all , a female Holly Blue , egg laying on flower buds on a small Holly in the middle of a thick stand of Gorse ,

and then giving a full upper wing photo opportunity .

Allan.W. · Post by **Allan.W.** » Sun May 06, 2018 2:51 pm

Small Copper numbers now rising at Dungeness , Counted 58 on Friday afternoon ,with a few well worn Small Torts;
and several Small Whites ,and this morning between 7.15 and 9 am. I counted 45 ,the first flying at 7.25 am ,when the temperature was around 13 C
If I,d stayed later ,I reckon the count would have been around a hundred plus. All "standard " Small Coppers ,the abberations (here )tend to be more
prominent in the second and third broods. That said there were 6-7 Blue spots about.
Regards Allan.W.

badgerbob · Post by **badgerbob** » Sun May 06, 2018 3:05 pm

My first Brown Argus of the season at the back of Seaford today.

: Male Brown Argus.

David M · Post by **David M** » Sun May 06, 2018 3:44 pm

Brown Argus already!!

Things are catching up quicker than I thought.

sahikmet · Post by **sahikmet** » Sun May 06, 2018 4:24 pm

Plenty of holly blues yesterday. One was trying to lay an egg. Cheers Sezar

David M · Post by **David M** » Sun May 06, 2018 6:30 pm

Five Grizzled Skippers seen at Merthyr Mawr dunes, near Porthcawl between 9 and 9.45 this morning:

Andrew555 · Post by **Andrew555** » Sun May 06, 2018 7:12 pm

Great Grizzled shot David.

Small Coppers today. Lullington Heath, Sussex.

dave brown · Post by **dave brown** » Sun May 06, 2018 7:30 pm

The Butterfly season has really kicked off the last few days. 21 Duke of Burgundy seen at Denge Wood today (not by me), and a few Dingy Skippers and Grizzled Skippers. Wall Browns seen at Samphire Hoe on Tuesday. At various sites in East and South Kent we have seen Green Hairstreaks, Dingy Skipper, Small Heath, Small Coppers, Green Veined Whites, Large White Small Whites, numerous Brimstone and Orange Tips, Holly Blues, Peacocks and Small Tortoisesehell. The Large Tortoiseshell at Dungeness , seen on two dates but only briefly, eluded us despite many hours looking.
Whilst Butterflies seem to be in good numbers in general the same can not be said for moths with very poor catches being recorded locally.

David M · Post by **David M** » Sun May 06, 2018 9:33 pm

Andrew555 wrote:Great Grizzled shot David.

Cheers, Andrew. I envy your Small Copper shots though. I got to see my first this morning but it was a scruffy individual unlike your striking specimens!

dilettante · Post by **dilettante** » Mon May 07, 2018 9:00 am

I'm also envious of the Small Coppers - I hardly ever see them over here in Cambs. Such gems!

Allan.W. · Post by **Allan.W.** » Mon May 07, 2018 5:01 pm

Visited Denge wood(Kent ) today for Dukes but on arrival the parking areas were rammed so ,a quick change of plan ,we visited a smaller colony close by,had some luck here and managed a minimum of 9,which is pretty good for this site ,mostly freshly emerged and pretty obliging !
Also found 3 Green Hairstreaks ,several orange tips ,Brimstones and Large and Small and Green Veined Whites ,but rather worryingly
no Dingy Skippers ,but I noticed last season they were well down in numbers on this site.
Dropping Lynne home (too hot !) I went to a local Grizzle site ,and I reckon it was just too hot for them as well ,but I still managed a minimum of 8. So well pleased.
Regards Allan.W.

David M · Post by **David M** » Tue May 08, 2018 6:20 am

Another beautiful day here in Swansea on Bank Holiday Monday. Sadly, the hot weather hasn't yet seen Wall Browns emerge on Kilvey Hill (surely only another day or two). However, it was good to see plenty of Whites flying around, including a few Large Whites, which had been conspicuous by their near absence near me so far in 2018.