September 2011

[millerd]

They all look like Common Blues, albeit with unusual markings, and rather small from the account given. Definitely not Brown Argus.

Dave

[NickB]

Yep! Definitely an abs * . but certainly icarus
Closest in Cockayne:
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/ ... xonID=8998

I saw a lot of very small 2nd generation Holly Blue this year too; half the size one would expect.
But then, we had a very dry Spring, less than 2mm in April, so it does not seem unreasonable to link the dry conditions to a lack of fresh plant-growth during their crucial larval phases, with the resulting generation being less-developed than normal.....
N
It is still so dry over here that The Little Wilbraham river, that runs through the Fen outside Cambridge, eventually to the Cam, has dried up completely, with no flow whatsoever
It is chalk-fed from the hills around Cambridge; this shows just how far the aquifer has been depleted by extraction above that it has received this year.....

[millerd]

A short walk along the River Colne near me on a sunny, warm but windy morning produced only half-a-dozen species. Red Admirals and Commas were on the ivy flowers, and taking an interest in the remaining squishy blackberries. A new batch of Speckled Woods were basking and flitting in and out of the riverside vegetation, along with a few Small and Green-veined Whites. Finally, one solitary Holly Blue had found a thistle flower, and was hanging on tight.

Dave

[Willrow]

After the dreadful gales of the past week it came as a pleasant relief to actually see some sunshine this afternoon. As I pottered about in the garden after lunch I was pleased to see both a Comma and Small Tortoiseshell sail through on the brisk breeze, a little while later a pair of tattered Red Admiral nectared happily on the dwarf Buddleia (var.Blue Chips) until the attentions of our resident Robin saw them off. It's not exactly the easiest existence being a butterfly, they have to put up with so many different threats during their rather brief lives; rain, wind, predation, parasites etc, but to counter balance all of this there is that wonderful thing called sunshine...when we actually get some

Bill

[David M]

Saw my first butterfly for over a week outside work this afternoon. It was a Red Admiral doing battle with the strong winds.

[NickB]

Mill Road Cemetery - A quick troll during the sun before and after the showers: found more than a dozen Red Admirals feeding on the ivy and basking on the (warm and sheltered) gravestones nearby...

Here comes the sun....

.... along with a Comma or two, several Speckled Wood and 3 Small White and a Large White.

Après le déluge......moi!

[millerd]

The Cambs/Essex BC branch website has a report (and photo) of a second brood Heath Fritillary in a wood in south Essex:

http://www.cambs-essex-butterflies.org.uk/sightings.php

Dave

[Willrow]

Saw my first butterfly for over a week

Me too David (see my earlier post above). The garden saw two further visitors, another Small Tortoiseshell on the Sedum and also one more Red Admiral that decided to stay on the Buddleia when the showers started again it settled down with wings folded on a leaf bravely waiting out the rain, I was surprised when I went back out an hour or so later to see it was still there...I could hear it snoozing it's probably done a lot of snoozing recently...so I was sneaky and got this side view shot while it dozed!!!

Bill

[Michaeljf]

Hi Nick,
lovely photos from the cemetery, I especially like the Comma on the Ivy - the Ivy makes a lovely backdrop.
Michael

[NickB]

Cheers Michael!
As Willrow said, once the showers had started they just stayed-put.
Once the sun shone for a few minutes they were very cooperative. Ivy makes a nice contrast to the orange of the Comma; and the shape of the leaves does seem to complement the ragged wings of the butterfly...IMHO.
You can see why I am so passionate to persuade the council to start managing the place for wildlife- not mow and trim back to provide us with another formal lawn and garden
....in Cambridge, of all places, where we are so short of formal gardens and lawns, and have so many undisturbed meadows like this in the City centre

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&ll= ... 15&vpsrc=6
Have a look at the City Centre; the Ward in which the cemetery sits has the least open space per head of population in the whole City. The Commons which are shown are browsed with animals for much of the year; a few fragments of real grassland exist around the edges of sports-fields, on fragments of flood-plain, etc and LNRs. Otherwise 90% of the green spaces are either college gardens, sports grounds or mown expanses of grass in our "parks"...and open "greens". It does look neat though!

[Essex Bertie]

The Cambs/Essex BC branch website has a report (and photo) of a second brood Heath Fritillary in a wood in south Essex:

http://www.cambs-essex-butterflies.org.uk/sightings.php

Dave

Hi Dave,
I was chuffed to bits to see this 'event' for the first time, but a word of caution, as this happened on exactly the same date in 2009: http://www.cambs-essex-butterflies.org. ... gs2009.php - the weekend after, I bumped into Jack Harrison at the same location in perfect conditions and we didn't see a thing. Unlike this weekend, the cow wheat in 2009 was completely frazzled after a very warm summer. To my knowledge, we have only had a 'full' HF second brood in Essex once before, in 1999.

Regard
Rob S

[millerd]

Interesting, Rob. I think it is right to be sceptical of one-off second brood sightings like this - you would expect more than just the one, and at more than one site, too. A check of nearby Hockley, or East Blean in Kent, would be worthwhile.

Looking back at those September 2009 reports show that it was very much a Clouded Yellow year!

Dave

[Wildmoreway]

Tuesday 13th September, Wall's Hill Torquay, several worn Meadow Browns and one fresh looking Comma.

[Essex Bertie]

Interesting, Rob. I think it is right to be sceptical of one-off second brood sightings like this - you would expect more than just the one, and at more than one site, too. A check of nearby Hockley, or East Blean in Kent, would be worthwhile.

Looking back at those September 2009 reports show that it was very much a Clouded Yellow year!

Dave

I emailed the warden at Hockley Woods as he started a transect there this year. He hasn't got back to me yet, but I will report any positive news. Starvelarks/Little Haven always seems the best bet in Essex, though, as the area under the pylons has more bare patches and is more exposed. I've never been there, but I think the Kent woods may have more elevated slopes and are more likely to produce a second brood.

Clouded Yellows - yeah, 2011 not exactly a vintage year - we've only just had our first ones in the county this year.

Rob S

[Neil Hulme]

I really think the 'doubting Thomases' owe Rob Smith of Essex/Cambs BC an apology regarding his second brood Heath Fritillary sighting at Starvelarks Wood, reported in good faith to the Branch website, with a supporting PHOTOGRAPH at http://www.cambs-essex-butterflies.org. ... rs_11Sep11 I would be interested, as I'm sure he would, to know exactly what you are implying. The fact that second brood specimens appeared on the same date in a previous year - not relevant, as there are hundreds of recorded instances where either first, second, third or irregular brood specimens appear on 'same dates'. The fact that others could not locate a singleton butterfly at a site 'the weekend after' - come on Right to be sceptical of one-off second brood sightings like this - wrong, this is exactly how tiny, irregular broods manifest themselves, and just because there has only been one sighting it doesn't mean there is only one butterfly present. And that the data you have to hand suggests that it's suspicious they have only appeared at one site - perfectly normal. Duke of Burgundy has double-brooded on single sites in recent years. It all depends on local conditions, as does everything in the butterfly world! But I rather suspect there have been more, as suggested by Pete's Tweet on 25 August 'Reports coming in of second broods of Heath Fritillarys in Kent and Small Pearl-bordered Fritillarys on Exmoor'. I think we owe Rob Smith (whoever he may be) a little more respect than this.
Neil

[dilettante]

I don't see any doubting Thomases here. I suspect the Rob S (Essex Bertie) who expressed caution was the same Rob Smith who reported the sighting, and the word of caution was merely that a singleton doesn't make a significant second brood that people will still be able to see a week later. I don't think anyone was making accusations that the sighting was unreliable.

[Neil Hulme]

"I think it is right to be sceptical of one-off second brood sightings like this - you would expect more than just the one, and at more than one site, too."
Neil

[Essex Bertie]

I don't see any doubting Thomases here. I suspect the Rob S (Essex Bertie) who expressed caution was the same Rob Smith who reported the sighting, and the word of caution was merely that a singleton doesn't make a significant second brood that people will still be able to see a week later. I don't think anyone was making accusations that the sighting was unreliable.

Correct - I am one and the same person. And thanks Neil for your concerns. I was only expressing caution as this is a national forum and, although I would love to hear further sightings news from our woodlands, the thought of people travelling hundreds of miles with the idea that there was a full second brood just starting concerns me greatly!
Regards
Rob Smith/Essex Bertie

[Wildmoreway]

Some forty years ago I saw a male Orange Tip in Cheshire is late August, thankfully there were no national forums around at the time. It was a surprise seeing it but I never even considered it other than a simple one off due to some peculiar circumstance. The fact that one Heath Fritillary may have occured does not really surprise me and I don't really see any reason to cast doubt on the observation even if that is the only individual that has appeared, its may simply be down to some single set of factors that affected that individual.

[Mark Senior]

I saw a single 2nd brood Orange Tip at Moulescoombe Station Brighton 3/4 weeks ago . Clearly an oddity but of no great significance . It did however make me get off the train I was on and whilst waiting for the next one I found a new to me wildflower meadow adjacent to the station with a good number of species including Chalkhill Blue .