June 2016

[David M]

An hour and a half on Fairwood Common on the Gower in Swansea this afternoon returned:

Marsh Fritillary 7
Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary 4
Green Hairstreak 2
Small Copper 1
Common Blue 1
Green Veined White 1

[Matsukaze]

Good numbers of Small Blues yesterday at Combe Hay, just south of Bath; they are also out at Stoke Camp on the Mendips.

[dilettante]

I saw at least 8 Painted Ladies while out cycling today around CambsnEssex/Herts border. Part of a wider influx?

[Adrian Dowling]

My wife saw 2 yesterday while out walking the dog in East Kent, so possibly some new arrivals coming in.
Hopefully more to come in the warmer weather that's forecast over the next few days. I still haven't seen one yet this year.

[Vince Massimo]

I had 3 Painted Ladies in Tilgate park, Crawley today. My first of the year.

There has been a big build-up in the Netherlands this weekend https://twitter.com/chrisvanswaay/statu ... 0026152961 and large numbers have been reported along the east coast of the UK today
https://twitter.com/MigrantMothUK/statu ... 7681082368

Edit: There has also been a recent influx of (among other things) Diamond-backed moths.

Diamond-backed moth - Crawley, Sussex 7-June-2016

Vince

[Hoggers]

I saw 15 Painted Ladies at Dungeness this morning

( and 4 Small Coppers..! )

Hoggers

[Pauline]

I saw 1 Painted Lady at Paulsgrove on the 3rd but failed to get even a record shot!

[David M]

No Painted Ladies in south Wales yet, but I did see my first Meadow Brown of 2016 pottering round my neighbour's garden this afternoon.

[Greenie]

Large Skipper , male , topside shot at Hutchinsons Bank yesterday .
Managed underside on transect , and first Meadow Brown at High Elms LNR today .
Two mating pairs of Small Blue at Hutchinsons Bank this afternoon .

[Allan.W.]

Hello all'
Started out early this morning(5.30 am),and headed to Littlestone, to try for a couple of special plants of the area ,found both after a bit of a search,and also in the process disturbed a fresh Painted Lady,i wonder if it came in with the hundreds of Diamond Back moths,that are everywhere at present,as you walk,you disturb 4-5 at every step,the sun was now well up and it was very warm,headed along the coast towards Dungeness,arriving just after 7am,a walk around part of the moat,i found 5-6 Small Heath,and a couple of Common Blue and Brown Argus,all before 7.45 am.,and a single male Small Copper,staunchly defending his metre of shingle , walked out to the Long pits where I came across several male Common Blues and one weather beaten female,but it looks as though the Grizzlies have finished here now,back across the shingle and a last circuit of the Moat, I added 4 more 1st brood Small Copper, a couple more Brown Args,a large white,Red admiral and a couple of Small whites,and a stunning "blue" female Common Blue which wasn,t hanging around to have its picture taken ! and about a dozen more Small Heath,that was it, as I neared the Old lighthouse,i bumped into Hoggers and his pal,snapping away,at what turned out to be 5-6 fresh painted ladies,nice one !
In the afternoon,we visited Samphire Ho,near Dover,a bit breezy,but plenty of butterflies about we saw Several Common Blues, the first two Painted Ladies,immediately on leaving the car park,along the beach scrub we noted,several small whites,my first Large Skipper of the season,a single Dingy skip, 4 male Adonis blue,2 Small blue, but the star of the afternoon was Painted Ladies, in one spot and all on red valerian I counted 8, in all I reckon we saw about 20 . the last stop ,literally 10 minutes ,at Western height car park,we saw 4 Small blues ,and a single Wall, the Grizzle shot was from the last couple of days of May.

[Matsukaze]

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary and good numbers of Small Heath at Priddy Mineries on the Mendips this afternoon. Also a few Painted Ladies about at the moment.

I've still yet to see a Small Copper this year - is anyone else finding that they are having a bad year?

[David M]

I've still yet to see a Small Copper this year - is anyone else finding that they are having a bad year?

Yes. I've only seen two thus far.

[Vince Massimo]

The day started by photographing a Holly Blue egg which was laid in the garden on 28th May. The host plant was Pyracantha, but another was also deposited on the adjacent Cotoneaster.

Holly Blue ovum on Pyracantha - Crawley, Sussex 5-June-2016

Other larval host plants used by Holly Blue in my garden in the past have been variegated Holly (obviously) and Ceanothus, as well as local Ivy and Dogwood.

At my local patch (Broadfield Pond) I have been monitoring a Small Tortoiseshell larval web which is presently full of 4th instar larvae.

Small Tortoiseshell larval web - Crawley 5-June-2016

In another nettle patch I found an older web where the larvae had started to disperse. Some were basking out in the open, but others had formed shelters from nettle leaves. In my experience these are usually of the upturned leaf variety, but there were some down-turned ones as well. Previous observations have shown that these shelters are used as resting and moulting places /viewtopic.php?f=37&t=7156

Both shelters on this stem were occupied by larvae.

Small Tortoiseshell larval tents - Crawley 5-June-2016

In the same nettle patch there were 3 Red Admiral larval tents (all occupied) and just a few metres away, 6 Orange-tip larvae feeding on Garlic Mustard.

Vince

[Testudo Man]

A great weekend had, with plenty of butterflies on the wing.
Highlights for me were Adonis Blues, but low numbers, with only 2 females sighted. I would think there were less than 10 males too!

2 Painted ladies, Red Admiral, Comma, 6+ Brimstone, 1 GH, Large Whites, good numbers of Brown Argus, Common Blues, Small Blues, male Orange Tip...Several Brown Argus and Common Blues found in Cop.

Location - Queensdown Warren and Darland banks, Kent.

Several photos, cheers Paul.

[David M]

Lovely Adonis images, Paul. Well done.

Painted Ladies have now reached Swansea with two seen this afternoon, including one which took a liking to my neighbour's roof.

[Jack Harrison]

6th June

Painted Lady near Inverness. See my diary: /viewtopic.php?t=4056&start=660#p110952

Jack

[Rosalyn]

The weather in Cambs has been poor of late to say the least so Phil and I set off for sunny Scotland. First stop was Glen Etive where we found a small clearing in the forest and within only a few minutes we had Chequered Skippers and Small Pearl-bordered Fritillaries in sight. Although well into their season the Chequered Skippers were not looking too shabby. We saw our first Painted Lady of the year here as well. Next stop was Glen Loy where we not only found Chequered Skippers, Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary and Green Haistreak in good numbers but we also found Neil Freeman, which was handy because an extra pair of eyes is alway welcome and Neil proved to be an excellent in flight spotter. Most of the males skippers had seen better days but occasionally a female passed by and these were in much better condition.

[David M]

Great stuff, Rosalyn! I've been monitoring the weather forecast and it seems to have been pretty warm up in the west of Scotland lately so your trip was well timed.

Always nice to see a few Chequered Skipper images on UKB!!

[Neil Freeman]

.... Next stop was Glen Loy where we not only found Chequered Skippers, Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary and Green Haistreak in good numbers but we also found Neil Freeman, which was handy because an extra pair of eyes is alway welcome and Neil proved to be an excellent in flight spotter. Most of the males skippers had seen better days but occasionally a female passed by and these were in much better condition.

Hi Rosalyn,

It was great to bump into yourself and Phil in Glen Loy yesterday, a great couple of hours in good company in a beautiful part of the world .
Some lovely photos you got there , I have still to sort through mine which will probably be in later in the week when we are back home.

Cheers,

Neil.

[MrSp0ck]

The Glanvilles are still emerging at Hutchinsons Bank, mixing with a few older ones from before the rain last week.

Small Blues and Female Glanville.