March 2017

[Rosalyn]

Cambridgeshire
What a lovely day. Monks Wood,Brimstone mainly (5), 3 of them rather interested in this sign, but feeding generally on Primrose and Celandine, a lone Comma flew by. I only walked around the block adjacent to the old CEH buildings. Next on to Sawtry Brook Small Tortoiseshell 5 and a Peacock favouring Colts Foot and sheltering on the banks, it was very breezy, and lastly Tort Hill Sawtry , again Small Tortoiseshell 4 and a Peacock, I had learnt by this time to check the yellow flowers first, Celandine again.

[Matsukaze]

Small Tortoiseshell, Vobster, Somerset. This one was refuelling after chasing a Peacock. Plenty of male Brimstones out and about as well.

[aeshna5]

Stiff wind but sunny in Richmond Park, London. In the shelter of the gardens managed to see 2 male Brimstones, Comma, Peacock + a female Red Admiral investigating some young nettles.

The fine weather also brought Red Kite + Buzzard over.

[Vince Massimo]

A sunny, but breezy day here in Crawley, produced the following sightings from the local area:-
1 Speckled Wood, 8 Brimstone, 2 Small Tortoiseshell, 6 Comma and a Peacock.

Crawley, Sussex 25-March-2017

Vince

[bugboy]

A sunny, but breezy day here in Crawley, produced the following sightings from the local area:-
1 Speckled Wood, 8 Brimstone, 2 Small Tortoiseshell, 6 Comma and a Peacock.

IMG_9486-01G.jpg

Vince

Looks like I got my timing spot on with my rescued SW pupae with your one here and Trevor's sighting yesterday

[John Chapple]

Saw my First Painted Lady of the year today near Drift in West Cornwall.

[sonomoha]

March 10th: Small Tortoishell spotted in Stockwood open space (Bristol).
First butterfly of the year, quite restless, not even an opportunity for a decent photo.
I visited the area for last two weeks but nothing else shows up, besides birds.

[Mikhail]

26 March.

Despite a troublesome wind I decided to have a look at the Southbourne cliffs today. Small Coppers are often out by now, and of course I could not rule out a Clouded Yellow. In the event no Coppers seen, but I was cheered to see my first Clouded Yellow of the year, just one day later than last year's first, although it's possible it may have been out a day or two. I was only able to snap a couple of distant record shots which are heavily cropped here.

[David M]

Excellent sighting, Mikhail. It's been a butterfly bonanza this weekend. I reckon around a dozen different species have been clocked up.

Just seven for me - Castle Meadows, Abergavenny on Saturday 25th saw the following:

Small Tortoiseshell 25
Comma 9
Peacock 4
Small White 1

This is the closest I've ever seen two Commas without punches flying:

Kilvey Hill, Swansea on 26th March:

Comma 4
Brimstone 3 (1 female)
Holly Blue 2
Peacock 1
Speckled Wood 1

[NickC]

I saw my first butterfly of the year here in north-east London today - a glorious male brimstone.

[David M]

I saw my first butterfly of the year here in north-east London today - a glorious male brimstone.

Well done, Nick. Hopefully the first of many!

[Vince Massimo]

Today, a trip to the seaside. Having parked on the seafront in Lancing we then walked to Shoreham town centre. On the way we recorded 6 Peacock, 3 Small Tortoiseshell and a Brimstone. Before leaving, I checked a nettle patch in the shelter of a south-facing wall in Lancing (where I had found 2 Red Admiral eggs last October) and now discovered two larval tents which both contained healthy larvae. One was in the middle of its 4th instar, while the other had just moulted into its 5th instar. These would have come from eggs laid during October 2016 which probably hatched in early November.

Red Admiral larva (mid 4th instar) 27-March-2017

Red Admiral larva (early 5th instar) 27-March-2017

The temperature reached around 17C in the sunshine.

Vince

[MikeOxon]

I saw a very early male Orange Tip on the wing at Dry Sandford Pit, Cothill, Oxon., yesterday (26th March). More details in my diary.

Mike

[Mikhail]

Saw a Small Copper this morning on the Bournemouth east cliff nectaring on Sweet Alison.

M

[Philzoid]

Taking advantage of finishing work an 'hour earlier' today, courtesy of the clocks going forward I was able to fit in a recce at the Bronze-age Burial mound at Maybury, Woking. At a place where the pines meet the heather in an area no greater that 10m2 (thankfully cleared of encroaching birch scrub), were the butterflies I expected to see ….. Commas

This has been a regular occurrence at this time of year for the past 4 seasons now though I cannot work out what attracts them to this very specific spot. Always great to watch, their light territorial duels should liven up a bit when the Peacocks eventually turn up.

Phil

[Wurzel]

Great set of shots Philzoid You're catching up again - I reckon 2017 will be your year in the 'Tally Race'

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[sonomoha]

After few weeks exploring, I finally get to see few species.
Documented on my diary, here
I guess there will be more species by April... and less wind.

[PhilBJohnson]

Dear All,
Here are our March 2017 contributions:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=377jgJvt1CQ&t=6s -March 14th 2017, Chambers Farm Wood, Lincolnshire.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0r5OSHXmpA -March 21st 2017, Southrey Wood, Lincolnshire.
https://youtu.be/8UhzvbmRsjU -March 23rd 2017, Cross O Cliff Orchard, Lincoln.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDga5ug3og8 - March 24th & 25th 2017, Old Wood, Skellingthorpe, Lincolnshire.

Please enjoy, critique or let us know which one you like best,

Kind Regards,

Melissa & Philip

[David M]

Excellent footage, Phil. The visual quality is very good. What kind of equipment are you using to take these mini-films?

[Mark Senior]

Female Large Tortoiseshell seen by Neil Hulme yesterday in West Sussex , pics on Sussex BC site