I had a nice day out in the Wyre Forest with lots of Pearls today.

Great to read of all of the sightings of species, the emerging species and all of your lovely photos. It is a wonderful source of butterfly intelligence for me, knowing what is out and about, what I am likely to see soon and scheduling a few road trips.

My butterfly data records don't go back very far but my South Derbyshire data is as follows:

2020 - 741
2021 - 514
2022 - 322
2023 - 154
2024 - 42
2025 (to date) - 15

Really pleased for you David. Populations have crashed here in South Derbyshire also and thus I can understand your joy at seeing one.

Edit: I forgot to add that there were lots of Orange Underwings. Not many people took attention to them, but I have been told these rarely settle so I’m glad I was able to get a photo of one! Thank you for adding that :D I have seen half a dozen of these in the last fortnight and, not knowing my mo...

39 for me today - Brimstone 14, Comma 13, Peacock 8, Small Tortoiseshell 3, Small White 1. That was my first Small White of the year. I also had my first butterfly of the year to land on me, that being one of the Small Tortoiseshell

A Speckled Wood today for me (with 10 Commas, 3 Brimstones and a Peacock). That is my earliest Speckled Wood ever. The previous best was 24 March in 2022. Annoyingly I am 99% sure I saw one 10 days ago too - but 99% sure ain't good enough.

This isn't a 'silly game' Jack. I think it's genius. :D Lots of high scoring butterflies for me. I am going to give a particular shout out to the cute little Grizzled Skipper though. Of the lower scoring butterflies, I am going to mention Small, Large and Green Veined Whites. Sorry David, the Dingy ...

Great news of the Small White sighting Neil. Makes me optimistic of a sighting just up the M42 from you.

6 Commas and 1 Small Tortoiseshell for me today. Delighted with the latter as they are becoming more scarce with each passing year. I saw my first Bee Fly of the year too - which seem to be appearing earlier each year. Surprised not to see any Brimstone today. I would estimate only about 5% of the B...

A huge haul of 40 for me today (24 Brimstone, 13 Comma, 3 Peacock).

3 Brimstone, 2 Comma and a Peacock for me today. Initially, I wandered around the local woodland in glorious sunshine for 40 minutes but saw absolutely nothing so I trudged home despondently for a bacon and black pudding sandwich. I found myself back in that same wood just 45 minutes later and saw t...

I got off the mark today in South Derbyshire with a pristine Comma. It feels with that sighting that the season has started and that many joyous months lie ahead. A few Blackthorn have started to flower (though the vast majority are budding), a few dandelions, some young nettles and garlic mustard, ...

Great to read of some butterfly sightings from folk. I am so excited by the season that lies ahead. It feels really close now. I have had quite a few days of sunshine recently in South Derbyshire that would definitely have produced a few butterfly appearances - sadly not where I was looking it seems...

Charles Nicol wrote: ↑Thu May 02, 2024 3:24 pm the Grizzled Skippers are out at Little Paxton Nature Reserve

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i saw about 6

there was some sunshine, but mainly cloud + high humidity

Hmm, I looked to see where this was. 85 miles away from me. Have Grizzlies, will travel.

Best day of 2024 for me today in terms of numbers:

21 Orange Tip
7 Brimstone
5 Speckled Wood
4 Peacock
3 Green Veined White
3 Large White
2 Holly Blue
1 Red Admiral
1 Comma

And for most on the forum the numbers and species varieties will probably be considered crap

Good to read that Pearls are out. This means I will shortly be making my annual pilgrimage to a small patch of Bugle near Bewdley, a piece of ground the size of a penalty area, just to see a dozen or so Pearls. Not my favourite butterfly outing of my season. It feels like I could drive quicker from ...

Thanks, Chris. Extreme stealth is required to get anywhere near them, but 55 years of butterflying has taught me how to move slower than a garden slug. BWs, Neil I am getting better and better each year with the stealth. Friends comment on how quiet and skilled I am at getting close to butterflies....

Wow! I like the mini dinosaur description for they truly are. The coloured by a marker pen description is equally apt. They are truly wonderful. I imagine that it was extremely difficult to photograph so you have done extremely well there Neil.

This chat about Herb Robert has educated me. I don't know much about wild flowers, or much about anything really. :lol: I thought the little flowers I have seen recently that I now know to be Herb Robert were Red Campion. :oops: Your account of the weather and butterflies is identical to my own Neil...