March 2016

[David M]

Three butterflies of three different species seen today at Parkmill, Gower, between 12.30 and 1.30pm:

Comma
Small Tortoiseshell
Peacock

[Jack Harrison]

17th March
Strathdearn at 1,000 feet above sea level. Brilliant sunshjine 14 degs C

One Small Tortoieseshell, my first butterfly of the year.

Also amazingly (found by a bird watching tour) two golden Eagles and one White-tailed Eagle. I could recognise the White-tail (from my experiences on Mull) but I had to take their word for the Goldie.

Here is a valid size comparison between a WT Eagle and a Buzzard.

WTE-+-Buzzard.jpg (1.76 KiB) Viewed 1681 times

Jack

[Scott Barron]

18th March. Single Red Admiral at King George V Memorial Walk, Hayle, Cornwall ....................... seen by my wife.

[David M]

Broke my Brimstone 'duck' for the year on Friday lunchtime, followed by a Comma 20 minutes later in the area surrounding my workplace at Swansea Vale.

[Mark Senior]

2 Small Whites at West Tarring allotments West Worthing today at around 12 30 .

[David M]

2 Small Whites at West Tarring allotments West Worthing today at around 12 30 .

Interesting sighting. I may well take a look for Whites this weekend when I'm in Abergavenny (assuming the weather plays ball).

[Vince Massimo]

Sunny spells this morning produced my first Speckled Wood of the season in my local woods. It beats my earliest sighting for this species by 4 days, although it clearly has wear and has been on the wing for a few days already.

Speckled Wood - Crawley, Sussex 22-March-2016

Also seen in the locality were a Comma, Small Tortoiseshell and a Red Admiral. The temperature was 11C with a light wind.

Vince

[Testudo Man]

3 Species today (22/3/16) those being - Comma, Peacock and a Small White, but i could only capture a pic of the Peacock!
Just need the Brimstone now, for the hibernating species for 2016.

This Peacock shows signs of wear! My guess is it emerged from hibernation today? it was weak in flight at first, but then i spotted it approx 15 minutes later, at rest, beside a large water hole. Its flight soon after became strong, because it flew up and out of sight. I guess the butterfly took on some moisture from the wet mud?!

Location - Kent, cheers Paul.

Worn Peacock on my hand, image is uncropped.

[badgerbob]

At least 7 Brimstone, 2 Comma and a Peacock at Abbotts Wood yesterday as well as an Orange Underwing moth.

[Matsukaze]

Small Tortoiseshell in the garden today, fluttering vigorously.

[Ian Pratt]

Glanville fritillary caterpillars and adders seen recently.

[Matsukaze]

Small White flying across the garden earlier this morning - Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell and Brimstone seen later on a walk. The first time I have ever seen Small White earlier in the year than Peacock.

[Lee Hurrell]

Plenty of Small Tortoiseshell, male Brimstone and a handful of Peacock enjoying the weather in Epsom today.

I got home to a surprise Holly Blue in the garden!

[MrSp0ck]

Glanville fritillary caterpillars and adders seen recently.

The Glanville larvae on the IOW seem to be the same size as our HB ones, which is good timing again.

[David M]

Bit disappointing here in south Wales this afternoon - just two Small Tortoiseshells in nearly an hour at Parkmill on the Gower.

[Allan.W.]

Finally,cracked it today !
Really been struggling to find any butterflies ,until today, on the way to the local wood,i spotted a male Brimstone along the main village road (Shadoxhurst ,Kent),my first for the season,
I did consider a trip down to Dungeness,but thought I,d a better chance with woodland overwinterers,so I plumped for Orlestone forest,near Hamstreet,in all, in two sections of the forest
I found 11 Brimstones ,all males,only managed the one shot( I,m breaking in a new ,well second hand camera),also found in one of the forest ponds,the largest Frog spawn clump I,ve ever seen,i took this shot about a week ago,since then the whole area of water,in this shot is frogspawn,moving on I found 5 Peacocks,all in very good nick,2 Small Tortoiseshell,and when I was almost back to the car,a single Comma,birdwise there were a couple of Buzzard about,but the oddest was a Tawny owl that called(hooted) several times,i wonder if it had been disturbed
by crows. regards Allan.W.

[Pete Eeles]

Finally,cracked it today !
also found in one of the forest ponds,the largest Frog spawn clump I've ever seen

I'll say! I've never seen anything like that!

Cheers,

- Pete

[FISHiEE]

Bit like this puddle I found crammed with about 50 clumps last year! The puddle is full again this year but not sure it holds water long enough for the resulting tadpoles to make it through to frogs!

First butterflies of the year for me yesterday at Havant thicket. Peacock, comma, small tortoiseshell and brimstones. Also 6 adders which was the intended target for the day and a couple if bonus grass snakes. No chance of seeing much fir a while now if the forecast is accurate!

[Allan.W.]

Hi all,
Thanks Pete and Fishiee,for comments re- frogspawn,I'm no expert but it looks to me that this season has started pretty well for the frogs,even when I was a littleun',I never saw masses such as these,i'm pleased,seeing as these last few years I believe they've been hit with various diseases,i noticed at my pond something had predated them,as there were a few small
lumps along the ride, I also noticed clumps in twos and threes ,in little more than water filled tractor tracks , i'll keep my eye on these,and if things start warming up(and drying out !) I may move them to the main pond, yours look a bit precarious as well Fishiee ,as you suggested. Regards Allan.W.

[Testudo Man]

Glanville fritillary caterpillars and adders seen recently.

Great image of the pair of Adders basking together, also its nice to see the melanistic (black) snake too.

Ive only come across one of these "black" adders myself, whilst quite a rare sight in the UK, there are several specimens out there.