Cheers Buggy
They were in such a state it was difficult to know which way to go.
End of Year Tally 2016
Having finally caught up with my posts from last year I can now take a look back at 2016. It won’t be too long now until the new season starts but in the meantime while I await the seasons start I’m casting my mind back…
Jan mild, too mild? February cold, March all over the place and too cold never really got going. April dismal – too cool, too blowy and at the end of the month hail and frosts! A really dismal start and having to really take chances to get out and see any form of butterfly!!
Luckily things started to change in May – but only after the Bank Holiday of course…and even then it didn’t get that much better. Despite being warmer and drier than the terrible year of 2012 there just didn’t seem to be the butterflies
. To cap it all there was no Indian Summer and for me it was all over by the end of September with only the little oddment. So for me 2016 was probably an even harder year than 2015. At times it was really hard work and something that seemed to continue from 2015 was that instead of seeing good numbers on trips for particular target species you were lucky if you saw a handful.
The Skippers
1 Small Skipper, 28-06-2016 Larkhill
What a way to start the tally off…A week later than last year and very few in number. Thinking back over the year I feel more and more depressed about how few of this species I saw. True I found them all in the usual spots but only in single figures whereas last year they were buzzing around like cluster flies at Larkhill and The Devenish. I didn’t get to Five Rivers so perhaps they did oaky there but elsewhere they were well down.
2 Essex Skipper, 05-07-2016 Larkhill
Like the Small this species was also a week later than last year. Perhaps they’re reverting to a more usual phrenology? They did keep to the usual pattern of emerging about a week after the Small however. They did seem down number wise although again I didn’t get to Five Rivers which locally is a bit of a stronghold, but elsewhere they were ridiculously thin on the ground. In fact I think I saw them on 3 or 4 occasions and in single figures.
3 Lulworth Skipper, 05-06-2016 Lulworth Cove
Much, much earlier this year – but that was only because I left it so late last year. So late in fact that I had to take a visit to Durlston ‘the’ late site. This year I was lucky enough to make the most of one of the few sunny days in June and make a visit to Lulworth. My usual hotspot came up tumps but most of the individuals that I saw were showing signs of wear – with worn, ragged margins and brown spots/lines on their wings a little like the golden paint was flaking off. I reckon they were also down numbers wise as a wander round the hotspot didn’t produce the crowds of buzzing skippers that I’d encountered previously.
One thing I did differently this year was making my way round to the other side of the Cove, with Bindon Hill at the top of the cliffs. Here I also found Lulworths and they were taking minerals/salts form the clay slips.
4 Silver Spotted Skipper, 29-07-2016 Broughton Down
Only a couple of days later this year for me from the same cracking site that I discovered last year – Broughton Down. Because it’s a smaller site it’s much easier to find your quarry and they seemed to be in as good a state numbers wise as in 2015. This is a tentative estimation however as I was only able to make the one visit this year but they were buzzing around all over the place. The highlight for me had to be finding a mating pair for the first time ever.
5 Large Skipper, 29-05-2016 Marshie Site
This species seemed to buck the trend in one respect but unfortunately followed suit in the all important one…
So earlier this year, interestingly it was from my Marshie site which is further West than where I encountered them first last year at The Devenish. This seems to support the theory of the local Branch leader who has stated in the past that certain species (Marsh Frits, Greenstreaks etc.) seem to emerge in the west first and then there are progressive emergences over the coming days until finally things start appearing much further east over at my Duke site.
Unfortunately the trend that the Large Skipper followed was that there were noticeably fewer about. This dearth wasn’t just restricted to the odd site but across the board with some sites quiet due to the absence of the usual hoardes of Large Skippers.
6 Dingy Skipper, 30-04-2016 Duke Site
Very slightly earlier than last year and also down in numbers. Perhaps the cold snap that was the feature of March/April stalled them after the relatively mild start to the year? What was disappointing was that they were absent from Larkhill this year – I didn’t see a single one – further evidence towards my original estimation.
One thing I did find odd this year was that the Dingy beat the Grizzle to the punch. Normally my first Grizzlie means a Dingy will be about a week behind. But this year while wandering round my Duke site at the appropriate time a small Skipper-esque butterfly landed near me. “Oh my first Grizzlie” I thought. Only it wasn’t, it was a Dingy.
7 Grizzled Skipper, 30-04-2016 Duke Site
As ingle day later than last year and beaten by the Dingy...by 7-8 minutes! It may have missed out in the battle for first emergence but the Grizzlie did better in the numbers game – comparatively speaking. I didn’t see them at Bentley and there were fewer around but the fared much better than the Dingy and much, much, much better than the golden Skippers.
One thing I will take away and look for next year is the variation in the amount of white on the wings as some this year were very hirsute, definitely properly Grizzled.
Have a goodun
Wurzel
