April 2020

[Wurzel]

Waiting in the Waitrose queue sightings for today - Holly Blue, male Brimstone and female Orange-tip. However wasn't able to see anything else as there were only four people in front of me waiting to get in the store

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[David M]

Finally managed to photograph a female Large White yesterday (19th). She briefly settled on some foliage and I had to use my zoom, but it's nice to see a few of them in 2020 after 2019's debacle:

[aeshna5]

Surprised to find my first (fresh looking) Painted Lady yesterday basking on a path on my nature walk in west London. Haven't seen Red Admiral yet though my partner did see one down the road on Sunday. Brings my total to 11 species in west London.

[Medard]

Yesterdays surprise, a Holly Blue puddling were the water sprinkler had moistened the ground.
record shot.

Holly Blue (Celastrina argiolus)

https://jamesgibbs6929.zenfolio.com/

[Jack Harrison]

On my recent local walks plus the garden continue to have a huge number of Tortoiseshells and Peacocks. I haven't see any whites yet but wife did on 20th Aril. Unidentified (from the saddle of her bike!) but probably GV White.

Jack

[David M]

On my recent local walks plus the garden continue to have a huge number of Tortoiseshells and Peacocks.

Good to know, Jack. Not been too many Tortoiseshells round my area so far this spring, but Peacocks are having an excellent year.

[Jack Harrison]

I suspect that Torties are responding quickly to climate change and in the heat in south coupled with the desiccation of the foodplans is too much for them. The north meanwhile has been providing perfect conditions up to now ; however the continued lack of rain here is a concern.

Jack

[petesmith]

There has been an excellent number of Small Tortoiseshells flying along the country lanes on the edge of our village in central Lincolnshire these past few weeks, but it is hard to tell whether this is due to them having a genuinely good season, or whether it is down to increased observer effort.

Lockdown has meant that we have been walking these lanes much more frequently than usual , indeed on a daily basis. It has been one of the positive aspects of the outbreak, spending much more time observing the local flora and fauna, and seeing things develop on a day-to-day basis in much greater detail than usual.

Many of the lanes border agricultural fields, and their edges are rich habitat for nettle-beds. The Tortoiseshells (and other species) have been highly active, courting and seeking out egg-laying sites. Orange Tips and Green-veined Whites are numerous, and Speckled Wood is just beginning to take off from a slightly later start than anticipated (I guess not so many overwintered as pupae locally this winter).

[Stevieb]

A few from this lunchtimes 'permitted' walk. Saw my first Red Admiral of the year!
Still very breezy here making photo opportunities a bit difficult!

BTW Small Tortoiseshell quite numerous here in West Wiltshire.

Female Brimstone 21st April

Male Brimstone 21st April

Male Green-veined White 21st April

Peacock 21st April

Speckled Wood 21st April

[Padfield]

The female holly blues in our garden have now started laying:



Here is the egg she laid then:



And here the same egg with more context - on a flower bud next to a healthy, growing shoot:



On the sandlings, the first small coppers are now out:





Guy

[David M]

Aah! Small Coppers. Been on the lookout for them since last weekend, Guy. Hopefully won't be long before they're out round my way.

[Pete Eeles]

The female holly blues in our garden have now started laying:

Brilliant - I had eggsactly the same experience today Albeit in a local farmer's field. I'll be revisiting tomorrow to get some decent shots that I'll post.

Holly Blue seem to be doing particularly well this spring, if numbers in my garden are anything to go by. Peacocks are also in abundance. But a surprisingly small number of Brimstone.

Cheers,

- Pete

[millerd]

My take on how the eleven species I've seen locally are doing so far:

Peacock - exceptionally good, including a count of 45 in one day
Comma - good, especially early on
Small Tortoiseshell - worryingly few seen compared to last spring (and that was very average)
Red Admiral - no overwinterers seen, but numbers have just started to pick up (immigrants//emergences?)
Speckled Wood - average, but better than the poor spring showing last year
Brimstone - quite poor, with hardly any being seen at the moment
Orange Tip - very good, with daily counts of 20+ regularly currently
Small White - picking up a bit, but nothing exceptional
Green-veined White - slowly increasing, but nothing special
Large White - very few, but this is not unusual in spring on my patch
Holly Blue - reaching the 30-a-day mark, with plenty of new males still emerging. A good year so far, but I can't remember the last poor one here

The unusually sunny and warm weather has no doubt played a part following a winter barely worthy of the name. Only half a dozen air frosts (one of which was at the start of April!) and the average day maximum temperature for each of the three winter months Dec/Jan/Feb was above 10 degrees. I think a few flakes of wet snow might have been spotted in November before my last Holly Blue sighting on 27th. That was winter. (Heathrow weather observations)

Dave

[Stevieb]

Brimstone bonanza this lunchtime with a supporting cast of whites.

Female Brimstone 22 April

Female Brimstone 22 April

Male Brimstone 22 April

Male Brimstone 22 April

Green-veined White 22 April

Large White 22 April

Female Green-veined White 22 April

[David M]

Stunning, Stevie! What did you spray them with to make them so docile?

[Stevieb]

Stunning, Stevie! What did you spray them with to make them so docile?

[Matsukaze]

Here in Somerset, Holly Blues seem to be about in numbers at the moment. This one was patrolling a sunlit woodland edge this evening, and occasionally fighting with whites and Speckled Woods.

[David M]

Here in Somerset, Holly Blues seem to be about in numbers at the moment...

Yes, Chris, they're having a decent year everywhere, seemingly. So much for their '7 year cycle'; these last four years have seen tons of them round my way.

[Allan.W.]

Large Tort ,photographed in "the Moat" Dungeness today pictures on the Obs ;website ,found by the obs warden Dave Walker . Allan.W.

[David M]

Green Hairstreaks now out in south Wales. Two seen yesterday on Fairwood Common near to the airport: