David M

[David M]

Saturday 8th October – Almost all white.…

Another pleasant morning saw me opt for a little walk at Southgate, which is the nearest seaside location to my home.

I walked down the sheltered track to Pobbles Bay via Pennard golf course:

The only butterflies seemed to be Small Whites, but when this one settled I could see that it was a male Green Veined White, a species I haven’t seen a great deal of this summer & autumn:

The view from the back end of the golf course over Three Cliffs Bay was wonderful as ever:

As I cut back round the other side of the course, I finally found a butterfly with some colour to it – a Small Copper:

Just 11 butterflies was a little disappointing on such a nice day, but this time of year is traditionally when things begin to seriously wind down.

[Matsukaze]

A Brimstone in your garden is fabulous at this time of year. Box moth I'm not so sure. I still haven't forgotten the devastation their larvae caused in the French Alps a few summers ago. I hope they don't end up doing likewise over here.

We have the foodplant here. The moth turned up in 2017 - no sign of it since. I think they don't fancy the damp.

[David M]

Hi! David, your still seeing a few Butterflies, I was surprised to see A Red Admiral in the garden yesterday but couldn't get a shot nothing really in the garden to get it's attention, hope to sort that out next year

My garden at present was full of these large leaves, I got quite worried, my neighbour next door said they were Rhubarb leaves, I felt such a fool I'm not into fruit and veg only Butterflies Goldie

It'll take you a wee while to get used to things down there, Goldie. I have no doubt that this time next year you'll have them queuing up on your flowers.

Ditch the rhubarb though...it takes up far too much space!

Sunday 9th October – Birthday gift.…

A cloudy and blustery day, but my neighbour beckoned me over to give me a birthday present, and whilst we were chatting outside, we got a lovely surprise when this hummingbird hawk moth flew in to spend a bit of time nectaring from her verbena:

An unexpected and delightful gift.

[David M]

We have the foodplant here. The moth turned up in 2017 - no sign of it since. I think they don't fancy the damp.

Foodplant's everywhere, Chris. Thank God the damp is too!!

[Goldie M]

Hi! David, I was surprised this year just how many Humming Bird moths I'd seen , the weather was enjoyable for them, I saw most of them at Reculver I counted at least 10, Goldie

[David M]

Monday 10th October – Lovely moment.…

Another nice morning saw me decide to head down to Nicholaston Burrows.

When there’s a wind blowing, finding a sheltered, sunlit woodland spot with flowering ivy is usually the best call, but on this occasion there were no butterflies at all at the end of the field leading into the entrance to the woodland track.

It was still relatively early, so I wandered down to the dunes and saw nothing at all until this little critter caught my eye:

In the next three quarters of an hour, I saw two more Small Coppers, but nothing else, until I was photographing this one just prior to heading back out from the site:

This other butterfly settled briefly so I fired off a distance shot:

This fresh, male Clouded Yellow then proceeded to fly around the dunes for a little while, landing regularly on yellow blooms:

On the pathway leading back into the woodland, the ivy had one butterfly nectaring on it, a welcome Comma:

During the final walk back to my car, there was also a Small White and a Red Admiral.

[David M]

Tuesday 11th October – Slackening off.…

Another fine day so another visit to Port Eynon to see what was about.

Sadly, the answer was ‘not much’ as numbers were very poor – just 4 Small Whites and a single Speckled Wood:

Surprisingly, there were no Red Admirals on the ivy flowers at the back end of the dunes, nor on the ones adjacent to the churchyard. However, having stopped at a garage in Knelston on the way home, this one was seen at the roadside:

[David M]

Hi! David, I was surprised this year just how many Humming Bird moths I'd seen....

Been a good year generally for migrants, Goldie. I've probably seen more HBHMs in Wales than ever before.

Sunday 16th October – Getting trickier.…

Another pleasant, mild day tempted me down the road to Park Wood, where this stretch of woodland edge can usually be relied upon for a few butterflies:

Within a couple of minutes I spied an in-flight Speckled Wood, but try as I might I couldn’t see where it had settled at the back of the brambles.
There were plenty of Silver Y moths and even a couple of dragonflies, but I only saw two more butterflies, both Red Admirals, with this one seemingly intent on basking high up in a tree in a shaft of sunlight:

[David M]

Tuesday 18th October – Surprisingly good.…

The excellent weather today encouraged me to go down to Lower Kilver Hill in the morning, arriving at around 10.30.

I walked up the path that connects to the main estate, stopping briefly to admire this view of Swansea Bay:

The first butterfly I saw was a fairly worn Speckled Wood, but soon after a much fresher example settled at the side of this track:

I watched it for five minutes or so as it kept coming to rest in the strong sunlight:

There were a couple of Red Admirals on the ivy flowers next to the allotments, but I was unable to get any images due to them being directly between the sun and my camera.

I walked into the cemetery after coming back down the track and immediately saw this lovely female Common Blue:

As I walked over to the eastern side of the cemetery, I saw a couple of Small Whites flying by and in the waste ground just on the other side of the wall, there were three more Common Blues, all males, with this one looking particularly fresh:

These are surely third brooders, and given the condition of some, it wouldn’t be impossible for one or two to make it to November. As it is, this is the latest date I have ever seen this species in the UK.

On the way back, there were a couple more Small Whites, another Red Admiral, and nine more Speckled Woods, bringing my total for this species to eleven, which seems rather bizarre for the second half of October.

[trevor]

Lovely ' blue ' female Common Blue, David.
Fresh Common Blues, both sexes, were seen at Herstmonceux about the same time in October as yours.
5 mins before this reply, a fresh looking Red Admiral flew lethargically over my house.

If the forecasters are right it might be worth going out on Friday.

Trevor.

[David M]

Thanks, Trevor. Been a strange late summer/early autumn with all these later broods/migrants. We seem to have been drawing in south and south westerly winds for an age now, and I guess that's contributory.

Thursday 20th October – Still going.…

Mild, although a little blustery today, but when the sun came out in the early afternoon I thought it was worth chancing a visit to the sheltered woodland area behind the Gower Inn, Parkmill.

Within 10 metres of the start of the above path, I got a nice surprise with this Small Copper:

About 50m further on, this Speckled Wood was seen occupying a sunlit glade:

Another two aegeria were seen in the largest clearing before the woodland becomes dense:

The most pleasing sighting though was this Comma, which was basking above head height in the trees:

Two Red Admirals were also seen, as well as a large Pierid which, from distance, could equally have been either Large White or female Brimstone.

[Matsukaze]

I've never had the chance to wander round Parkmill, but that valley looks like it should be perfect for White-letter Hairstreak. Have you ever seen them there?

[David M]

There are elms, Chris, but I've never had the time to really study the area given that their flight period comes at a time when I'm usually in Europe guiding butterfly tours.

WLH has a patchy distribution on the Gower but it is about, and hopefully one day I'll stumble upon a few.

Sunday 23rd October – Getting tougher.…

As ever, the latter end of October sees butterfly numbers plummet, and I only managed to find one Red Admiral at the woodland site behind the Gower Inn today.

I needed to get right to the back of the last glade where the sun shines directly on the trees behind this bridge:

It was nectaring high up on some ivy flowers and did not present itself easily:

Night-time temperatures remain in double figures though, so any period of sunshine should tempt a few butterflies out over the coming week or two.

[David M]

Friday 28th October – Still a few Red Admirals.…

A mild but part cloudy day wasn’t exactly perfect for butterflies, but nonetheless I found 4 Red Admirals in the light woodland behind the Gower Inn not far from my home.

The only one I got close to was busy pottering around the nettle growth in this small stretch of the path:

Looks like a bird’s beak almost ended its life, only for it to manage to escape:

I drove on afterwards to Limeslade Bay and saw a further 2 Red Admirals close to the shoreline:

I think the heatwave in August must have done something to the hebe growth round here as there were no flowers in bloom at all. This will make it difficult to find any late season RAs once mid-November arrives.

[David M]

Friday 4th November – Welcome sighting.…

A decent morning with light winds and only a few clouds saw me opt to visit Dan-y-Graig cemetery near the Swansea coast.

I had hoped there might be one or two Common Blues still hanging on, but despite a thorough search I found none.

In the middle of the main path I noticed a large butterfly flying around an evergreen. Eventually, it came down on one of the gravestones:

I was delighted to see that it was a Peacock, the first one I’ve seen settled for a couple of months! Unfortunately, some cloud had temporarily obscured the sun so it was not ready to open its wings. It flew around the evergreen tree once again before settling on another gravestone nearby:

I managed to creep up a little before it took to the air again:

Two in-flight Red Admirals were the only other butterflies seen.

[trevor]

November Peacocks in Wales too, let's hope they find suitable Winter quarters
this late in the season, before the first serious frosts.

[David M]

Saturday 12th November – Nettle beds.…

A pleasant 40 minute walk through the woodland clearings at the rear of the Gower Inn returned no butterflies at all….until I was 30 yards from the car park on my way back, when I spotted a female Red Admiral fluttering round the nettle beds at the side of this track:

I watched her for about 5 minutes before she flew up over the trees and out of sight:

I was a little disappointed not to see more as it was largely sunny and unusually mild at 15c, making it feel more like early October than mid-November.

[David M]

November Peacocks in Wales too, let's hope they find suitable Winter quarters
this late in the season, before the first serious frosts.

Indeed, Trevor. I don't see this species too often beyond August so this was a nice surprise.

Saturday 12th November – Ivy bushes.…

Feeling a little bit short-changed with just a solitary Red Admiral behind the Gower Inn, I moved 5 minutes down the road to Park Wood, as the sun was still shining and it remained very mild.

Surprisingly, I didn’t see any butterflies in the open area by the woodland edge; it was only as I returned to my car that something caught my eye in this ivy growth:

I cautiously moved a little closer and realised it was a resting male Brimstone:

This spot was now in shade meaning he was docile and probably preparing to roost. He was also in beautiful condition:

This is the latest date I’ve ever seen this species, and only the second time during the month of November.

[David M]

Sunday 13th November – Never before in my life.…

The weather forecast for today was quite extraordinary; 17c highs and mainly sunny conditions, so I did something I’ve never done before in the month of November, which is to travel more than an hour by car to a site away from my local patch to take advantage of this unique offering.

Wind speeds were predicted to be 18mph on the Gower, but 40 miles away in Cardiff they were forecast to only be 11mph, so I reckoned a visit to the delightful Cosmeston Lakes Park would be a judicious choice, providing calmer conditions as well as a mixture of grassy meadows and light woodland.

I arrived around 10.30am, and for the first half hour I basked in the strange sensation of T-shirt weather in mid-November whilst walking round this large site:

Rather surprisingly, it was nearly an hour before I saw a butterfly, a Red Admiral that flew in front of me in a wooded area of the site. Within the next half hour or so, I saw two more but neither settled.

I walked back into the main paddock’s meadow and concentrated on the bank which was facing the sun beyond a large gully:

Something yellow then caught my eye, and the butterfly flew onto an ageing leaf:

Whilst watching this I became aware of another butterfly flying towards me, only this one was a deeper yellow:

I spent about 20 minutes following this male Clouded Yellow. He came down a few times, but never long enough for me to get really close:

Whilst walking briskly after him along the bank, I saw what I presumed to be the same Brimstone as I photographed earlier:

Two more Red Admirals were seen in the woodland by the car park before I left.

I had stayed for 3 hours and it was one of the most peculiar experiences I think I’ve ever had – 7 butterflies, including Brimstone & Clouded Yellow on a 17 degree day in mid-November!

[trevor]

Well worth the trip out, David, a November Cloudie is most welcome, worth pursuing.
Nice Brimstones too recently. My latest ever Brimstone was 21st November a few years back
when helping with scrub clearance at Park Corner.