Thanks Goldie
Looking back at 2023 – part 3 Late Summer and Autumn.
The first part of August continued the theme of mixed weather with lots of cloud and a persistent cool wind interspersed with some sunny spells on most days.
A trip over to Grafton Wood in Worcestershire on the 10th August produced very good numbers of second brood Wood Whites which are doing well there after a re-introduction project by West Midlands BC a few years back.
- Wood White - Grafton Wood 10.08.2023
I was also amazed by the numbers of Brimstones seen at Grafton, more than I have ever seen before at one place, there must have been hundreds feeding up on the plentiful wildflowers along the sides of the tracks.
- Brimstone - Grafton Wood 10.08.2023
I also got my only low down Purple Hairstreak shots this year as I saw a couple feeding on a patch of angelica at the end of the main ride.
- Purple Hairstreak - Grafton Wood 10.08.2023
My first Brown Hairstreak of the year was also seen briefly in this area but only settled long enough for a brief record shot. Other butterrlies seen at Grafton included a few aged Silver-washed Fritillaries plus a few each of Common Bue, Brown Argus and Small Copper.
- Small Copper - Grafton Wood 10.08.2023
Small Coppers and Brown Argus were still showing up regularly at my local spot by Wagon Lane along with a few Common Blues but the Skippers and Meadow Browns had disappeared by mid-August, probably finished off by some thunderstorms and heavy rain that we had around then. There were still a few Gatekeepers around but these were mostly females looking well past their best now.
- Common Blue female - Wagon Lane 13.08.2023
On 19th August I went to the Warwickshire BC open day at Ryton Wood Meadows to catch up on some gossip and hopefully see some Brown Hairstreaks which have been responding well here to the blackthorn management that has been carried out there for the past few years. A cool and cloudy morning eventually gave way to some sunny spells in the afternoon and half a dozen or so Brown Hairstreaks were seen around the site along with other typical late summer species.
- Brown Hairstreak - Ryton Meadows - 19.08.2023
Apparently, Brown Hairstreaks were having a very good year south of London but around the midlands they seemed to be having a more average season and I don’t recall seeing any more than half a dozen at most being reported from any midland site at any one time.
On 27th August we headed south again for another few days visiting our daughter in Emsworth. This of course gave me the chance to visit Old Winchester Hill a couple of times and catch up with Chalk Hill Blues, second brood Adonis Blues and Silver-spotted skippers.
The Chalk Hill Blues were all over the hill side and had been out a while, most of them looking tired and faded although there were still a few nice ones about.
- Chalk Hill Blue - Old Winchester Hill 29.08.2023
The Adonis Blues were not so numerous but still in good numbers and as they had not been flying so long many more of them were in good condition,
- Adonis Blue - Old Winchester Hill 29.08.2023
I had been seeing comments that Silver-spotted Skippers did not seem to be having a good season anywhere and this held true for OWH with no more than a dozen seen, in all sorts of condition from well-worn to almost fresh.
- Silver-spotted Skipper - Old Winchester Hill 29.08.2023
Other butterflies seen at OWH included Meadow Browns still in good numbers with some looking quite fresh along with a few Gatekeepers and Common Blues and a couple of Brown Argus. The overall numbers of all species flying over the hillside really brought home to me how poor my local area is, both in species and total numbers, as I never see anything like this back home.
Holly Blues seemed to be having a very good second brood down there with loads seen at a number of spots, especially RSPB Pagham Marshes and around Thorny Island.
- Holly Blue - Thorny Island 30.08.2023
Red Admirals were fairly numerous and turned up everywhere although I had a few comments along the lines of “you should have been here the other week, there were hundreds of them”. On the other hand I failed to see a Clouded Yellow or a Painted Lady down there.
Back home, into September, things were beginning to wind down but you could still find Red Admirals, a few Commas and Speckled Woods at my local spots. A few Small Coppers and Common Blues were still around but all looking tired and worn now.
- Comma - Wagon Lane 13.09.2023
Small Whites were quite numerous although Green-veined Whites had finished.
- Small White - Wagon Lane 13.09.2023
Things continued to wind down through the rest of the month with just Red Admirals and Speckled Woods still being seen into October. My last Red Admirals around here (at Wagon Lane) were seen on 7th October along with a single Painted Lady which was just my second one of these seen all year.
- Red Admiral - Coverdale 18.09.2023
- Speckled Wood - Coverdale 07.10.2023
Speckled Woods carried on for another week or so with a couple of faded males in my garden on 15 October being my last butterflies of the year. This is quite normal for around here, in fact they hung on a couple of weeks longer this year than they did in 2022.
So then, apart from a few notable exceptions, a pretty uninspiring year on the whole for me, particularly around my local patch with my highlights all being provided by trips further afield, either the longer ones consisting of a few days in Norfolk and a couple of times to visit our daughter down south. My Shorter trips were either further afield around Warwickshire (Bishops Hill, Harbury Spoilbank, Oversley Wood, Ryton Meadows) or out of county to Gloucestershire (Prestbury Hill) or Worcestershire (Grafton Wood).
To be honest my opportunities to get out through the summer were either limited by family commitments or by the weather which was often cool, cloudy and especially windy so my comments may will be influenced by observer bias.
My final tally was 38 species which was not bad considering I did not get out as much as usual and is only a couple down on my average for the past few years. I have long since passed the stage of worrying about missing species and if I do it only gives me something to aim for next year.
With Christmas now fast approaching and lots to do, I am not sure how often I will be logging on over the next few days so I will take this opportunity to wish everyone on UK Butterflies a…
Merry Christmas
and a
Happy New Year
Neil.
?
I really like the ones of the Orange Tip and the Swallow Tail