David M

[David M]

Wednesday 9th October – Birthday butterflies…

Last year, my birthday coincided with 21c temperatures. It wasn’t quite that warm today, but 16c is more than good enough for butterflies and I fancied I’d find a few down at Port Eynon.

Cloud kept bubbling up now and again, which was frustrating, but during a clear spell I spotted this Painted Lady nectaring on some south-facing ivy at the back of the dunes:

There was also an attractive Red Admiral nearby on some hebe:

Two Commas were on the upper part of the ivy flowers fairly close to one another:

There was also a Small Tortoiseshell nectaring on valerian in the adjacent churchyard:

It then settled on a gravestone and basked awhile:

Towards the seafront, a couple of Speckled Woods were seen in the dappled light:

The other species seen Large White (1) and Small White. Numbers of the latter are diminishing but there were still 16 recorded. As ever, they’ll be gone in a fortnight.

[David Lazarus]

There was also a Small Tortoiseshell nectaring on valerian …

Red Valerian Centranthus ruber is one of my recommended plants for gardens and goes well with our native grassland wildflowers - rich in nectar and certain butterflies, as well as Hummingbird Hawk-moth & Silver Y, love it. Great to see Small Tortoiseshell on it, David - a lovely selection of butterflies for your birthday

[David M]

So the Small Torts are all over your way then David ! worst season for many years in my part of Kent ......only 5 noted ,four were overwinters ,and one late Summer.......and not a single larval nest any where .......worrying..

There are more here than in the east of the country, Allan, but there are still precious few compared to normal. I'm hoping they might recover somewhat next year. God knows things can hardly get any worse for them!

[David M]

Thursday 17th October – Last Pierids…

A nice, sunny day with light winds made me decide to head down to Aberthaw beach as it was realistically my final opportunity to possibly find a Clouded Yellow.

Unsurprisingly, there were none, but there were still plenty of Small Whites on site, no doubt due to the preponderance of wild cabbage growing in this unmanaged area:

I saw 23 in all, which is good going for the latter half of October. However, it was almost a monopoly – the only other butterfly recorded was an in-flight Red Admiral.

As one would expect, the Whites were past their best, but there were still a few presentable ones:

Once back in Swansea, I thought I’d head home via Oystermouth Cemetery. Just one butterfly seen here, this rather bedraggled Speckled Wood:

[David M]

Saturday 19th October – Lunch-time find…

Today wasn’t meant to be a butterfly outing. Instead, I attended the BC South Wales Branch AGM held at Kenfig.

However, with plenty of sunshine and 15c temperatures, it was inevitable that I’d be tempted to take a wander around during the lunch interval.

I was surprised there were no Small Whites having seen 20+ just a couple of days earlier a few miles further east up the coast. In fact, the only butterflies seen at all were all found in a sheltered little pocket near a pond with ivy and ragwort attracting two Commas, a Small Copper and a Red Admiral.

I didn’t have my camera with me so I had to rely on my mobile phone for images:

I daresay that will be the last Small Copper I’ll see this year.

[David M]

..Red Valerian Centranthus ruber is one of my recommended plants for gardens and goes well with our native grassland wildflowers - rich in nectar and certain butterflies, as well as Hummingbird Hawk-moth & Silver Y, love it. Great to see Small Tortoiseshell on it, David - a lovely selection of butterflies for your birthday

Thank you, David. Yes, Red Valerian is a phenomenally attractive flower for late season butterflies, along with ivy, bowles mauve and verbena, amongst others.

[Goldie M]

Hi! David, I've got Boules Mauve, and Ivy in my Garden but still didn't get many Butterflies this year here in Kent and has Allan said I never saw a Small Tortoiseshell at all here, although, Lets hope next year is better Large was seen in East Blean woods, I went there loads of times but never saw it.

Lets hope next year is better Goldie

[David M]

Wednesday 23rd October – Vanishing act…

Exactly two weeks prior to today, I visited the same site at Port Eynon and saw a total of 27 different butterflies of 7 different species.

The second half of October is something of a wall that most butterflies don’t get through, and that was evident during the hour I spent, first on the dunes, where all activity (not just Small Whites) had vanished, followed by a walk to the churchyard and its environs, where just one butterfly was soldiering on.

This south-facing wall often attracts late season butterflies, as there is hebe, valerian and a few other nectar sources growing here in an exceptionally sheltered microclimate:

A solitary Red Admiral had found the hebe:

It remained there throughout and was quite approachable:

Some of the ivy is still in flower but there were no further Red Admirals taking advantage.

November might prove a tough month this year.

[David M]

Thursday 31st October – Another warm Hallowe’en…

Over the last decade or so, Hallowe’en has proved to be reliably mild and this year, with 15c temperatures and sunny periods, there was no doubt in my mind that a few butterflies would be about.

That was proved correct as I saw 9 in total, with 6 Red Admirals seen in three different locations.

The most amenable was undoubtedly the one I found at Limeslade Bay on the pathway leading down to the beach:

It was in excellent condition:

The other three butterflies were seen at the lower end of Kilvey Hill. This is a reliable spot for late season Speckled Woods and thankfully, one of them at least allowed a close approach:

They regularly fly into November here and I suspect that is guaranteed this year.

[David M]

...Lets hope next year is better

Couldn't agree more, Goldie.

On the subject of bowles mauve, it was seeing how well yours was regularly attracting butterflies a few years ago that persuaded me to try it. Like you though, I've had virtually nothing on my patio flowers all year - just a couple of Meadow Browns and a few Small Whites.

[David M]

Monday 11th November – Gloom finally lifts…

After a first third of November spent under a depressing blanket of cloud, I wasted no time when the sun finally made an appearance this morning.

Disappointingly however, there wasn’t much hebe in flower at Limeslade & Bracelet Bays. Last year, there was plenty during November but strangely, most of it is yet to flower as evidenced by the forming buds.

So, I didn’t think I was likely to see any butterflies, but I caught a glimpse of something flying around a stretch of ivy behind this concrete structure at the top of the car park:

Sure enough, it was a Red Admiral:

I couldn’t see any ivy flowers that still had any nectar left, so one presumes the butterfly was attracted there by the mere scent of the leaves. Those leaves were what it was basking on:

Another nice thing to see was the lack of smoke billowing from the steel plant on the other side of Swansea Bay at Port Talbot:

The blast furnaces closed for the last time on 30th September which will have tremendous benefits for the air quality.

[David M]

Wednesday 13th November – More sunshine…

Another nice, sunny day with temperatures up to 11c. I took the opportunity to spend a couple of hours at Port Eynon, walking up the coastal path to the far eastern end where one gets a nice view of the bay:

The first butterfly I saw was a Peacock, which was flying around the walls of a house with a thatched roof. I presume that it was looking for a winter roost but it was too high up to get an image and in any case didn’t settle.

Three Red Admirals were also seen. Two of them, like the Peacock, remained airborne and escaped my camera lens. Once the ivy finishes flowering, it becomes more difficult to find them settled, although I had a bit of luck when I walked towards the caravan park where there is a steep, south-facing bank:

This Red Admiral had chosen to bask on the uppermost stone step that provides access to a path leading to the hillside above. It was clearly lucky to still be around judging by the damage it had incurred to the right hindwing:

Most of the nectar sources have now finished flowering. There is some hebe along the coastal track but it is quite exposed, meaning it is only likely to be visited on an especially calm day.

[David M]

Thursday 14th November – Another opportunity…

I didn’t have to wait long for a butterfly today. I had just parked my car behind the Gower Inn, close to my home, and decided to take an image of the sunlit area at the back of the car park:

Straight away, I could see some tell-tale red and black amongst the ivy leaves:

The butterfly wasn’t feeding as the ivy flowers had all gone over; it was just basking in the sunshine on one of the leaves:

Despite spending half an hour in the woodland glades beyond the car park, no further butterflies were seen.

[David M]

Friday 15th November – Storms gathering…

With a period of stormy conditions due, followed by a few days of cold weather, I fancied this might be my last chance of seeing any Red Admirals for some while, so I drove down to Bracelet Bay to check out the hebe flowers.

Nothing was around, but as I was returning to the car park, a Red Admiral flew by me, heading in the direction of Mumbles Pier.

Ten minutes later, just as I was about to leave the car park and head back to my car which I’d left at nearby Limeslade Bay, another Red Admiral flew past me, went across the road and up the slope on the left of this image:

With so little hebe in flower here, it’ll be tough to find any more butterflies, particularly as calm days are pretty scarce at this time of year.

[David M]

[Goldie M]

All the the best for the New year David Goldie

[David M]

Thanks, Goldie. Hope next year is a good one for you.

[David M]

[selbypaul]

Fingers crossed for a 2025 filled with many more butterflies than seen in 2024!

Happy New Year David!

[David M]

Thanks, Paul. All the best to you too.

There could scarcely be fewer butterflies this year than last, surely?