essexbutterflyer

[essexbutterflyer]

Regent’s Park and Hyde Park 22.02.25

A lovely, warm day however the sun came out a little late in the afternoon! No butterflies seen sadly. There were plenty of other interesting insects and birds however. I did search for Brown Hairstreak eggs in places they were seen last winter, but didn’t find any. A Blue Bordered Carpet Moth egg (my first!) was lovely to find.

[essexbutterflyer]

03.03.25 - Hutchinson's Bank

Made a last minute decision to visit Hutchinson's yesterday whilst on the M23... I figured I was going in the general direction so may as well give it a try. Thankfully there were 2, possibly even 3, Brimstones on the wing. There's something quite special about watching them flutter along, especially when they're your first of the year!

No photos unfortunately as (in typical Brimstone fashion) they hardly stopped!

I checked out Chapel Bank along with another butterflyer who had seen 20+ last year (15th Feb, the legendary Brimstone emergence day!) but there was nothing at all. Perhaps the temperature was just too low (even though it felt warmer than it has the past few days).

The second best part of this all was that Apple Maps routed me through Bromley on the way home, meaning I managed to skip southern M25 works

[essexbutterflyer]

05.03.25 - Tilgate Park

I had a truly amazing hour at Tilgate on Wednesday, with amazing numbers of Red Admirals and my first Commas. In total I counted 10 Red Admirals (but there may well have been more) and 2 Commas… 10 Red Admirals nectaring in one spot simply isn’t something I have seen before!

I don’t think I can say that is true for any species at all to be fair, which makes me wonder what butterflying was like in the past. Sadly stories like that of the abundance of Small Torties are something that I doubt will ever change from being just that… stories of a better time.

But I digress… back to Tilgate. The Heather was absolutely stunning and made a wonderful background. The Red Admirals weren’t being too cooperative but this actually helped me get some slightly different shots to my usual style, and ones that I love:

And of course the more run-of-the-mill photos:

[Wurzel]

A cracking read and images Zayed - the colours are so warming that they felt like a touch of summer and 10 Red Admirals!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[essexbutterflyer]

First Sightings 2025

1. Red Admiral, Brighton, 14.01
2. Peacock, Brighton, 30.01
3. Brimstone, New Addington, 03.03
4. Comma, Crawley, 05.03
5. Small Tortoiseshell, East London, 08.03


Hoping for Large Tort, Small White and Speckled Wood soon

[essexbutterflyer]

A cracking read and images Zayed - the colours are so warming that they felt like a touch of summer and 10 Red Admirals!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thanks Wurzel, and I'm glad you felt the same!

[essexbutterflyer]

06.03.25 - UoB Falmer Wood

I had a couple of hours before a session at 11:30 on Thursday last week, and it just so happened that my early butterfly spot, colloquially named Falmer Wood, is right opposite the building! So of course I went for a walk, hoping for Brimstones or Commas, but happy for anything really. The weather was sunny but later predicted to turn cloudy. Upon turning into the car park along the woodland edge, I realised that it was still shaded and so practically hopeless. But after turning around, and looking in a perfectly arbitrary direction, I noticed a basking Red Admiral sat in a section of sun... a completely surreal experience considering I could have easily missed it had I looked in the other direction. Only my second "casual" sighting of the year . It was also very obliging, the icing on the cake

There were also a couple of flies and hoverflies basking on nearby trees, marmalade I believe.

I then went on a long walk to Sussex Uni campus, checking out various spots including a patch of heather, but finding only bees, so I decided to come back to Falmer Wood and walk a circuit. The car park edge yielded no results, but I disturbed a Comma on the southeastern facing edge, and later a Red Admiral which I suspect was the same as earlier. Funnily enough I came across it a third time a couple hours later but this time it was fed up of me and cut across the woodland

At around 13:20 I found a Peacock basking, taking the tally up to three butterflies of three species, which I was more than happy with.

A couple of other insects were also out:

[essexbutterflyer]

06.03.25 - UoB Falmer Wood

I had a couple of hours before a session at 11:30 on Thursday last week, and it just so happened that my early butterfly spot, colloquially named Falmer Wood, is right opposite the building! So of course I went for a walk, hoping for Brimstones or Commas, but happy for anything really. The weather was sunny but later predicted to turn cloudy. Upon turning into the car park along the woodland edge, I realised that it was still shaded and so practically hopeless. But after turning around, and looking in a perfectly arbitrary direction, I noticed a basking Red Admiral sat in a section of sun... a completely surreal experience considering I could have easily missed it had I looked in the other direction. Only my second "casual" sighting of the year . It was also very obliging, the icing on the cake

There were also a couple of flies and hoverflies basking on nearby trees, marmalade I believe.

I then went on a long walk to Sussex Uni campus, checking out various spots including a patch of heather, but finding only bees, so I decided to come back to Falmer Wood and walk a circuit. The car park edge yielded no results, but I disturbed a Comma on the southeastern facing edge, and later a Red Admiral which I suspect was the same as earlier. Funnily enough I came across it a third time a couple hours later but this time it was fed up of me and cut across the woodland

At around 13:20 I found a Peacock basking, taking the tally up to three butterflies of three species, which I was more than happy with.

A couple of other insects were also out:

[David M]

You've made the most of that brief spell of mild weather, Zayed,

The next week looks marginal, but if you are out in the field, then you have a strong chance.

Good luck.

[essexbutterflyer]

I’m going to summarise the past week of butterflying with more brief accounts:

[essexbutterflyer]

07.03.25 - Tilgate Park

[essexbutterflyer]

07.03.25 - Tilgate Park

5 Red Admirals and 1 Brimstone prior to 12:40, along with a Comma making a late appearance after 13:30, before more clouds started rolling in. The Brimstone was feeding on the heather, not something I knew they did! In fact, so far I have only seen Brimstones nectaring on 5 plants/bushes: primrose, dandelion, buddleia, thistle and now heather.

Nice to see a bit of Crawley as well, a lovely town

[David M]

..The Brimstone was feeding on the heather, not something I knew they did! In fact, so far I have only seen Brimstones nectaring on 5 plants/bushes: primrose, dandelion, buddleia, thistle and now heather.

That is surprising, Zayed. I've certainly never seen any Pierid on winter-flowering heather.

Primroses are undoubtedly the favourite nectar source of Brimstones, although they're keen on bluebells and campion too.

[essexbutterflyer]

..The Brimstone was feeding on the heather, not something I knew they did! In fact, so far I have only seen Brimstones nectaring on 5 plants/bushes: primrose, dandelion, buddleia, thistle and now heather.

That is surprising, Zayed. I've certainly never seen any Pierid on winter-flowering heather.

Primroses are undoubtedly the favourite nectar source of Brimstones, although they're keen on bluebells and campion too.

I suppose nectar sources have been scarce so far. Things are getting better now but at least in that first week of March very little of anything was there.

I’ve never seen a Brimstone on bluebell, that would be quite photogenic!

[Wurzel]

That Brimstone image is a cracker Zayed I love the contrast between the colours and again the Heather seems to add to the dreamy quality

Have a goodun

Wurzel