May 2013

[David M]

Isle of Mull 29th May

My troublesome knee has made a remarkable recovery and I was able to do a three mile walk in Glengorm in NW Mull. The only butterflies were numerous GV Whites but the stunning scenery, flowers, geology and perfect weather made up for that.

Your image is very evocative, Jack. Clear, unpolluted water and wonderful geology.

On sunny days like this, you must feel close to paradise (if not actually in it).

[essexbuzzard]

Yes,the west and north have definately had the best of May's weather again this year!
Down south its hardly been better than last years disaster. Wet and single figs for the east again today-you're better off up there,Jack!

[David M]

Decent conditions today; mainly sunny, 16-17c with moderate winds so I popped down to Crymlyn Burrows on the Swansea coast between 11am and 1pm.

Small Blues were ridiculously common with well over 100 seen:



There were plenty of Small Heaths too, along with a few Common Blues, Orange Tips and Whites.

I'm still seeing Brimstones - this female was nectaring avidly on the upper dunes:



Totals seen were:

Small Blue 134 (no, that's not a typo - I actually kept count)
Small Heath 60-80
Green Veined/Small Whites 20-30
Common Blue 15-20 (including one female)
Dingy Skipper 10-15
Orange Tip 8
Large White 6
Small Copper 5
Brown Argus 2
Brimstone 1

[Willrow]

Sounds as if your well pleased with your day David...and why not...134 Small Blue a fantastic number, has to be a Welsh record!!!

Bill

[IAC]

Hi David,
Very nice..134 Small Blues...excellent. So far up here in the South East of Scotland my highest count is 8 ...some ways to go. You have good numbers of Small Heath there as well...we have had quite low numbers for a few years up here.


Iain.

[David M]

Interesting to read Jeremy Thomas's comments regarding Small Blues in 'The Butterflies of Britain & Ireland':

"Typical colonies contain fewer than 30 adults each....that is not to say larger colonies do not occur.....but these are few and far between and the vast majority contain just a few dozen adults"

This certainly seems to be the case at Kenfig Dunes, some 10 miles away, with patchy colonies rarely throwing up more than a handful of individuals, and to be honest, I thought this species was even more precarious at Crymlyn as in my previous two visits I'd found just two and then six, all located in quite a narrow area.

Today was a complete contrast though. They were about in almost epidemic proportions. The only places where they were missing were the more open areas.

What's food for thought is if I saw 134, how many did I miss?!! Remember, this is not the easiest of species to spot given its tiny size. I reckon there must have been approaching four figures today across the entire site. Amazing stuff.

[Pete Eeles]

There was a similar "explosion" of Small Blue at Martin Down a few years ago. Almost reaching pest proportions! It would be interesting to know the root cause of both the boom and the "bust" (i.e. returning to normal).

Cheers,

- Pete

[David M]

There was a similar "explosion" of Small Blue at Martin Down a few years ago. Almost reaching pest proportions! It would be interesting to know the root cause of both the boom and the "bust" (i.e. returning to normal).

It'd be interesting to know if that was on the back of an abnormally cold spring too.

I'm at a loss to explain the sudden emergence of so many individuals. It's only 8 days since I last visited and that day saw just half a dozen present.

How do you jump from 6 to 134 in barely a week?

[Pete Eeles]

You add another 128

Cheers,

- Pete

[David M]

You add another 128

Thanks, Pete.

That tip will come in handy in my accountancy exam next week.

[Jack Harrison]

30 May Ardnamurchan for Chequered Skipper at Ardery. No luck. The season clearly is very late with the Bugle not yet in full flower and even the Bluebells are hardly out.

Numerous GV Whites, couple of Peacocks, Speckled Wood, possible Green Hairstreak. One roadside ditch had masses of Cuckoo Flower and as many as a dozen Orange Tips in a stretch no more than 70 metres in extent; thye were not seen elsewhere today. All were small individuals, some very small indeed perhaps being no bigger than say Chalkhill Blue. Small Orange Tips are certainly not unknown but the proportion in this colony was approaching 100% with as I say, some very tiny.

The bonus came when wife called be with an uncertain i/d (but she had a very good idea what it was). Just the one PB Fritillary seen at NM745620 on the roadside verge.

One other sighting was of interest that answers an age-old mystery. As you will soon appreciate it was not prudent to take photos. A middle-aged Scot was on the ferry back to Mull. He was probably going to a party as he sported a tartan kilt. It was a bit breezy on the outside deck.
When the wind lifted his kilt it was apparent that he was wearing pale tartan underpants

Jack

[MikeOxon]

he was wearing pale tartan underpants

shame on him. he was probably a Sassenach poseur

Mike

[David M]

Got a pleasant surprise this morning.

Whilst waiting for the kettle to boil I saw what I first thought was a Small Tortoiseshell in the back garden.

Knowing this was unlikely, I went out to investigate and it turned out to be a female Wall Brown, obviously attracted by the uncut lawn.

Ironic that I spent two hours on the local dunes yesterday without seeing a single one only to have one turn up just outside my window!

[Vince Massimo]

Back to Happy Valley, Coulsdon (my local SSSI) to check on the Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell eggs that I watched being laid on 2nd May.

Happy Valley, Coulsdon 31-May-2013

These should have hatched by now, but there were no obvious signs. I did not want to trample the nettles, so left them alone. Along the way however I located 10 larval tents, all of Small Tortoiseshell. Two of these were absolutely enormous and would have been the result of multiple egg batches on the same plant.

Small Tortoiseshell larvae - Coulsdon, Surrey 31-May-2013

In a "normal" year Peacocks should not be flying at this time. However I saw 8, including 3 actively egglaying just after midday. There were also scores of Brimstones, many of which were nectaring on Dandilion when not patrolling. There was an egglaying Comma as well and when I got home I watched a female Orange Tip laying eggs in the garden.

Now lots of things to keep tabs on

Vince

[Jack Harrison]

Vince:

In a "normal" year Peacocks should not be flying at this time

Probably true. But ex-hibernating Peacocks (and Brimstones) do usually seem to remain on the wing much later than Tortoiseshells and Commas.

A Peacock I photographed yesterday 30th on Ardnamurchan was still in pretty good condtion although there was a small tear on hind wing - hence the tightly cropped image.

Jack

[walpolec]

I'd be grateful for some tips, please...

Hoping to get down to Bedfordshire in search of Dukes this week and wondered if anyone out there could recommend specific sites to go looking. I'll have the kids in tow so searching time will be limited. Totternhoe, Whipsnade/Bison Hill...

The great (by comparison) weather today meant that the girls and I headed down to Beds. to test out the advice about the two sites so accurately described earlier this week. Totternhoe Knolls first. We found the site easily, just as described. Saw a few Dingy Skippers and then, at the top of the hill at the Eastern end, a handsome Duke. There are obvious disadvantages of taking youngsters with you on butterlflying days, but if it wasn't for Penny (my 9 year old)'s keen eyesight I'd not have seen His Grace. A lifer for me, it was a great moment seeing him. He obligingly posed for photos before disappearing with a flick of his wings. Apart from some lovely Brimstones and Orange Tips that was about it there. Lunch was grabbed in the car as we headed over to Dunstable Downs. The prospect of kite flying later kept the girls interested as we headed down the path towards the DoB hotspot at the bottom of the hill. Loads of Dingies were seen, and then our first Green Hairstreaks of the year (we saw about 12 in total), then our first Small Copper of the year (a bit ragged-looking but it still counts) and then a steady stream of Duke sightings! We must have seen up to eight individuals, which from what I've read isn't a bad total. We then added a few Grizzled Skippers (again firsts for the year), a couple of worn Peacocks, several handsome Brimstones and some lovely but non-settling Orange Tips.

I've just been re-reading about the precarious status of the Duke of Burgundy, which made my sightings today even more special. My girls will probably not be overly interested in butterflies when they get to my age - (It was just great today hearing them shouting up the slope "Dad we've got another Duke here" or "look there...... oh it's just another Dingy") but I wonder how His Grace will be faring in 40 years' time.

Anyway - a great day.

CW

P.S. The kite flying afterwards was good fun too.

[David M]

In a "normal" year Peacocks should not be flying at this time. However I saw 8, including 3 actively egglaying just after midday. There were also scores of Brimstones, many of which were nectaring on Dandilion when not patrolling. There was an egglaying Comma as well..

Amazing given that it's June tomorrow. Although I saw a female Brimstone yesterday, I haven't seen any of the aforementioned vanessids for nearly a fortnight now.

[Matsukaze]

Usually around here a few Peacocks last into late May, but I can't remember seeing two of them doing their zooming chase flight at this time of year before, like they were doing near Hemington this evening. A bit ragged but still acting like it is early April. Also a male Brimstone on the wing this afternoon.

[Neil Freeman]

It is not unusual to see Peacocks around here in the midlands up until late May or Early June. Last year there were a couple seen in Ryton Wood in mid-June and I saw my last ex-hibernator in Salcey Forest on June 20th.

I saw a female Peacock egg laying on nettles in my garden today.

Cheers,

Neil F.

[Willrow]

Kenfig National Nature Reserve, Glamorgan. It appears that Small Blue are having an absolutely fantastic year (at least in South Wales!) today I gave up counting at 200+, they were in the best numbers I've seen anywhere, incredible really, considering the conditions they had to tolerate last year, incidentally, the Kidney Vetch is looking very luxurious. In one area I almost unwittingly trod on several Small Bluetaking mineral salts on the damp patches of earth on a footpath, I counted thirty or so along a 100 yard stretch

Today I also saw more Common Blue than during the whole of 2012; at least twenty five. The weather was very kind, my only complaint being a rather stiff breeze coming in off the sea (Kenfig is a coastal reserve) that made a decent photograph rather hard to take. The remainder of the days species were made up by the following:-

Dingy Skipper c12
Large White 4
Small White c20
Green-veined White c20
Orange-tip c10
Small Tortoiseshell one
Wall 5
Small Heath 50+

Nice to see a mass emergence of damselflies and also Four-spotted Chaser and Hairy Dragonfly on the wing, a great way to end the coldest May since 1962...onward into flaming June now...

Bill