ernie f

[Wurzel]

Great to see the Grayling still going Ernie I think it was Neil Hulme that explained once that Brostreaks get a second wind when it comes to emergences so seeing them this late could be down to that?

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[David M]

..Today's star performance was given by the Grayling. I love these insects, they are fun to be with and this bunch were having a party!

Agreed! They are more 'playful' than just about any other species. It's like a bunch of kids playing 'king of the castle'.

Great they are still around in September, ernie. It was late June when I saw them round my way so they seem to have different emergence times depending on which part of the country you are in.

[ernie f]

Thanks Wurzel, David

The Grayling do seem to have a long period at Folly Hill. I looked back through a few of my recent year records - I try to get here at least once a year if I can. This is what I found for this location...

In 2020 I saw 5 Grayling on 17th July.
In 2019 I saw 7 Grayling on 25th July.
In 2018 I saw 5 Grayling on 9th Sep and 7 on 6th July and 8 on 21st July and 11 on 3rd Aug. (31 separate individuals in 2018)
In 2017 I saw 5 Grayling on 17th July.
Plus of course the 11 Grayling I saw yesterday on 7th Sep 2021 - One of which was fresh.

So they obviously fly here from before 6th July to after 9th Sep. The fresh one today suggests well after the 9th Sep.

[ernie f]

17th Sep 2021, Broxhead, Fine weather

Last year by this time I had seen 65 separate late-summer brood Small Coppers at this location. This year I have seen only two. This is a devastating blow to this colony. Unlike the Brown Hairstreaks at Noar Hill, whose near extinction there may in part be due to reserve management, the same cause cannot be leveled at this reserve which appears to have been relatively untouched by human intervention this year. Earlier this year I had to report the decline of the Silver-studded Blue at this reserve as well. Not a good year for Broxhead.

One of the two Small Coppers...

On the brighter side, I did see a Speckled Wood in an unconventional perching place - a fir tree!

And a Peregrine being chased off by a crow.

[ernie f]

18th Sep 2021, Kingsley Common, weather fine

... and so it goes on. Kingsley Common is adjacent to Broxhead Common and it too has suffered a dramatic decline of the Small Copper this year. In good years, Kingsley can harbour even more Small Coppers than Broxhead but today I found just one.

It is all very distressing.

[Wurzel]

I hope you can manage some more positive counts over subsequent visits Ernie Could they have emerged early or late from the site so you've missed the peak or it's still to come - fingers crossed there's an explanation like that I know how you feel as this is like the Small Pearls at Bentley Wood

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[David M]

Last year by this time I had seen 65 separate late-summer brood Small Coppers at this location. This year I have seen only two.

Hard to know what to put that down to, ernie. Certainly, Small Coppers round my area have done fairly well this year so I'd expect the same to be true elsewhere.

September is a good month for them too, so it's not like you've looked for them outside their usual flight period. Might be an idea to try again a couple of times but those figures aren't reassuring.

[ernie f]

Wurzel, David

I went to Broxhead one week before my count of two Small Coppers, and there were none there then. I visited Broxhead again today and still there were only two and they were both males.

We have some very mixed weather forecast here over the next week or so. It seems unlikely that the numbers will pick up much.

Not only that...

It appears the small colony of Brown Argus that should have been here have gone completely.

It's a sad story to wind-down the butterfly year for me.

[ernie f]

6th Oct 2021, 3-4 PM, Broxhead, Sunny, 16 degrees

Well the small number of Small Coppers are hanging on at Broxhead. Another 2 today.

Not so much a "Constabulary" of Coppers, more like a "Squad".

[Wurzel]

I hope the squad can get some more recruits for next season Ernie Fingers crossed

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[David M]

..Well the small number of Small Coppers are hanging on at Broxhead. Another 2 today.

Hopefully they'll bounce back next year, ernie. Numbers of this species fluctuate markedly round my area. I suspect that's the case almost everywhere.

[millerd]

I find there are always more Small Coppers around than you think. I rarely see more than two or three on my local patch on one day in any one place, but over a week or so, I can find a dozen different individuals across a variety of spots. Hopefully, the wetter weather this summer will have provided some lush foodplant growth and your numbers will revive in the spring.

Cheers,

Dave

[ernie f]

Hi, folks

Not been on here recently but just thought you might be interested in this.

1st Feb 2022, New Arlesford riverside

A Scarlet Elf Cup! Never seen one of these before and didn't expect to today either. It was one of a small group. Beautiful colour inside.

[David M]

That's quite a woodland fungus, ernie. Looks like a decayed tennis ball that's been baked in the sun!

[ernie f]

22nd Feb 2022

I was in the garden clearing up after the recent spate of storms when a Red Admiral hove into view. It flew around me, landed on a laurel, basked in the sun for a bit then said goodbye.

My first butterfly of the year.

Nice.

[Wurzel]

Great to see you back Ernie and also off the mark I'm hoping for my first on Friday when things look a little calmer, fingers crossed

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

22nd Feb 2022

I was in the garden clearing up after the recent spate of storms when a Red Admiral hove into view. It flew around me, landed on a laurel, basked in the sun for a bit then said goodbye.

My first butterfly of the year.

Fabulous, ernie. Always a huge lift to see a February butterfly.

[ernie f]

15th Apr 2022
Noar Hill
Nice sunny day

I saw everything in 1's in a period of 1 hour today.
1 Brimstone, 1 Peacock, 1 Orange Tip, 1 Holly Blue and 1 Duke of Burgundy.
This is a 'Nature Reserve'. Excepting the Duke, only a couple of days ago I had all these in a single day in my own back garden and could add a Red Admiral to that list too. I hope this is not the shape of things to come at Noar Hill.

[Wurzel]

It was a bit like that at Martin Down the other day - 2 Grizzlies, a few Peacocks, Commas, Brimstones and OTs and all bar the Grizzlies in fewer numbers than I've witnessed at my local nature reserve It could be that they've een caught out by the sudden shift in the weather and haven't caught up yet - fingers crossed

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

That's disappointing for a nature reserve, ernie, but Duke of Burgundy is one butterfly people won't see in their garden so there's some compensation in that.