David M

[David M]

Tuesday 10th October – One last extravaganza.…

With temperatures still nudging 21c, I thought today was the ideal opportunity to see good numbers of butterflies before cooler autumn weather finally moved in.

I headed back down to Aberthaw Beach, near Cardiff Airport, and although there was a little hazy cloud, it didn’t deter butterfly activity.
The decommissioned power station is not the kind of backdrop I’m used to when out butterflying:

However, upon looking in the opposite direction, it is a rather more welcome and familiar sight:

There were still at least 30 Small Whites flying around this oasis of lhp:

There were also 5 Painted Ladies:

A fine-looking Peacock was recorded:

Six Red Admirals and two Large Whites were about too, but the big prize was the appearance of two Clouded Yellows, one in good condition and the other rather worn. Unfortunately, only the worn one allowed a close approach:

I doubt I’ll get close to a half century of butterflies at a single site again until April next year, but this was a good way to round things off.

[David M]

Tuesday 10th October cont… – Unexpected.…

After leaving Aberthaw Beach, I made the 20 minute drive to nearby Cosmeston Park. It was getting a little cloudier now and only two species of butterfly were seen.

A dozen or so Red Admirals were still active in the increasingly dull conditions, but the other three butterflies seen in this grassy meadow were entirely unexpected:

I don’t normally get excited about Meadow Browns, but these were by far the latest I’ve ever seen this species on the wing:

They looked in reasonable condition too, so perhaps this slightly warmer part of Wales sees them prolong their flight period a little akin to how they do in parts of southern England.

[David M]

Saturday 14th October – Gloomy, but still a few butterflies.…

Whilst visiting a friend in nearby Three Crosses, there was sufficient sunshine amidst mainly cloudy skies for me to suggest taking a walk around the light woodland at the eastern end of Fairwood Common.

At the edge of the woodland is this area by the road:

I spotted something on a bramble stem – a caeruleopunctata Small Copper:

The pattern of spots was quite unusual on the forewing, with almost inter-connecting lines:

During the brighter periods three Red Admirals were also seen, including this bialbata which was immaculate except for a torn section on the left hindwing:

[Allan.W.]

Nice Copper there David bit of an "inbetweenie" between Extensa and Kochi .................unusual ! a nice late find !
Nothing about in my neck of the woods...............Winters here !
Allan.W.

[David M]

Nice Copper there David bit of an "inbetweenie" between Extensa and Kochi .................unusual ! a nice late find !

Thanks, Allan. Yes, it was a strange one but as you know from your Dungeness experiences, this species is extremely variable.

Sunday 15th October – Fair bit flying.…

It was mild and fairly sunny this morning so I drove down to Lower Kilvey Hill and walked up the south-facing path after parking my car:

A Red Admiral buzzed me almost immediately and seconds later, a Speckled Wood settled on the ground vegetation:

As I walked further along, I noticed a Large and a Small White engaging in a bit of aerial jousting:

Both of them settled eventually:

Several more Speckled Woods were active along this pathway:

There were several Red Admirals on a tall ivy bush at the far end, along with a Comma that was too high up to get a photo of. There was also a bedraggled Small Copper on the track behind the ivy:

I did a circuit of the cemetery and saw a couple more Speckled Woods and three more Red Admirals:

Thirty butterflies in total was a pleasant surprise in mid-October.

[David M]

Sunday 15th October cont… – Limeslade Bay.…

After leaving Kilvey Hill, I headed round to Limeslade Bay, principally to check the hebe flowers which traditionally attract good numbers of late season butterflies.

Surprisingly, there were no Red Admirals feasting, but there were two Painted Ladies, with this one being especially nicely marked:

The other one was rather paler:

Two Small Whites were also seen. One was a fly-by but this one came down briefly to nectar on some valerian growing at the side of the pathway:

[trevor]

I have enjoyed your report and images from Southern Spain, David.
Of all the exotica in your piece I must say that the female Desert Orange Tip
is a very striking butterfly, and is the one I would most like to see, those forewing markings!

[David M]

Sunday 15th October – Pinnipeds.…

This is the coastal path that links Langlands Bay to Limeslade:

At low tide, those rocks to the right get exposed. This is the best time to observe seals, which like to bask on those rocks still surrounded by water. There were over half a dozen doing so on this day:

I’ve occasionally seen two or three doing this, but today there were at least a dozen (including those that were swimming around).

Not sure if they’re Common or Grey Seals, but it’s always nice to see them.

[David M]

I have enjoyed your report and images from Southern Spain, David. Of all the exotica in your piece I must say that the female Desert Orange Tip is a very striking butterfly, and is the one I would most like to see, those forewing markings!

Thanks, Trevor. Female evagore is certainly an eye-catcher. You're rather spoiled for choice in that part of Spain.

Sunday 22nd October – Thinning out.…

At this stage of the year, all butterflies (except for Red Admirals) begin to thin out in number, a fact that was reinforced by the sighting of just a single Speckled Wood today in amongst ten different Red Admirals.

I was very glad to see one even though it was clearly on its last legs:

Most of the Red Admirals were seen flying, although this one came down long enough for me to fire off a few images:

I had hoped there might be a Comma or maybe a Small Copper knocking about, but no luck there.

[David M]

Monday 23rd October – Writing on the wall.…

The blustery wind forced me to opt for a visit to the sheltered woodland clearing behind the Gower Inn at Parkmill today.

All the rain recently had left the track quite damp:

However, it took less than a minute to find my first butterfly, this strikingly fresh Red Admiral:

A further five were seen over the course of the next hour, but that was the only species on the wing; a sign that things are winding down prior to the winter now.

[David M]

Tuesday 24th October – Pleasant discovery.…

It was too showery and windy to drive anywhere today, so in one of the sunny interludes I thought I’d take a walk around my estate to see if anything was about.

Behind the health club car park there is an area of waste ground, sheltered by a row of young trees:

Here, there is a metal trailer and alongside it, a flowering Himalayan honeysuckle (thanks to Allan W for the ID):

There were three Red Admirals active in this spot, with each taking it in turns to nectar from the flowers and to bask on anything that provided a little extra warmth:

There is a row of dense conifers opposite, so I presume they are roosting in that area and flying down to bask and to nectar whenever conditions allow.

[David M]

Wednesday 25th October – Sunny and mild.…

Lovely late October day today so I wasted no time venturing down to Nicholaston Burrows to find out what was still flying.

Reaching the ivy hotspot at the gate, I was surprised to observe just a solitary Red Admiral imbibing, so I moved down onto the dunes.

Just as I exited the woodland, a dark butterfly flew above my head. I was confident it wasn’t a Red Admiral, and sure enough, as it came down on the sand it revealed itself to be a Peacock:

As I was photographing it, I noticed a much smaller butterfly nearby – a Small Copper:

After spending a little time watching these two, I moved down nearer to the coastline:

I soon found a second Small Copper, although this one was in a bit of a sorry state:

I’m pretty sure this is the latest date I’ve ever seen this species in the UK.

Three more Red Admirals were seen in various places and it certainly didn’t feel like November was imminent!

[Goldie M]

Hi! David, love the Seal shots, I've been unlucky this year with Small Coppers, I only saw one in Spring and that was in a bad way ,lovely shot of the coastline by the way, I really enjoyed your Holiday shots as well Goldie

[David M]

Hi! David, love the Seal shots, I've been unlucky this year with Small Coppers, I only saw one in Spring and that was in a bad way ,lovely shot of the coastline by the way, I really enjoyed your Holiday shots as well

Thanks, Goldie. Plenty of interesting things to see on the Gower coast.

Wednesday 25th October, cont… – Productive diversion .…

After leaving Nicholaston, I reckoned there was still enough time to drive down to Limeslade Bay before the sun started to get too low.

I arrived there just after half-past-one, largely ignoring the handful of Red Admirals that were nectaring from the hebe.

Instead, my gaze was captured by the sight of a Small White flying by. This species is usually finished before 20th October, and I’m pretty sure this is the latest one I’ve ever seen:

I don’t usually take airborne shots of this species but, as is often the case with them, it didn’t want to settle:

Another air-shot forced upon me was shortly after when I spotted a Painted Lady. The butterfly flew right towards me and I managed to get a record shot after it had gone by:

I walked across to nearby Bracelet Bay and got another surprise when I saw this Speckled Wood flying at the bottom of the steps leading down to the beach:

Clearly, there remains a little life in the season yet!

[David M]

Thursday 26th October – Two minute walk.…

Mild again today, but blustery with occasional showers. During a bright spell I thought I’d walk over to the back of the health club car park to see if any of the Red Admirals I saw there a couple of days previously were around.

To my delight, there were two, but both were basking rather than nectaring on the honeysuckle. This one looked in really good condition:

The other wasn’t quite as spruce, but nonetheless was very presentable:

I intend to buy some plums to put out for them to see if they will hang about.

[David M]

Sunday 29th and Monday 30th October – Residents reappear.…

It wasn’t worth going out on these two days given the frequent heavy rain showers, albeit interspersed with occasional sunny spells

It was mild and quite pleasant during the sunshine, so on both occasions I wandered round my estate to see if any Red Admirals were about.

On 29th, two were seen in the area next to the trailer on the honeysuckle:

This one looks to be the same individual seen three days earlier:

On 30th, there were three in this same area, including this one that I first saw on 24th:

A further individual was found near the field margin:

This one wasn’t in such great shape:

The plums I bought have been placed in the trailer so I intend to keep checking to see if any of the group take a shine to this food source.

[David M]

Tuesday 31st October – A very happy Hallowe’en.…

In 2014, we had record-breaking temperatures at Hallowe’en and I recall being in a stupor at seeing 20 different butterflies during my lunch break at work.

Fast forward less than a decade and this seems to be becoming a regular event. It was only about 14c today, but I ended up seeing 20 butterflies again, with 5 Red Admirals recorded on my estate, including this fresh one which I’d seen 5 days earlier:

As I drove off to Limeslade Bay at around 1130am, a Peacock flew by my car and over the health club roof.

Soon after, I was watching a dozen more Red Admirals both on the hebe flowers at Limeslade, as well as a few females pottering around the nearby nettles.

However, there were two surprises to come, the first one being a female Clouded Yellow that I spotted in the air on the second level of the garden of the end house:

I’d exclusively seen only males thus far in Wales this autumn, so it was great to finally record a female in spite of her remaining a good 20m away from me:

She did settle at one stage but I didn’t want to go any higher than this point on the driveway, which affords a nice view eastwards towards Bracelet Bay:

Within minutes I was presented with my second surprise when I spotted this Painted Lady basking on the ground on the track which leads to Rotherslade:

Gone it seems are the days when butterflies all but disappeared by the end of October.

[David M]

Wednesday 1st November – Hunkered down.…

Another largely sunny day to set the new month off, but this one was blustery so rather than drive anywhere I just spent an hour or so wandering round my estate.

Surprisingly, I did find a solitary Red Admiral, in the large, sheltered drainage gully near the woodland at the back of the site:

With wind speeds reaching 30mph, it had definitely picked the right spot to get a little sunshine.

[David M]

Friday 3rd November – Record breaking.…

Today’s events were somewhat unexpected. Things started well with sunny conditions and temperatures of 14c which led to me seeing six different Red Admirals on my estate, including these three that were briefly lined up in the metal trailer by the main car park:

I then drove down to Limeslade Bay where I counted a total of 14 more Red Admirals:

On my way back, I decided to call into Oystermouth Cemetery and walk up to the sheltered, sunlit area at the back of the site. Again, there were Red Admirals, but I suddenly noticed something different – a Speckled Wood:

Then, I looked up and saw this Comma part obscured by the leaf it was resting on:

I walked around the rest of the site, seeing two further Red Admirals, but I also chanced upon a second Speckled Wood. This one was in excellent condition for the time of year:

Over the years, the total numbers of November butterflies I’ve been seeing has increased. However, in the last couple the rate has gone up markedly. To see 27 in a single November day is something I would never have believed possible even three years ago.

[David M]

Sunday 5th November – No sign of abating.…

Another fine day so this time I took myself down to Dan-y-Graig cemetery at the eastern end of Swansea.

An early fly-by Red Admiral gave promise but it was within the cemetery itself where I got a surprise – a Speckled Wood, the latest I have ever seen (beating the previous record of 4 November two years ago):

Surprisingly, this relatively open area was where it was found:

A nice looking Red Admiral settled on one of the graves nearby:

Two further Red Admirals were seen at Oystermouth Cemetery and then another on the Himalayan honeysuckle when I got back to my estate:

The total of 35 butterflies I’ve already seen this November breaks all my records for sightings in this month within just 5 days!