www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Not a butterfly sighting, but heard my first calling chiffchaff today.

It was in a small wooded enclave between housing and was calling as I passed on my way to work at 07:15 and on my way back at 17:30. I'm guessing the little chap was calling out his name at most times in between.

A nice sunny day today produced my first sightings of 2022
More details and photos on my PD at;

https://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/phpBB/v ... 28#p168628

Cheers,

Neil.

March 14th 2022 Good gardening weather.
The BBC weather app. predicted a high of about 12-14ºC in Lincolnshire with light winds from the south. Full direct sunshine, much of the time. On our way out "into town", at about 10:48am, we saw a male Brimstone butterfly (our first of the year), looking interested around some ivy cover. As we had raised three male Brimstone butterflies last summer, on our Buckthorn, my Wife was convinced it was "Bradshaw"! We watched for a few moments and remembered, before losing sight of "him", over a close board fence and on into another garden.
It was thought, the best time to see overwintered Spring butterflies on the wing, was between 11:00am and 3pm in those sheltered (windless) micro-climates, where temperatures exceeded the general predicted air temperatures.

Had climate changed, increased levels of CO2 in our atmosphere, specifically boosted microclimatic highs, in direct sunlight with light winds?

On our way into the City, I stopped at some traffic lights and through the sunroof observed a Small tortoiseshell, stopping briefly on a white window frame, it's temperature boosted possibly, by some reflected light, before losing sight of it.
Returning from town (around lunchtime), two more Small tortoiseshell were seen circling around each other, in full combat mode, with their vertical elevation slowly increasing, before tearing off into the distance, with just one returning to a similar position (That made 4).
During lunch break (still with butterflies in memory), I thought I saw something Orange or Red, further down a garden, that looked a little unfamiliar. I thought that I could quickly just go and investigate with my camera phone, to see if I could record something. It wasn't a butterfly, but our variety of "Jubilee Celebration" Rose had sprung into new crimson leaf.
I recorded something on my phone, for my own sake. I thought that our Rose, really needed a better location, in "full sun".
Arriving in our client's garden, at about 2:45pm, a Peacock butterfly was disturbed from the front driveway (our first of the year) and shortly afterwards, disappeared from sight, over the roof, into the back garden. By the time we had finished chatting to our clients, two more Small tortoiseshell had been seen on their way, to somewhere else.
That made a total of 3 species and 7 individuals (No Red Admiral, yet for us, this year).

Kind Regards,

Philip Johnson (From recollection, trying to be more like Wurzel in storytelling)

Seven Brimstones and three Commas this lunchtime. Shearwater Lake, Wiltshire

Brimstone continue to be the most numerous species in my Cambridgeshire garden. At least 5 males and two females simultaneously earlier today. Having photographed a pair for the first time last week, a pair flew past and mated under a shrub. They joined at 11:42 and we’re still together at 17:50, I guess given the current temperature, it is worth checking tomorrow.

A good day locally, 35 butterflies of 5 species seen including some Commas in cop. Photos to follow in my PD in due course

Enjoyable walking in to work so far this week. It generally is unless it rains.

Butterflies seen at work - only Peacock and Comma to date. This one was enjoying absorbing the heat from the metal strip at the top of our delivery lorry today.

This newt wasn't too happy when we uncovered its hiding place when moving strawberry plants about today. We put him and the tray (sans strawberries) somewhere safely out of the way.

bugboy wrote: ↑Tue Mar 15, 2022 6:44 pm A good day locally, 35 butterflies of 5 species seen including some Commas in cop.

That's definitely something to share, Paul. Will look forward to this.

Male Brimstones are flying here now and yesterday my first sighting of a Peacock basking in the warm sunshine.

Monday 14th, Castle Meadows, Abergavenny.

Saw my first Commas of the year (3), along with 5 Small Tortoiseshells, a Peacock and a male Brimstone:

Tuesday 15th - 7 Small Tortoiseshells, 3 Brimstones and an early Small White seen along lower Kilvey Hill and the adjacent cemetery:

My first Small White of 2022 appeared on my local patch this morning.Also seen: one Small Tortoiseshell, a few Brimstones and Peacocks, and a selection of Commas (including four along one short section of path, chasing each other and soaring skywards in pairs). At least they paused in between bouts. Dave

Porthkerry park in Barry provided my second and third UK butterflies of 2022 and the first ones i managed to photograph.

Very pleased to find the comma, always one of my favourites and the tortoiseshell took a lot of goes before i got even a half decent photo, any disturbance to it's direct sunlight sending it flying.

Fourteen Small Torts,
Two Small Whites
One Peacock
Four Brimstones
This lunchtime Melksham, Wiltshire

A Small Tortoiseshell seen fluttering around my patio at 10.30 this morning. An hour later I arrived at Cwm Ivy on the Gower coast and saw around 50 butterflies in an hour and a half:

Brimstone 30-35
Comma 8
Peacock 6
Speckled Wood 1

4 Small Tortoiseshells, 1 Peacock, 1 Comma in the garden today. The Comma was the first of 2022.

In Kew Gardens yesterday managed 7 male Brimstone, 6 Peacock, 4 Comma, Red Admiral & 2 brief distant views of a white sp.

Yesterday's visitors seen in my garden. 18-03-2022
https://jamesgibbs6929.zenfolio.com/

Still just Peacocks and Commas at work. Plenty of the former, resulting in aerial tussles where the pair suddenly ascend high as if picked up by a mini tornado. T'mrs did report that Brimstones were enjoying the garden sun yesterday though.

In among the sudden boom in small flying insects I thought I saw a small moth yesterday, but whatever it was I couldn't track it.

A metallic glint did alert me to a very small leaf beetle though. Not sure which type. Sun plays games, but it looked more blue/black rather than green.

On a gloriously sunny but rather breezy morning today (19th) on my local patch near Heathrow, the first butterfly I encountered was an egg-laying female Red Admiral. Though by trying to follow the butterfly I lost track of the particular nettle leaf on which the egg had been laid, it is possible to see the abdomen being bent down to deposit it.I went on to see 11 Commas, 4 Brimstones and a Peacock.

Dave