October 2024

[David M]

In a season where positive news is at a premium, it is nice to see what appears to be the permanent recolonisation of Rainham marshes for Wall brown.

Absolutely, Andy. One of our other members, David Lazarus, has seen quite a few lately on the Essex coast. Be nice if they could spread inland like they used to.

[millerd]

...Be nice if they could spread inland like they used to.

I remember them in the North London suburbs where I grew up, David - early 1960s. Curiously there is at least one inland area of southern England where they seem to be doing well - the chalk downland of Salisbury Plain. Maybe the way the MoD manages much of this land, which benefits other species like the Marsh Fritillary, also suits the Wall.

Sunshine and a warm breeze returned today after yesterday's grey gloom. 9 species and 40+ butterflies on my local patch again; each time I think there can't still be newly emerged individuals, one appears. This male GVW was today's example.

One or two others from the walk...

...more to follow in my PD (which is gradually catching up ).

Dave

[David Lazarus]

In a season where positive news is at a premium, it is nice to see what appears to be the permanent recolonisation of Rainham marshes for Wall brown.

Absolutely, Andy. One of our other members, David Lazarus, has seen quite a few lately on the Essex coast. Be nice if they could spread inland like they used to.

I couldn’t agree more. I am confident Rainham Marshes has an established, healthy, and sustainable colony now which is great news. Another update to come when I finally get home from today’s trek around the Essex Coast.

[David Lazarus]

I found another healthy colony of Wall Brown at Bradwell Waterside. There were 7 females and 2 males. Potentially, this could contain 25-50 individuals spread along a 1,500-metre stretch of sea wall at their peak next summer. They were not in great shape, so coming to the end of their flight period which might account for the high percentage of female sightings.

Wall female x 6
Bradwell Waterside 07/10/2024

Wall male
Bradwell Waterside 01/10/2024

There were also a couple of Small Copper and a male Common Blue. The most abundant species was Small White with 18, plus 3 Large White and a single Peacock made up the sightings on the sloping bank.

Then I walked 18 miles further all the way down the Dengie Peninsula, passed the Dengie National Nature Reserve, to the mouth of the River Crouch finishing at Burnham. It was tough going against a southerly wind which was the limiting factor for butterfly sightings. Sensibly they were bunkered low down in the vegetation to protect themselves from wind damage. Despite this I was able to record 4 more female Wall dispersed thinly down the sea wall but covering the whole length which supports the theory that there are colonies to be found there.

Wall female
Dengie Peninsula 07/10/2024

Finally, after 15 miles I found shelter behind the north-facing sea wall of the River Crouch estuary but by that time the butterflies began to roost, and once again they were hiding low in the vegetation:

Wall female
Burnham-on-Crouch sea wall 07/10/2024

And for all of you who like to bring out the green-eyed monster on special occasions, there were two female Clouded Yellow on the bank at Bradwell Waterside, and I finally managed to get a half-decent photograph of one of them:

Clouded Yellow female
Bradwell Waterside 07/10/2024

And then at the River Crouch I bumped into not one but two males searching for somewhere to roost. With turbochargers switched off for the night I sneaked in to take a couple of cheeky photographs of each one:

Clouded Yellow male x 2
Burnham-on-Crouch sea wall 07/10/2024

I learnt a great deal during today's trek through a desolate, windswept landscape. The Wall survives around the Essex coastline and perhaps in healthy enough numbers for the wanderers to search for new places to colonise, hopefully inland.

NOTE TO SELF:
Do not attempt to walk the 18 miles south from Bradwell to Burnham during a southerly wind.

[badgerbob]

Great news on the Wall Brown action David is finding in Essex. A great winter activity is looking for the larvae in grass tussocks. With the quantity of butterflies found, it could be a bit easier than one would think. They can be found on sunnier days as they move up the grasses. Look for a little feeding damage and then hopefully the larva.

[David Lazarus]

A little update I have put together showing Wall Brown sighting records for Essex during 2024 - locations only. I have also added the Clouded Yellow sightings as these occurred mostly whilst I was searching for new Wall colonies. Happy accidents, if you like. Hopefully you find it interesting. It also shows what can be achieved with a little effort. I think it is a starting place for the conservation of this particular species which, as you know, has suffered significant declines in occurrence & abundance since records began in 1976.

Wall & Clouded Yellow sighting locations ~ Essex 2024
Data from Butterflies for the New Millennium

I certainly think we need to take a habitat-based approach to understanding what has brought such a decline in Essex, and what can be done to reverse this decline and also support the Wall to recolonize areas inland as well as support the colonies that already exist. Can we do it? I believe we can, but unfortunately not in my lifetime

The collection of the sighting data is my contribution to the conservation of these endearing, little blighters.

[Andy02]

A little update I have put together showing Wall Brown sighting records for Essex during 2024 - locations only. I have also added the Clouded Yellow sightings as these occurred mostly whilst I was searching for new Wall colonies. Happy accidents, if you like. Hopefully you find it interesting. It also shows what can be achieved with a little effort. I think it is a starting place for the conservation of this particular species which, as you know, has suffered significant declines in occurrence & abundance since records began in 1976.

Wall & Yellow Cloud Essex sighting records 2024.jpg

I certainly think we need to take a habitat-based approach to understanding what has brought such a decline in Essex, and what can be done to reverse this decline and also support the Wall to recolonize areas inland as well as support the colonies that already exist. Can we do it? I believe we can, but unfortunately not in my lifetime

The collection of the sighting data is my contribution to the conservation of these endearing, little blighters.

Fantastic David,
Apologies for not acknowledging your work when i placed the Rainham sighting on here . I have , of course , been following your discoveries with interest.

[David M]

Echo that. Superb investigative work, David.

I had no idea Wall Browns were present in that area.

[David M]

Wednesday 9th, Port Eynon, Gower:

Small White 16
Red Admiral 4
Comma 2
Speckled Wood 2
Large White 1
Painted Lady 1
Small Tortoiseshell 1

[PhilBJohnson]

This is just a buddleia record for October 4th 2024.
It is a profuse blooming, miniature white variety, that appeared to go on and on when old flowers were pedantically cut off, when they had finished their productivity

October 4th 2024 Red Admiral

[millerd]

Dave

[millerd]

Firstly, an acknowledgement of the extraordinary legwork (literally) and analysis undertaken by David L. into the distribution and abundance of the Wall around the coast and estuaries of Essex. Tremendous stuff, a real eye-opener and even perhaps generating a hint of optimism around the future of this butterfly. Thank you, David.

To far more mundane matters over on the other side of London... After two days which were reasonably warm but almost entirely cloudy, when only half a dozen butterflies were seen locally on each day, it turned a great deal cooler today (10th) but at least the sun came out in the afternoon and the breeze was light. I managed to find six species, including a Small Copper that has been knocking around the same spot for a couple of weeks or more....

...three Common Blues, including this relatively fresh male...

...and an equally unblemished male Large White.

With a frost forecast tonight I wonder what will reappear tomorrow. At least (down here at any rate) there is some more sunshine to come and some higher temperatures again next week.

Dave

[millerd]

It was certainly pretty chilly overnight, but if there was any frost on the grass first thing, I missed it. However, the morning was gloriously sunny and still, even if temperatures didn't reach double figures until well after ten o'cock. I went out locally not much later, and the Red Admirals and Speckled Woods were already up and about.

Over the next couple of hours or so, I managed to count 38 butterflies and ticked off eight species - nearly half of these (18) were Red Admirals. Several of these butterflies were seen flying strongly, straight and level, directly towards the sun - with the sudden rise in numbers and this bit of behaviour I would guess their southward migration is well underway. It will be interesting to see if there is a corresponding increase in the number hogging the remaining nectar sources on the south coast as they take on fuel for the Channel crossing.

Today's relatively unexpected sighting was a single Small Heath - very likely my latest sighting of the species here...

...and the freshest-looking butterfly was one of the Commas.

Common Blue, Small Copper, Small White and Large White were the other species seen - a full account of things will follow in my PD.

Dave

[David M]

This is just a buddleia record for October 4th 2024. It is a profuse blooming, miniature white variety, that appeared to go on and on when old flowers were pedantically cut off, when they had finished their productivity

Great to see one flowering so well in October, Phil. My neighbour prunes hers after the flowers have died and this seems to generate new growth if done prior to the end of the first week in September.

[Jack Harrison]

I have a white one which was attracting Peacocks well into September. It had popped up from nowhere in gap in the paving slabs. I was so impressed by its ability to attract butterflies that I took four cuttings. They all seem to have taken root.

Jack

[David M]

...I was so impressed by its ability to attract butterflies that I took four cuttings...

I have experience of how good your cuttings are, Jack.

[David Lazarus]

Thank you for your kind words.

Surely the last one! Yesterday, [Saturday 11th October], I took the opportunity, with full sun forecast, to travel back up to Bradwell and walk the mouth of the River Blackwater estuary to Mayland. Unlike Monday when the wind was the limiting factor, yesterday's weather conditions meant that temperature limited the butterfly activity. It was 9 C at my starting point in Bradwell at 10.20 am, and the first butterfly did not appear until 11.30 am by which time I had already reached St Lawrence Bay. Of course, it was a female Wall:

Wall female
St Lawrence Bay 11/10/2024

St Lawrence proved to be another place along the Essex Coast that is supporting a healthy and sustainable Wall community. Once again, to the west of the town with the Ramsey Marsh nature reserve directly below, there is a south-facing sea wall with a flower-rich sloping bank and a hedge providing shelter and an optimum microclimate preferred by the Wall butterfly.

Sloping bank of coastal sea wall
St Lawrence-Ramsey Marsh Wall Colony 11/10/2024

It was 12 C by then and Wall activity was at its height and they were in double figures with individuals ranging from faded males to fresh females:

Wall female
St Lawrence 11/10/2024

Wall male
St Lawrence 11/10/2024

Wall female x 3
St Lawrence 11/10/2024

The activity included an amorous male who was a bit confused about which female to seduce:

Wall male & female courtship
St Lawrence 11/10/2024

Male Wall and female Small Copper
St Lawrence 11/10/2024

There was also a second brood found in this location this year and I am confident that this colony will support 20-30 individuals and perhaps more inside the nature reserve.

Other butterfly species found at this location and along the sea wall included 11 Small White, a fresh male was an unexpected sight, Common Blue in double figures, including a particularly nice orange-tinted female, and a few Small Copper. I was surprised to come across 3 fresh Peacock, and there were also 5 Red Admiral which were all flying powerfully in a southward direction across the estuary towards the South Coast of England. I think they have quite rightly had enough for another year.

Small White male
St Lawrence 11/10/2024

Common Blue female x 2
St Lawrence 11/10/2024

Common Blue male
St Lawrence 11/10/2024

and although I came across some more Wall a little further on, and a few other butterflies, by 2.30 pm the day was over as they had all disappeared to roost - the window of opportunity being no more than 3 hours. By 3 o'clock I was ready to call it a day and stop the walk at Mayland rather than walk all the way to Maldon. It has left me 3 areas uncovered from Wallasea Island on the far southern bank at the mouth of the River Crouch to the inner estuary of the River Blackwell at Maldon. But the sighting records map is now showing an updated Wall distribution, which as Dave pointed out, is quite optimistic:

Wall sighting records - David Lazarus
Distribution map showing 3 hot spots for Wall colonies

I think the 3 locations indicated, which represent strong, healthy, & sustainable communities with Wall sightings in good numbers at the third brood level, are all worth a visit if you are in the area. Along with the aforementioned butterfly haven along the Thames Estuary Path at East Tilbury these represent significant finds.

I thought I would take the opportunity to show you what is on the other side of the sea wall along the Essex Coast that I have just spent the last month walking - this is the rare and sensitive habitat, much of which has been lost and destroyed forever, known as Coastal Saltmarsh. It is famous for supporting large numbers of winter wildfowl. It is also very beautiful during the autumn months with a variety of coloured plants making it look remarkably like heathland.

Coastal Saltmarsh habitat - Essex coastline
River Blackwater estuary at St Lawrence with Ostea Island in the distance 11/10/2024

Approximately 75+ Wall butterfly sightings from 3rd to the 11th October on my voyage of discovery of new Wall colonies and distribution levels along the River Crouch estuary, Dengie Peninsula, and southern bank of the River Blackwater estuary sea walls in South Essex. This can be added to last month's Thames estuary sightings - around the 225+ mark in total for 3rd brood Wall sightings. The end [hopefully - I am knackered].

[millerd]

The end [hopefully - I am knackered].

I'm not surprised, David! However, you do realise you now have to repeat it all in the spring to compare how they do in the first brood...

Incidentally, I can see why that male Wall was distracted by the female Small Copper - she was a bit of a looker and must have shone out among all the less bright throng of other Walls!

Cheers,

Dave

[David Lazarus]

... you do realise you now have to repeat it all in the spring to compare how they do in the first brood...

Incidentally, I can see why that male Wall was distracted by the female Small Copper - she was a bit of a looker and must have shone out among all the less bright throng of other Walls!

Apparently you have been assigned to join me Dave, voted unanimously by the other members of UK Butterflies

And yes she was a bit of a stunner with that kind of green fluorescent sheen they sometimes have at the right angle. Mind you, not in the same league with some of the stunning individuals you have had on your local patch. Somewhat of an extended season mega-butterfly location. my local patch is done and dusted. The Orange-tip seem a long way away.

[David M]

...The end [hopefully - I am knackered]

I can see why! Those maps (which are by no means small) show the areas you've covered.

You must have topped 100 miles these last few weeks!