David M

[David M]

Monday 26th August – Oxwich Bay…

Bank Holiday at Oxwich Beach is something I’d rather avoid, but there had been reports of another American Painted Lady ‘300 metres east of the coastguard’s hut’ the day before, so I naturally had to overcome my dislike of crowded beauty spots.

Having said that, I cheated a little by arriving early and parking at the small car park at Nicholaston, walking down to the dunes there and then on to Oxwich afterwards.

This would also allow me to walk through a stretch of dunes which contains plentiful flowering scabious, which I know virginiensis has a strong attraction to after having seen the one a week earlier on the Pembrokeshire coast.

Two species of butterfly were around in excellent numbers. Meadow Browns almost hit 200:

Common Blues also made it into three figures:

I concentrated hard on the area I thought was likely the one where virginiensis had been seen:

Unlike in Pembrokeshire, I didn’t have a GPS for this one, and in reality 300 metres east of the coastguard’s hut is actually out to sea, so maybe it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I could find no trace!

Hedge Browns were still hanging on, but they were largely on their last legs:

The solitary Speckled Wood I saw was in rather better condition:

Other species seen were 3 Small Whites and 2 Small Heaths.

[David M]

Friday 30th August – Long shot…

A rare nice, warm, sunny day today, so more in hope than expectation I headed to Aberthaw Beach near Gileston, to take a look to see if a chance Clouded Yellow would be about.

First thing I noticed, somewhat surprisingly, was that the vegetation was nowhere near as high as it had been the previous year:

In amongst the many flowering brassicae were 30+ Small Whites, along with this solitary female Green Veined White:

Given how open the field is, I was surprised to find this Comma right in the middle:

There were quite a few Meadow Browns too, along with one male Common Blue. Nothing of the yellow persuasion though – I haven’t yet seen any reports of a Clouded Yellow in Wales this year (precious few in England).

[David M]

Friday 30th August cont… – Dismal…

After leaving Aberthaw, I dropped by at Kenfig NNR on the way back.

I spent nearly 2 hours there, and was taken aback by how few butterflies were around on the site, in spite of the sunny conditions and the array of nectar sources available:

Even Common Blues and Meadow Browns combined numbered fewer than 50, and no other species reached double figures, with Small Whites reaching 8, Speckled Woods 4, and Red Admirals just 2.

There were other butterflies seen though, with 2 Wall Browns being particularly welcome:

A Grayling was briefly nectaring on some low growing brambles but I wasn’t able to get an image. I also saw a Small Heath and what will almost certainly be my last Hedge Brown of the year.

However, butterfly of the day went to one which I’ve seen precious few of in 2024 – a Brown Argus:

[David M]

Fantastic shots David well done Goldie

Thanks, Goldie. It behaved remarkably well (possibly because it was too fatigued to fly far).

[David M]

Friday 13th September – Small Tortoiseshells…

I had an extremely pleasant surprise today. A visit to Port Eynon gave me some hope that Small Tortoiseshells are perhaps not about to become an endangered species round my way.

I counted 14, which is amazing when you consider that I had previously only seen three locally all year.

This individual, with the black smudge round the upf discal area was the most striking:

This one had a more regular appearance:

Only Small Whites outstripped them in numbers with at least 60 seen. This individual chose to take flight just as I pressed the shutter, showing that rarely seen black mark on the upper hindwing edge:

Half a dozen Painted Ladies was a nice surprise too (love the white antennal tips):

Red Admirals numbered a mere four:

Other species seen were Large White (5), Meadow Brown (3) and Small Copper (1).

[David M]

Tuesday 17th September – Botanic Gardens…

If ever I needed evidence of how awful this year has been for butterflies, I got it today during my annual visit to the National Botanic Gardens of Wales.

Each year, my neighbour and I pick an optimal day as far as the weather is concerned, and although this day was not as warm as certain previous visits, it was still very sunny with pleasantly warm temperatures of around 19c.

Upon entering the walled gardens, it was a surprise for the first butterfly to turn out to be a Small Copper:

The garden is usually replete with Small and Large Whites flying around the many cabbages planted there, but there were barely a dozen today.
Just three Red Admirals too, although there was a bonus in the form of this Peacock feasting from the fragrant Pritchard’s Giant:

We stopped briefly to admire the view on a lovely day before heading down into the wild areas:

Here, there was an almost complete absence of butterflies, although this Speckled Wood on these red berries made me reach for my camera:

A handful more were seen along the wooded rides, along with two male Common Blues, a Green Veined White and a surprise male Brimstone.

Two hours later, we walked back through the walled gardens where the same Peacock greeted us, only this time it had found something of interest on the ground:

Fewer than three dozen butterflies in just less than three hours is by far the worst return I’ve ever had here. No Commas, no Small Tortoiseshells and no Large Whites.

[Goldie M]

Lovely shots of the Tortoiseshell David, I never found one this year, hope fully I'll find some next year Goldie

[selbypaul]

Tuesday 17th September – Botanic Gardens…

If ever I needed evidence of how awful this year has been for butterflies, I got it today during my annual visit to the National Botanic Gardens of Wales.

Fewer than three dozen butterflies in just less than three hours is by far the worst return I’ve ever had here. No Commas, no Small Tortoiseshells and no Large Whites.

I feel your pain David. I visited there in the first week of June this year on a glorious sunny day. The habitat in the wild area was superb, but I saw nothing other than a few Common Blue's. In a whole week walking in that part of Wales I saw just 15 individual butterflies of five species. It is just so depressing.

[David M]

Lovely shots of the Tortoiseshell David...I never found one this year, hope fully I'll find some next year

Thanks, Goldie. I'd only seen three myself until that day. An astonishingly dismal (and worrying) return.

[David M]

Wednesday 18th September – Light winds…

One of the finest places for a walk on the Gower is undoubtedly Rhossili Head.

The views are amazing, all the way to Tenby in Pembrokeshire and even Lundy Island on a clear day.

There is also the added attraction of Worm’s Head, a rocky outcrop connected to the mainland for approx 5 hours around low tide mark, as it is here:

This is what it looks like near high tide, cut off by the sea:

Being at the SW tip of the peninsula, it is usually fairly windswept, but my visit on this day coincided with a breeze of no more than 5mph, and with sunshine and 18c temperatures it was very pleasant indeed.

With practically all butterfly species having a difficult year, one seems to be bucking the trend. Small Whites have suddenly become very common, and there were well over 100 at the site today:

No other species reached double figures, although Red Admirals missed out only marginally with nine sighted.

Seven Common Blues were recorded, including this male:

A couple of Large Whites were on the scene, as well as a Painted Lady which was flying rather too quickly for me to pursue.

The other species seen was this singleton Small Tortoiseshell:

Silver Y moths were around in staggering numbers, proving to be a bit of a nuisance in all honesty.

[Matsukaze]

Lovely spot, Rhossili. I've seen Graylings (and I think Wall Browns) from about the spot where those photos were taken. Always wanted to take the moth trap over onto Worms Head, though the timings would need a bit of working out.

[Goldie M]

Some lovely views there David, it must be great to live near where there's so many lovely Butterflies Goldie

[David M]

..I feel your pain David. I visited there in the first week of June this year on a glorious sunny day. The habitat in the wild area was superb, but I saw nothing other than a few Common Blue's. In a whole week walking in that part of Wales I saw just 15 individual butterflies of five species. It is just so depressing.

Been like this for most of this year, Paul. We really now need a spectacularly good year just to get things back to normal.

[David M]

Wednesday 18th September cont… – Just up the coastline…

Port Eynon is a mere 15 minute drive on the way back from Rhossili, so with skies continuing clear I made my way down to the dunes to have a look at what was around.

Unsurprisingly, the commonest butterfly in the hour I spent there was Small White, with at least 60 recorded.

Next most common was a surprise though – Painted Lady.

There were half a dozen of these in total:

After seeing 14 Small Tortoiseshells on my last visit here, I thought they’d hit double figures again, but I actually only saw two:

Others seen were 2 Red Admirals, 2 Meadow Browns and singletons of Speckled Wood & Small Copper.

[David M]

Thursday 19th September – Long walk…

A pleasant enough day, so I spent it walking around Nicholaston Burrows and Oxwich Bay.

Small Whites were again the commonest species by far. I saw over 100.

Meadow Browns seriously on the slide though. Just 20 recorded.

Similarly, Common Blues were waning with just 7, including this nice female:

There were a couple of Speckled Woods and 2 Small Heaths as well:

The biggest surprise was seeing this male Brimstone which had taken a liking to a patch of hemp agrimony:

Other species seen were singleton Red Admiral & Small Copper.

[Allan.W.]

So the Small Torts are all over your way then David ! worst season for many years in my part of Kent ......only 5 noted ,four were overwinters ,and one late Summer.......and not a single larval nest any where .......worrying .
Nice female Common Blue by the way. Allan.W.

[Neil Freeman]

A drastic drop in Small Tortoiseshell numbers for my area this year too. Not too bad in the spring although fewer than the past few years, but summer numbers crashed to the point that I only saw a handful this summer after being able to see 40+ a day easily a couple of years ago.

cheers,

Neil.

[David M]

Lovely spot, Rhossili. I've seen Graylings (and I think Wall Browns) from about the spot where those photos were taken...

Sure is, Chris. Graylings and Wall Browns are regulars here.

Some lovely views there David, it must be great to live near where there's so many lovely Butterflies

The views are always delightful, Goldie, but there haven’t been so many butterflies this year, sadly.

[David M]

Friday 4th October – Lower numbers…

As ever, the month of October marks the transition between lots of butterflies….and hardly any!

As the month progresses, numbers get ever lower, although the first ten days or so are usually quite productive, as was the case today.

Although Small White numbers have dropped markedly, there were still 13 of them seen today:

Not far behind were Red Admirals, with 10, mostly on the ivy flowers such as this little hotspot on a sheltered corner of the cul-de-sac opposite the churchyard:

Two other vanessids were also feasting from this source:

The valerian in the cemetery was in fine fettle:

It was nice to see a couple of Small Tortoiseshells on it:

The Comma also flew in from the nearby ivy and basked on the ground:

Almost 30 butterflies in less than an hour was a decent return.

[David M]

A drastic drop in Small Tortoiseshell numbers for my area this year too. Not too bad in the spring although fewer than the past few years, but summer numbers crashed to the point that I only saw a handful this summer after being able to see 40+ a day easily a couple of years ago.

Yes, Neil. This last couple of years has seen numbers plummet.

I've only seen two dozen locally all this year. There was one day when I saw 14 which made me confident that things weren't perhaps as bad as I thought, but other than that freakish event, I've only seen the odd one or two here and there.