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Tuesday 8th April – Heading east…

Although the weather forecast had suggested blue skies, there was a thin layer of cloud this morning which did not shift until early afternoon.

That made the going rather tough at Merthyr Mawr dunes, near Porthcawl, with no butterflies at all seen for 20 minutes or so before I came across this Small Copper in a sheltered area:
I knew Grizzled Skippers had emerged because a friend of mine saw one here on the absurdly early date of 30th March, whilst a further 8 had been seen by someone else only a couple of days earlier.

I patiently bided my time in three areas which have traditionally been reliable for this species before eventually one appeared:
I saw two more prior to leaving, but a total of just 4 butterflies in an hour and a half was something of a shock to the system after the bonanza of recent days.

Friday 11th April – First Dingy Skippers…

The continued dry, sunny conditions have brought forward the emergence times of many of the species that one would normally expect in the latter half of April.

The earliest I had ever seen Dingy Skipper had been 16th April but that record was shattered today when two turned up on the dunes at Whiteford Burrows:
The woodland glade was replete with Speckled Woods, with a minimum of 40 seen. Orange Tips weren’t far behind. I counted 34 in total.

Six Green Veined Whites was nice, but just five Holly Blues was disappointing. Maybe the Chiffchaffs have taken their toll.

Two Peacocks were about, including this one nectaring from the blackthorn blossom which is now at its peak:
Singletons of Small White, Brimstone and Comma completed the line-up.

Yes, it’s been a glorious spring for both butterflies and people. So far…

Indeed, Mark. Butterflies needed a break after the last two years!

Friday 11th April cont… – Green Hairstreaks

After leaving Cwm Ivy, I took a short detour back home to have a look to see if any Green Hairstreaks had emerged at Welshmoor.

Given the extensive fire damage to my local commons this spring, it didn’t look promising on arrival:
I’d also never seen a Green Hairstreak locally earlier than 18th April (they are quite late to emerge round these parts), but within a few minutes I spotted one, followed by another on the gorse just round the corner:
I’d now seen 16 UK species by 11th April, which I presumed had to be a record. When I checked previous years, this was confirmed, with 2019 being the next earliest to reach that total, a full nine days later on 20th April.

It’s been yet another strange year thus far!

Thursday 17th April – Two sets of eyes….

My friend was visiting this week so we both made the most of the sunny (but rather cool) day to pop down to Cwm Ivy to see what was about.

Orange Tips were the commonest species, with two dozen seen, including a mating pair which I am pretty sure is a first for me:
The cool conditions made them a little more docile than usual. This one had a slightly deformed left forewing:
A dozen and a half Speckled Woods were on patrol in the glade, but there was only one Holly Blue, which had been seen earlier by my friend who reported that it was a female. Sure enough, it was:
My friend had also reported that she’d seen a Brown Argus. I duly went to the spot but could find nothing, but it stiffened my determination to do a further circuit of the dunes and, most fortunately, I stumbled upon a different one:
That was my earliest ever UK Brown Argus, beating the previous earliest by one day.

As others have reported, there seems to be an influx of fresh Red Admirals right now. There were seven here today, all looking very dapper:
The three Peacocks, by contrast, were unsurprisingly more worn:
Five Large Whites were spotted, including two females, but they were too hyperactive to stop for photographs. However, during a cloudy spell, my friend spotted this lovely female Green Veined White amongst the ground foliage:
Two male Brimstones were the other butterflies seen.

Hi David. There are good numbers of immigrant red admirals and painted ladies in Switzerland too. Good numbers in April usually presage a bumper year, here and in the UK.

Guy

Seen plenty of Painted Ladies in Spain this last week, Guy, so I'm confident the UK will get an invasion as the year goes on.