www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Enjoying your review of the season, Neil, and hearing about places I haven't been to lately (like Ryton). Good to hear both the spring skippers are doing okay at Bishops Hill as well. I also particularly like that creamy variation on a Marsh Fritillary - they are so variable and that one is more subtly coloured than some.

Cheers,

Dave

Thanks Dave . I was particularly taken with that Marsh Fritillary myself. Like you say, a very variable species but I've not seen many with that yellowish tone before.

Looking back at 2019 Part 2 – Into Summer.

As we passed from late spring into early summer, the beginning of June continued the theme of mixed weather although the balance seemed to shift to more cloud and rain. Numbers of typical spring butterflies were now dwindling and as yet the common early summer species had yet to appear locally.
Over the past few years I have read a few comments on UKB about a lack of a ‘June Gap’. This may well be true in areas which are fortunate to have some premium species close by, but my local spots (by which I mean within the boundaries of Solihull) are relatively species poor with just the common and widespread species to be found. This means that I still see a definite gap between the spring species fading and the summer ones appearing. This does not mean that I don’t see any butterflies at all as there are always a few late spring butterflies still hanging on and the first Large Skippers often start appearing around now.

Of course, this gap can be filled by travelling, and I often choose to have a few days away around this time to catch up with species from further afield. This year we went north again to stay for a few days in the Arnside & Silverdale area.
We drove up on June 9th and as is often the case when travelling up there, we arrived with plenty of time to call in at Warton Crag where I soon managed to catch up with two of my targets for the trip. The first of these was Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary, of which I saw half a dozen or so, all fresh males. A couple of fresh male Northern Brown Argus were also seen which ticked the second target.
The following day (June 10th) we took a drive up to Irton Fell where I saw approx. 40-50 Mountain Ringlets, some of which were already looking a bit faded and worn.
On the way back to our B&B we called in at Meathop Moss where I saw my fourth and last target for the trip, Large Heath. These seemed to be flying in good numbers when the sun came out, although the very wet moss meant that sticking to the board walk was essential and meant that only a small proportion of those flying could be observed.
Latterbarrow LNR, across the road from Meathop Moss, produced a few more NBA, still all males and a female SPBF.
Latterbarrow also produced my first Large Skippers and Meadow Browns of the year. I nearly always see the first examples of both species during one of our trips away as they seem to appear nearly everywhere a few days before they do at home.

Back home, the Large Skippers and Meadow Browns were flying by the middle of the month and were then joined by the first Summer brood Small Tortoiseshells. Also, summer brood Speckled Woods usually start emerging around here sometime in June. This year I saw the first fresh summer male in my garden at the end of May although numbers didn’t build until the second half of June.
I mentioned in part 1 of my look back that I was keen to catch up with some fritillaries this year, having missed most of them in 2018, and so our second trip of the year saw us heading down to The Heddon Valley in late June. On the way down, we stopped off at Haddon Hill but our arrival there was met with low cloud and rain. Despite the unpromising conditions I managed to find a single roosting Heath Fritillary and took what are my best underside shots of this species to date.
We had seen a lot of dull and cloudy weather and a fair bit of rain so far in June, so it was a relief to get some dry weather for our stay in the Heddon Valley, although there was still a fair bit of cloud about and temperatures were not particularly high. I saw reasonably good numbers of both High Brown and Dark Green Fritillaries although neither were quite as numerous as I have seen here in previous visits. Having said that the examples of both species that I saw were mostly males in good condition, so they were possibly still to reach peak numbers.

I also saw a few fresh male Silver-washed Fritillaries, my first of the year, but no females this time. A few Small Pearl-bordered Fritillaries were also still hanging on there meaning that, after missing most of the fritillaries in 2018, I was now seeing four species in one day
Meadow Browns were easily the most numerous species seen in the Heddon Valley but I only saw a couple of Ringlets, unlike previous visits when they would be lots of them everywhere. This lack of Ringlets, along with the fresh fritillaries, gave me the impression that that the season was now running a little later compared to the past few years.

Earlier in June, I had seen reports of large numbers of Painted Ladies coming in along the east coast and had seen further reports as they made their way across the country. My first encounters with this influx was in the Heddon Valley when I saw a few faded examples on our first day. Numbers increased dramatically the following day when they became the second most numerous butterfly seen (behind Meadow Brown) with many of these looking in better condition.
I also saw my first Red Admirals of the year down there with a good dozen or so seen. Unlike more favoured areas, I don't see these in the spring with my first ones usually turning up on one of my trips in May or June.
An overnight stop not far from Daneway Banks on the way back home gave me the chance to catch up with Large Blue.
This was my first visit to Daneway and although I managed to get a few open wing shots in the late afternoon when we arrived, the following day was the hottest one of the year so far and most of the Large Blues soon disappeared into hiding, although I did manage to find three mating pairs during the day. Daneway Banks also produced my first Marbled Whites of the year along with a nice selection of other species.
Back home again and going into early July, Ringlets and Marbled Whites had now appeared locally although neither of these appeared to be quite as numerous as in previous years.

A visit to Oversley Wood near Alcester on July 7th produced quite a few Silver-washed Fritillaries, lots of Ringlets and half a dozen or so Red Admirals. Also my first Small Skippers, Purple Hairstreaks and White Admiral for the year.
As July continued the weather threw plenty of cloudy days at us, especially at the weekends. Essex Skippers had now joined the Smalls although I got the impression that neither species had a particularly good year around here although from reports I have seen they did better elsewhere around Warwickshire.
Gatekeepers were flying by mid July and these definitely had a better year around here this year than in 2018.
Despite having seen very few whites earlier in the year, the second half of July saw good numbers of Green-veined Whites appear with Large and Small joining them soon after. I suspect that, at least as far as the Small and Large Whites are concerned, the local emergence was boosted by immigrants. I don't believe that Green-veined Whites migrate like the other two species but given that they prefer damper habitats, perhaps the cool and wet weather in late spring and early summer had favoured this species.
It was also encouraging to see that the good numbers of Small Tortoiseshells seen in the spring had led to reasonable numbers of summer brood. Still not as many as years ago but certainly much better than the last couple of years.
At the end of July, I took a long overdue run down the M40 to Aston Rowant. I had been surprised to see that my last visit there had been in 2014 which meant that it had been five years since I had last seen Silver-spotted Skippers. As mentioned earlier, I reckon that the season was now running a little later than the past couple of years and this was backed up by my visit here with the Silver-spotted Skippers appearing to be at the start of their flight period. I saw approx. 25-30 across the site which was far fewer than I have seen there before at this time of year but I saw reports of many more being seen during the following weeks.
There were also plenty of Chalk Hill Blues at Aston Rowant plus the usual supporting species, including many Peacocks which seemed to be taking over from the slightly earlier emerging Small Tortoiseshells.
I also saw half a dozen or so Dark Green Fritillaries still flying at Aston Rowant which surprised me a little as these have always been over when I visited there in the past. This also reinforced my thoughts about the season running a little later this year.

Having already mentioned the influx of Painted Ladies , these had been turning up in varying numbers at most places I visited through the summer. At the end of July and into August, I had the first of these in my garden since the invasion of 2009 with two or three on my buddleias on most days, often joined by a Red Admiral or two and the occasional Peacock.
I've waffled on a bit so I will stop there before continuing into late summer in part 3.

To be continued...

Neil.

You have a head start over me for those Northern species, Neil,
by being at least 200 miles closer to them!.
Great shots of the High Brown and Mountain Ringlet, and especially
your wonderful open wing shot of that male Purple Hairstreak. .

The Purple Hairstreak is one of my main targets for 2020.

Best wishes,
Trevor.
.

Fantastic stuff Neil - those Northern specialists are all worthy of a for each and every one cracking stuff and three gaps from my life list

Have a goodun

Wurzel

What a joy to behold those summer species, Neil. Fabulous sequence, the pick of which for me is that impressive Large Heath. Never had one pose like that for me!

Fantastic shots from Meathop and Latterbarrow Neil, have you tried Foulshaw Moss yet? it's right next door to Meathop and I find it's much easier to get shots of the Large Heath there as the board walk starts right near the car park and they've planted lots of shrubs etc which if your lucky the Large Heath some times land on I'm hoping to go back there next year, apart from any thing else I love going to Latterbarrow. Goldie

trevor wrote:You have a head start over me for those Northern species, Neil,
by being at least 200 miles closer to them!.
Great shots of the High Brown and Mountain Ringlet, and especially
your wonderful open wing shot of that male Purple Hairstreak. .

The Purple Hairstreak is one of my main targets for 2020.

Best wishes,
Trevor.
.

Thanks Trevor
Yes, living where I do in the midlands gives me a head start for those northern species, however the down side to that is the southern ones that are that same distance away for me.

Wurzel wrote:Fantastic stuff Neil - those Northern specialists are all worthy of a for each and every one cracking stuff and three gaps from my life list

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Cheers Wurzel . If you ever get up that way it is possible to get three in one day like I did this year.

David M wrote:What a joy to behold those summer species, Neil. Fabulous sequence, the pick of which for me is that impressive Large Heath. Never had one pose like that for me!

Thanks David . Those Large Heath do demand a bit of patience and luck in waiting for one to come close enough.

Goldie M wrote:Fantastic shots from Meathop and Latterbarrow Neil, have you tried Foulshaw Moss yet? it's right next door to Meathop and I find it's much easier to get shots of the Large Heath there as the board walk starts right near the car park and they've planted lots of shrubs etc which if your lucky the Large Heath some times land on I'm hoping to go back there next year, apart from any thing else I love going to Latterbarrow. Goldie

Thanks Goldie We did visit Foulshaw Moss this year but it was dull and drizzly and the Large Heath were hiding. We saw the Ospreys though and we thought it was a great reserve and well worth going back to sometime in the future.

Cheers,

Neil.

A terrific selection of a huge variety of species, by and large all looking in great condition too. You seem to time your trips absolutely perfectly, Neil.

Dave

Thank Dave The timing of our trips is usually based on some winter research into the previous few years flight periods of my target species plus what time I can book off work in advance. There is also a fair amount of luck involved.

Looking back at 2019 Part 3 – Late Summer and into Autumn.

So far, the summer had produced some nice warm sunny weather but also some cooler periods with quite a lot of cloud. Rainfall, at least around my patch, had been below average but it was certainly not as dry as 2018 had been. Due to the best weather usually occurring during the week when I was stuck in work and with the weekends often turning cloudy and dull, I did not get out around my local patch as often as I would have liked to, but from what I did see most of the usual summer species were around in good numbers.

Early August saw us down in Cornwall where we stayed for five days right down on the southern tip of The Lizard. We enjoyed some decent weather with very little rain until the last afternoon when it got a bit wet and blustery ahead of a summer storm that was heading in, luckily for us it didn’t fully arrive until we were heading home the next day.
I mentioned the Painted Lady influx in my last report and expected to see some down in Cornwall, but I must admit that I was not prepared for what I saw down there. They were easily the most numerous species seen, appearing everywhere in large numbers with one stretch of coast path from Lizard Point towards Kynance Cove producing hundreds. It would not be an exaggeration to say that there must have been thousands flying all over the Lizard. These Painted Ladies were all in varying condition, from fresh looking to very worn and faded and I suspect that they were made up of the offspring from the earlier influx plus more recent arrivals from across the channel. Interestingly, it seems from what I saw on social media that some other parts of the country were not seeing such high numbers, including some other parts of Cornwall.

One of my targets for the trip to Cornwall was to see second brood Small Pearl-bordered Fritillaries which I saw in good numbers along the Kynance Cove-Lizard Point coast path and also in the dune system at Upton Towns.

I also found a good number of Dark Green Fritillaries still flying among the dunes at Upton Towans, some of which were in still in reasonable condition. As with the DGFs seen at Aston Rowant that I mentioned in the previous report, these reinforced my thoughts about the season running a little late…or perhaps it was just a case of not being a particularly early season like some recent ones have been.
Most of the other species that I expected to see in Cornwall were flying, some in very high numbers (Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper) and some in lower but still good or reasonable numbers (Common Blue, Small Copper, Red Admiral, Wall Brown).
One thing I noticed was that in contrast to all the blue forms of female Common Blue that have been cropping up lately, all those that I saw down there were of the mostly brown variety.
One species that I didn’t see down in Cornwall this time was Clouded Yellow and I remember that up until then, I hadn’t seen that many reports of them this year.

Back home, the storm that was arriving in Cornwall when we left had followed us to the midlands to give us a weekend of wet and windy weather and then an unsettled spell limited my chances to get out. By the time the August Bank Holiday arrived things had improved and we had a cracking weekend.
Painted Ladies were still very much in evidence with most garden buddleias around my local roads having one or two present and a rough count of 30+ on a group of wild buddleias on a visit to my local spot at Castle Hills near Solihull. Small Tortoiseshells were still flying as were a few Peacocks and Red Admirals were turning up regularly, but Commas had seemed to be a bit thin on the ground this summer with just one or two seen at most spots.
As we reached the end of August, things were winding down around my local grassland sites which is the usual state of affairs for around here. Meadow Browns, Common Blues and Small Heath were still flying but numbers were definitely dropping.

On the other hand, Speckled Woods were increasing in line with the usual late season flourish that they often have around here.

My last long-distance trip of the year was our usual stay down in Dorset in early September. It was quite breezy for most of the time we were there with that cool wind coming from the north west that seemed to be a feature for a lot of the time this summer. Some sites were also looking very dry, Durlston Country Park in particular struck me as looking very parched.
Although I saw all the species that I expected to, most of these were in lower numbers than I have seen down there during our previous visits at this time. Notable exceptions to this were Small Whites which were everywhere in large numbers and Painted Ladies were still turning up at most of the places that we went to albeit not as numerous as we had seen earlier in the year.
Marbled Whites last a lot longer on the Dorset chalk than in most other areas and I have often found one or two still flying during our early September trips here in the past. The sites where I find them at this time usually vary with Durdle Door, Bindon Hill and Durlston all producing examples in the past, albeit not usually at all of these in the same year. This year I found a couple on the path up to White Horse Hill at Osmington.
Having failed to catch up with Clouded Yellow in Cornwall I was pleased to find a couple in Dorset at sites where I have consistently seen them in the past.
The weather for the rest of September was unsettled with again the best of it during the week when I was at work and it was the third weekend of the month before I managed to get out again to one of my local spots. A few Red Admirals, Speckled Woods, and Large Whites plus singles of Comma and Small Copper was all that was still around.

With some proper wet and windy autumn weather settling in for the next couple of weeks that was effectively the last time I got out to look for butterflies although I did still see the occasional Speckled Wood in the garden.

The last butterflies I saw this year were a Red Admiral and a well faded male Speckled Wood in the garden on the afternoon of Sunday October 6th.
In total, I saw 46 species of butterfly this year which is not bad for me these days. I managed to catch up with a few that I had not seen for a while but also missed some due to the choices I made on where to spend my available time.

Overall, I found it a bit of a strange year at times, a year of contradictions in some ways. We had some very warm early weather that was then followed by a spell of cool and cloudy conditions before settling down to a fairly typical spring. The summer followed on with more periods of cloudy weather, often with a cool wind, but we also had some very hot days. It was also a fairly dry summer although nowhere near as hot and dry as 2018 had been.
Some species had a good year, it was encouraging to see the numbers of Small Tortoiseshells around my area and Peacocks did a lot better this year, although I suspect with both species this was due to them flying for longer this year before hibernating instead of disappearing early like they appeared to do in 2018. Gatekeepers definitely bounced back from a poor showing around here in 2018. The influx of Painted Ladies was particularly memorable, and I heard a lot of comparisons made with 2009 and whether this year was as good. I think the answer to that depends very much on where you were. If I remember correctly (which I might not), the main influx in 2009 came across the channel onto the south coast whereas this year the main bulk came across the north sea and hit the east coast first. Whatever the final counts show, some people (like myself) saw very high numbers, but I also saw some comments on social media from people saying that they had not actually seen that many this year.

The season had pretty much fizzled out here by the end of September, which is pretty normal for me, and apart from the Speckled Wood and Red Admiral that I saw in the first week of October that was it.

The time had arrived to get on with some of those jobs around the house that I had neglected during the summer...and to start thinking about plans and targets for next year.

Bye for now,

Neil.

An interesting read Neil with lovely accompanying photos Love the Small Pearls and Walls but the stand out for me is the late, late Marbled White - I keep forgetting to make a trip back to Dorset at that time of year for them Looking forward to hearing of your plans for next year Neil -if you're down my way give us a shout out

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Lovely shots Neil, that Adonis really stands out for me, love it. Goldie

Superb, quality images, Neil.
Like me, you seem to have had good 2019 season.
Great report from Cornwall, good to see the second brood Small Pearl.
The re-introduced population in my local area produced a second brood too.

Trevor.

A most enjoyable round-up, Neil, to brighten these short winter days. It’s been a long autumn, but it’s the winter solstice on Sunday, after which we can start to look foreword to better times to come.

Wurzel wrote: ↑Fri Dec 13, 2019 8:47 pm An interesting read Neil with lovely accompanying photos Love the Small Pearls and Walls but the stand out for me is the late, late Marbled White - I keep forgetting to make a trip back to Dorset at that time of year for them Looking forward to hearing of your plans for next year Neil -if you're down my way give us a shout out

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Cheers Wurzel, will bear that in mind. No doubt we will be heading to Dorset again at some point next year but not sure where else yet. I have been told that we will be taking the daughter and grandkids away at some point so that will take some careful negotiation

Goldie M wrote: ↑Sat Dec 14, 2019 2:43 pm Lovely shots Neil, that Adonis really stands out for me, love it. Goldie

Thanks Goldie, a fresh male Adonis Blue is hard to beat in the 'stand out' stakes.

trevor wrote: ↑Sun Dec 15, 2019 7:37 pm Superb, quality images, Neil.
Like me, you seem to have had good 2019 season.
Great report from Cornwall, good to see the second brood Small Pearl.
The re-introduced population in my local area produced a second brood too.

Trevor.

Thanks Trevor, yes, overall I had a good season. Good to hear your local Small Pearls produced a second brood too.

essexbuzzard wrote: ↑Wed Dec 18, 2019 9:33 pm A most enjoyable round-up, Neil, to brighten these short winter days. It’s been a long autumn, but it’s the winter solstice on Sunday, after which we can start to look foreword to better times to come.

Thanks Mark. Yes, the nights will soon begin to get a bit shorter. Just a few minutes each day but they all add up and we will be over the hump and heading in the right direction.


A busy few days ahead with the pre Christmas running around and visiting family etc, so just in case I don't get another chance I would like to wish everyone on UKB;

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

And here's to looking forward to the 2020 season.

Cheers,

Neil.

Wonderful reflections, Neil. There's something about those three Speckled Woods fighting over a blackberry that brings a smile to my face.

Wishing you all the best for Christmas and the New Year. Hopefully you'll encounter more delightful moments such as those you've presented lately in 2020.

Thanks David , Yes, lets hope we all get to see some good stuff in 2020.

Garden Moths – 2019.

From reports that I saw, 2019 seemed to be quite a good year overall for moths in Warwickshire, particularly for those who regularly trapped out in some of the larger woodland sites
On the other hand, numbers of many species in my garden were well down and some common species did not turn up at all this year.
I think there were a number of reasons for this. The weather was often not too good for moth trapping, particularly through the wet and windy autumn that we had. I have not checked on the exact number of times I ran the trap but there is no doubt that I lit up on fewer occasions this year, mostly due to the unsuitable weather. I also think that there was a knock on effect from the dry summer of 2018 in the same way that numbers of some butterfly species appear to have been effected this year.
Another factor that probably influenced my garden catch is that some new people moved in to a house a couple of doors down from me earlier in the year and then proceeded to have a tidying up blitz on their back garden which involved cutting down some nice mature trees and shrubs including sallow and hawthorns. There is also an increase in garden lighting around my way lately, either for security or ornamental reasons, which all adds to the local light pollution.

Anyway, my total for the year was 193 species made up of 118 macros and 75 micros. The comparison with the previous 2 years is ;

2018 – 225 Total (142 macro, 83 micro)
2017 – 245 Total (147 macro, 94 micro)

Despite the lower numbers this year I still had 15 species that were new for the garden (NFG), made up of 8 macro species and 7 micro. This compares with;

2018 – 29 (19 macro, 10 micro)
2017 – 78 (38 macro, 40 micro)

The higher numbers of NFG in 2017 is explained by the fact that I only started running the trap part way through 2016 and with 2017 being the first complete year it is only to be expected that there would be a good number of new species. As time goes on there is less chance of new species turning up but with some distributions being on the increase, you never know what might get blown in.

The new species this year were;

Macros;
Pale Pinion
Lunar Marbled Brown
Sallow Kitten
Marbled White Spot
Slender Brindle
Lunar-spotted Pinion
Centre-barred Sallow
Deep-brown Dart
Micros;
Esperia sulphurella
Endotricha flammealis
Yponomeuta padella/malinellus agg. Requires Gen Det for positive ID.
Plutella porrectella
Dichrorampha sp. Possibly acuminatana but requires Gen Det for positive ID.
Ypsolopha sylvella
Agonopterix nervosa
This years NFGs have increased my overall garden numbers to 197 species of macro moth and 109 micros which gives me a grand total of 306 species since I started running the trap in April 2016.

Here's hoping for a few more new ones in 2020.

Bye for now,

Neil.

A lovely collection of Moffs Neil - the various posts on a few Facebook groups that I've read seem to come to the same conclusion as you Neil - with numbers seemingly down from last year - hopefully not an ongoing trend
Hope you have a cracking 2020!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

As ever, an interesting assortment of moths there, Neil. Pity about your neighbours' desire to 'tidy up' their garden.....trees and shrubs are vital to so much wildlife that it's almost sacrilege to decimate them.

Here's wishing you an excellent New Year. All the best.

Cheers Wurzel I have already had my first moth of 2020, a Chestnut, which is a species I missed last year so fingers crossed.

Thanks David Unfortunately, the obsessive desire to 'tidy things up' is far too prevalent in current society and needs a shift in perspective for many people.

Hope you both had a good festive break and here's wishing you and everyone else on here a Happy New Year.

I see that there have been a few sightings this week of hibernators brought out by the mild weather. No butterflies for me yet but I have had my first moth of 2020, a Chestnut, that came to the garden trap on the first night of the year (and decade). I have put the trap out just once since then, on the night of the 5th Jan, which resulted in a blank. All other nights have been either too cold or too windy.
Other than that, I have been keeping an eye on the birds coming to the garden feeders during the weekends and over the festive break and taking a few photos, as usual through the kitchen or back room windows.

A selection of birds in the garden from the last couple of weeks of 2019;
Bye for now,

Neil