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Friday 28th September - Sunshine after the storms

The week started with a horrendous few days of heavy rain and wind, at least around here it was not as bad as they had it further north.
It started to ease off a bit mid week and by today there were some decent sunny spells between the showers and it actually felt quite warm in some sheltered spots out of the breeze.
One such sheltered spot is in my back garden where the Ivy grows up and over a fence behind some shrubs, the same spot where I found the Holly Blue larvae the other week.

Finishing work at lunchtime today, I arrived back home and looking into the garden noticed a splash of orangey brown flitting about by the Ivy. 'Aha' I thought, 'a Comma'.

Grabbing my camera I nipped out and was pleased to see not just a Comma but 3 of them all busy nectaring on the Ivy flowerheads which have only just started to flower.

I then had to go out for an hour or so, which coincided with another shower of rain, but on my return the sun was out again so I went back out for another look.

This time, not only were the Commas still there, they had been joined by another making a total of 4 plus a Red Admiral
The RA only stayed for a few minutes before disappearing off next door but the Commas stayed around for over an hour, until the sun went too low thereby putting the Ivy in the shade. They then flew off up into the taller trees around the garden, presumably to roost for the night.


There were also 2 Speckled Wood, a male and a female, both of the which spent some time nectaring on the Ivy, especially the female.
This is the most I have seen SWs nectaring on flowers since the Spring when I observed males nectaring on Forget-me-nots in my garden.
The weather is looking good for tomorrow again so despite me thinking I had probably had my last trip out last weekend, I may well find time for another couple of hours around some local spots

Bye for now,

Neil.

Lovely shots Nfreem, It seems they like Gardens this time of year, I've been lucky in mine with STS and Peacocks, also SW.
They were a welcome sight after the Storm, Goldie

Cracking shots Neil There is something poetic in the way that gardens are the prime hotspots at the start and then the end of the season.
WRT butterflies disappearing over the fence - for me it is the only drawback to backyard nature watching

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Many thanks Goldie and Wurzel

I remember back in March posting that it was all Peacocks and Commas, now we are coming to the end of September and its all Red Admirals and Commas. Lets keep our fingers crossed for next March when we should be seeing some of these very same butterflies.

Saturday 29th September

The weather yesterday (Saturday) round here did not live up to the promise of the forecast, after a bright and sunny start it soon clouded over and became quite windy. Around midday I checked the forecast online and whilst it was telling me that I had clear skies and unbroken sun, one look out of the window told me that I had around 75% cloud cover

Anyway, I decided to make the most of it and headed over to Castle Hills near Solihull. I spent a couple of hours wandering around the hedgerows between the fields during which time the sun came out for a few spells

There were a good number of Red Admirals about, particularly on one large clump of Ivy that was clambering 20 odd feet up a dead tree which had 7 at one time. I also saw a dozen or so Commas, these tended to be spread out more along the hedgerows amongst the blackberries.
Other butterflies seen were a singles of Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown and Peacock.
I had another good look around where I had seen Small Coppers here last year but without success. Thats 2 local sites where I saw them last year and have failed to find them this year

Back Home later, the sun popped out briefly again so I had a quick look on my Ivy. No Commas on it this time but there was a Solitary Red Admiral to finish the day off nicely
Bye for now,

Neil

Hi Neil,
Some lovely photos, especially your female Speckled Wood, [28-9] and photos one, six and seven from the 29th. 6 and 7 being my favourites, [Comma/Peacock] Two excellent pictures. I have`nt seen a Peacock since the end of March, but hopefully my day will come.

All the best, Nick.

Thanks Nick, much appreciated

As mentioned previously, there were plenty of Peacocks around my area in March.
The summer brood was very late and I only really saw good numbers for 2 weekends in August before they disappeared. I believe that Peacocks go into hibernation fairly early so despite emerging late I guess they still tucked themselves away at about the usual time, pure speculation on my part but it would expain what I saw locally.
Yesterdays was the only one I have seen since then.

Cheers,

Neil.

Saturday 6th October

The third Saturday in a row with no rain (although there has been plenty in between) and I managed to get out again for a couple of hours

Instead of spending my time at one place, I had a little drive around the lanes out the other side of Solihull towards Knowle and Hampton-in-Arden, stopping off at a few places by public footpaths where I had a little wander and a nose around.

I was on the lookout for 3rd brood Small Coppers but unfortunatly didn't find any.
What I did find was Red Admirals and Commas as expected. I was surprised however by the numbers of Commas about, there were at least 1 or 2 at every place that I stopped, usually more, with about a dozen on one particular patch of brambles/Blackberries.
Apart from the Commas, the Red Admirals that I saw were far more flighty and when they did settle were usually out of reach for photos.
There were also a number of Dragonflies about, mostly Southern and Migrant Hawkers, which gave me a chance to photograph something that wasn't a Comma
Another good couple of hours that may well be my last of the season looking for butterlies, but then again I thought that last weekend as well

Bye for now,

Neil.

nfreem wrote:I was surprised however by the numbers of Commas about, there were at least 1 or 2 at every place that I stopped, usually more, with about a dozen on one particular patch of brambles/Blackberries.

You and me both, Neil. They seem to be having a purple patch at the moment.

Wherever you find either blackberries or ivy you can expect to find one or two................or even three.

I thought last weekend was going to be it for butterfly watching too so was as pleasantly surprised to see butterflies as you I only had two Commas today though so perhaps they're waning down here? Anyway musings over - cracking shots as I've come to expect

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Hi Guys, thanks for the comments

It will be interesting to see how many Commas are about next spring, I remember there being quite a few around here last March and there has certainly been loads about over the last couple of weeks.

Sunday 7th October.

A Nice sunny morning that clouded over around midday and throughout the afternoon.
I had stuff to do around the house plus my daughter and little grandson being with us for the day today so I just popped into the garden a couple of times to see what was about.

Apart from a couple of fly throughs by Red Admirals, the Speckled Woods are still hanging in there with a couple of males defending their territories in the late morning sun.
With their territories overlapping, they would regularly intercept each other and spiral around the garden. Remembering Wurzel using 'sports mode' on his camera a while back, I gave it a try and managed to get the shot below which I quite like
Probably a bit late this season to try any more like this but definitely something to remember to try next season.

Bye for now,

Neil.

I like it to Neil - action shots are great for capturing the fragile yet robust nature butterflies - it must be the autumn as I've started musing

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Cheers Wurzel,

I had never thought of using the sports mode to try and photograph butterflies in flight until I read your previous posts. Seeing the SWs spiralling around today reminded me to try it.

Yep, plenty of time for musing during the next few months

Neil.

Looking back at 2012 - Spring

The 2012 butterfly season was without doubt a poor one in many respects with many species suffering badly under the persistent rain and prolonged overcast that were a feature of this summer.
It had all started so differently back in March when there were many areas still in drought and for a glorious week or so around my area there were Commas and Peacocks in plenty and the season seemed full of promise.

I remember taking the photo below and noticing how dry the ground looked.
The weather soon started to change and through April it got gloomier and wetter.
Despite this there were enough gaps when the sun peeked through for me to see good numbers of Orange Tips.
I saw them regularly in my garden, but out and about locally, numbers seemed down on last year which had been a very good one around here for Orange Tips.
At the end of March the first Speckled Wood appeared in my garden but it was not until the end of April that they became a constant presence, one that would continue all year apart from a gap for a couple of weeks in June.
Travelling a bit further afield around the midlands during May, Dingy Skippers seemed to be doing well at a couple of sites I visited whereas Grizzled Skipper numbers seemed a bit down on what I saw last year.
Also Green Hairstreaks were about in good numbers at the couple of sites that I saw them.
I am not sure how accurately this ties in with others observations; it is all about the timing and if I had visited a bit earlier or later then things may well have been different. In fact, as the season continued it became apparent that a lot of species were appearing late and it was all too easy to go looking for a given species too early and see nothing.

Bye for now,

Neil.

Nice commentary, Neil.

I think we all recognise that 2012 was almost a nadir for British butterflies. It was cool, it was wet, there were several extreme weather events, etc...

There's nothing we can do about it. We simply have to hope 2013 is relatively 'normal'.

Cracking shots Neil I'm torn between the Orange-tip and the Greenstreak for my fave I've still got a couple of catch up posts to go before I start reflecting back on the year but I imagine I'll say similar things, fingers crossed for a good one next year

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thanks for the comment guys

I think everbody had broadly similar experiences this year but the details may well be slightly different depending on where in the country you are. The last post and the next are primarily focused on my own personal experience in the midlands.

Cheers,

Neil.

Looking back at 2012 – Summer.

As late spring turned into summer on the calendar, even if it didn’t really feel like it, I managed to get out a fair bit to various sites around the midlands.
With the weather being as ‘unreliable’ as it was and my time being limited to some weekends and occasional days off work during the week, I tried to be careful with my selections of where to go.
I found that by checking sightings and looking at last minute weather reports, I managed to have mostly successful days even if the weather was not ideal. In fact I found that on some days I found surprising numbers of butterflies flying during brief sunny spells between the cloud and rain.

Travelling a bit, usually between 60-90 minutes from my house, I went to some excellent sites including The Wyre Forest for Pearl-bordered and Small Pearl-bordered Fritillaries, Salcey Forest (Wood whites), Prees Heath (Silver-studded Blues), Whixall Moss (Large Heath), and Fermyn Woods (Purple Emperor)
A little closer to home, around 30-45 minutes’ drive, I went to Oversley Wood, Snitterfield Bushes and Ryton Wood and saw Silver-washed Fritillaries in good numbers at all three sites. I also saw white Admirals at these sites but only a few at each, this seemed to be a second year that white Admiral numbers were down in Warwickshire.
Of my local sites near Solihull, I spent most time at Castle Hills and Shadowbrook Meadows plus also started visiting Babbs Mill LNR which was a new site for me.
Meadow Browns and Ringlets were at all these in large numbers as in fact they had been at all the sites I visited around the midlands. Meadow Browns especially seemed to increase in numbers even more as the Ringlet flight season came to an end.
Gatekeeper numbers were definitely down on last year, there were still good numbers at most sites but not the profusion that I saw last year.
Large and Small Skippers were at all local sites in good numbers and I found Essex skippers at both Castle Hills and Babbs Mill (eventually ) although I didn’t manage to check Elmdon Park where I had found Essex last year.
I also found Marbled Whites at these two sites, only a few including a mating pair at Babbs Mill but I had not found any at all around Solihull last year although they may be found in good numbers not far away including at Ryton and Snitterfield.
As the ‘summer’ continued, I became increasingly worried at the lack of Small Coppers and Common blues around my local patch and it was not until late August that I found the first examples of both species at Shadowbrook Meadows along with good numbers of Peacocks which had also appeared much later than last year. Small Copper and Common Blue numbers both appear to have suffered locally, I only found Small Coppers at one site (three last year) and a few Common Blues at two (also three last year).
Summer broods of all three common Whites were also late to get going, these also not appearing in good numbers until late August.

In the garden the Speckled Woods were ever present apart from a brief gap in late June which was a bit later than last year. Holly Blues also showed up regularly, perhaps not quite as many as last year but still enough for 1 or 2 to be seen every time the sun popped out.
From mid-July I also seemed to have a constant Red Admiral in the garden which actually proved to be 2 or 3 individuals which followed each other in claiming a territory over a patch of nettles.

Apart from my trips around the midlands, I also had a week in Norfolk at the end of May, a few days at Arnside Knott at the end of July and a week in Dorset during the first week of September but as these have been covered in some detail previously in my diary I am not going to go into them again now.

Bye for now,

Neil.

Some excellent shots there, Neil, and a pretty comprehensive commentaire.

Like you, I have bemoaned the lack of Small Coppers this year and feel sure I'll breathe a huge sigh of relief when I see my first one next year.

PS: Once again, that Large Heath is almost unbeatably impressive!

Agreed. Some lovely shots in there Neil. It seems that many of us managed to squeeze everything we possibly could out of a very tricky season.
BWs, Neil

Hi Neil,

It's really good to read your diary and to indulge in the recollection, via your pictures, of the highlights from the past season

Whixall Moss for Large Heath and Fermyn Woods for Purple Emperor are two locations I'm hoping to visit in 2013.

Fingers crossed ...

Kind regards. Mark