September 2023

[David M]

Wednesday 13th, Port Eynon, Gower:

Small White 136
Large White 18
Red Admiral 16
Painted Lady 9
Meadow Brown 7
Small Copper 5
Speckled Wood 5
Clouded Yellow 2
Comma 1
Common Blue 1

[millerd]

A or two for your Cloudies, David. They don't seem to have penetrated as far inland as me yet...

Never mind - there are new butterflies still emerging on my local patch. On another gloriously sunny and warm day, I came upon a brand new Red Admiral, still in post-pupal doziness as it slipped off a grass blade to the ground and had to be rescued.

There were freshly emerged Commas...

...and a new third brood of Common Blues just starting.

This Brimstone wouldn't have been quite so new, but still a youngster for the species.

A little more worn were this Brown Argus...

...and these two Small Coppers.

Also seen: Meadow Brown, Small Heath, Speckled Wood, Holly Blue and all three of the common White species.

Dave

[Matsukaze]

..I was not expecting the latter this far north.

I think they're even on Orkney, Chris. It's ssp oblita if I'm not mistaken?

Speckled Wood must be very localised on Orkney as the open terrain looks thoroughly unsuitable for the species. There are Vanessids about here, presumably Red Admirals.

[David M]

Distribution charts show it as present, Chris, although as you say they're not normally associated with open, windswept places!

[Ian Pratt]

Good to see the larger butterflies yesterday on sedum.

[David M]

Friday 15th, Aberthaw Beach, Glamorgan:

Small White 200-300
Large White 40-50
Painted Lady 15
Meadow Brown 13
Clouded Yellow 8-12
Red Admiral 8
Small Copper 2
Common Blue 2
Small Tortoiseshell 1

[millerd]

Hopeful for some Clouded Yellows, I visited coastal Sussex today. However, I had to make do with these instead (plus an unexpected Bugboy sighting! ).

Dave

[Testudo Man]

...What really caught my eye was a few stunning "Lemon Fresh" Green-veined Whites. In the strong sunlight, the yellow on these GVW's was absolutely amazing! Im not sure ive seen such yellow beauties like these before.

Beautiful, Paul. The image of the mating pair really shows how yellow the female is by comparison.

Thanks for that David, yes, the colour comparison of the mating pair was quite something.

Saturday just gone, an i was on a mission to find some Small Coppers!!! I dont see many Small Coppers throughout the season, so it would be hard going! I had planned to visit several sites, but a "traffic snarl up" forced me to visit just the 2 sites...the last location was not on the cards, but it ended up being the most productive! Funny how things "pan out"!
1st location- Darland Banks, Kent...just the 3 Small Coppers seen. 2nd Location - Bluebell Hill, Kent...6+ Small Coppers seen. The Bluebell Hill Small Coppers, proved to be the most photogenic too. I also sighted a nice female Adonis ab. at Bluebell Hill, so that was a bonus.
Hard going at both locations, with maybe 10 species seen on the day, all low numbers (apart from Meadow Browns).

Some highlights of the Bluebell Hill Small Coppers (i will return to this site before the season ends).
No images are cropped. Cheers Paul.

That female Adonis Blue Ab.

An just for a comparison, a male Adonis Blue ab. that i sighted back in August. 2 other female Adonis Blue abs. were sighted back in August too.

[David M]

Lovely abs, Paul. Wish I had this species on my doorstep.

[Testudo Man]

Lovely abs, Paul. Wish I had this species on my doorstep.

Thanks David...i guess for me to see local Adonis Blues, it would be within approx 6 miles from my door step!

But.........................im sure you have certain species near you, that i just dont see here in Kent.

[David M]

...But.........................im sure you have certain species near you, that i just dont see here in Kent.

One or two

[Ian Pratt]

I was surprised to see five species today on a short afternoon walk:
Speckled wood, red admiral, peacock, wall brown and comma. Also, common darter and migrant hawker dragonflies.

[millerd]

The blue hindwing spots on that Red Admiral are strikingly large, Ian. Really eye-catching.

Cheers,

Dave

[Bertl]

Only red admirals left in my Aberdeen garden now.

Bert.

[Kip]

28 Red Admirals in my North Yorks garden this afternoon, including this rather attractive minor aberration, with red ups hw band verging to yellow....

[millerd]

Calm and sunny mornings over the last two days have meant the butterflies have reappeared on my local patch near Heathrow, notably a selection of Small Coppers spread right across the site.

Also of note has been a steady stream of Red Admirals flying purposefully at low tree-top height directly towards the sun. The odd one stopped briefly though...

I'm guessing that the offspring of the large summer northward migration have sensed the change in day length, weather and wind direction and are heading for warmer climes.

Dave

[Allan.W.]

Had a couple of hours in the local woods this afternoon ,quite warm .........around 19 c with some cloud ,which helped slow the butterflies down a bit . Still a good mixture of species on show ,with many Peacocks on the wing .

I reckon around 30 in all including the minor AB;Diopthalmica ............probably the best one that i,ve found .

Several Commas were also around ,some real beauties .

I saw a single male Brimstone ,making the most of the Scabious plants .

A few Small Coppers were still around ,amongst them this nice female AB;Extensa .

Allan.W.

[Stevieb]

Ivy doing the business in the garden this morning with a dozen Red Admirals, a Comma, and my first garden Painted Lady .

Melksham, Wiltshire

23rd September

23rd September

23rd September

[David M]

Had a couple of hours in the local woods this afternoon ,quite warm .........around 19 c with some cloud ,which helped slow the butterflies down a bit . Still a good mixture of species on show ,with many Peacocks on the wing..

I'm surprised your part of the country is still seeing good numbers of active Peacocks, Allan. We had good numbers of them in the second half of August but they've dried up since then but for the odd, lone individual.

[Allan.W.]

Plenty of Peacocks David but very, very few Clouded Yellows ............been enjoying your Cloudie posts ! Good numbers of Comma and Red Admirals still showing ...............but Small Torts have finished .............did have a late (ish) female Meadow Brown at Dungeness today plus a flybye male Cloudie ..............my second of the year (1st on May 5th ) also of note a female Long-Tail in the Obs garden very briefly and two Painted Ladies. Biggest surprise was a big emergence of Mint-fresh Small Coppers ............confused now as to which brood they belong to ? counted 56 on a very short walk ....................Brilliant !
Allan.W.