October 2024

[Testudo Man]

Back on the 11/10/24, i sighted 3 Red Admiral in my garden, they are still feeding on the White Buddleia! A week before that my garden species were 5! All singles though, consisting of Speckled Wood, Comma, Holly Blue, Red Admiral, Large White.
A couple of weeks ago, i placed 3 bananas on a patio table in the back garden hoping to entice a butterfly on the over ripe fruit! I was about to give up any hope of some action on the rotting bananas (they were at the oozing stage by now!!!) when a Red Admiral was seen nectaring on the banana.

I shot several nice images of this Red Admiral, even getting in real close for some macro action, an i noticed the Red Admirals proboscis kind of blowing bubbles whilst feeding??!!
Some highlight pics from back on the 11th. No images are cropped, cheers Paul.

Note the bubble on the upper part of the proboscis.

[Testudo Man]

Testing.......................i cant see my previous post???...yet my photos can be seen on the UKButterflies main page???
If i now look on this post, i can see my previous post, plus other posts before that??? Will this post even appear, who knows

[Testudo Man]

I will try again, in case my previous post some how got lost?

Back on the 11/10/24, i sighted 3 Red Admiral in my garden, they are still feeding on the White Buddleia! A week before that my garden species were 5! All singles though, consisting of Speckled Wood, Comma, Holly Blue, Red Admiral, Large White.
A couple of weeks ago, i placed 3 bananas on a patio table in the back garden hoping to entice a butterfly on the over ripe fruit! I was about to give up any hope of some action on the rotting bananas (they were at the oozing stage by now!!!) when a Red Admiral was seen nectaring on the banana.

I shot several nice images of this Red Admiral, even getting in real close for some macro action, an i noticed the Red Admirals proboscis kind of blowing bubbles whilst feeding??!!
Some highlight pics from back on the 11th. No images are cropped, cheers Paul.

Note the bubble on the upper part of the proboscis.

EDIT - all good now, its working as norm

[Jack Harrison]

15th October
Dark butterfly seen in flight at Alturlie near Inverness. 
I had just been fitted with new hearing aids at the nearby hospital: I was confident that the butterfly was a Peacock.

Jack

[millerd]

After three days with virtually no sunshine, cool temperatures and next to no butterflies, today (15th) was distinctly warmer and there were some hints of brightness in the early afternoon. I set off around my local patch and managed to find four species: Red Admiral (5), Large White (1), Small White (4) and Common Blue (2).

The Large White, a male, was not prepared to stop anywhere accessible.

I was surprised to find those two Small Whites were pretty fresh-looking for this point in the year.

Dave

[David M]

..I was confident that the butterfly was a Peacock.

Wouldn't surprise me given the numbers you've seen up there this autumn, Jack.

[Matsukaze]

Red Admiral fluttering in the gloom here in Somerset a couple of days ago.

[Jack Harrison]

I wrote:

I had just been fitted with new hearing aids at the nearby hospital: I was confident that the butterfly was a Peacock.

Maybe you've all got used to my warped sense of humour. That was simply two statements with no connection between the two; deliberately written like that in the hope of eliciting a response. But nobody took the bait.

However, while sitting outside just now (late afternoon, 16th October) I was buzzed by a Red Admiral that most considerately, then rested on the shed wall. A mere 15°C and cloudy.

And to be absolutely clear, although I did have a glass of wine in my hand, I had yet to take a sip when I saw the Red Admiral

Jack

[millerd]

Very warm and humid locally today, with brief bursts of sunshine. I found 7 species along the route of my usual walk, including a Brimstone presumably roused by the balmy weather. The others included a familiar Small Copper (which hasn't quite fallen to bits yet!) and several Specklies - neither of which species I saw yesterday...

...a Common Blue...

...and a Large White.

Also seen were Red Admirals and Small Whites.

Tomorrow's forecast promises more sunshine and staying warm, so it could be an even better day.

Dave

[millerd]

Not quite as warm as yesterday, and the promised sunshine was rather hazy most of the time. However, I found 32 butterflies this morning, 14 of which were Red Admirals (and 10 of those were on one patch of ivy). It was largely the same mix as on 16th, but the Brimstone was replaced by three Peacocks today.

The unexpected surprise of the outing was finding a female Small Copper in the area nearest home (close to the ivy hosting the Red Admirals), darting from flower to flower and then disappearing. There is a lot of sorrel hereabouts, so with luck she'll have been down under that somewhere, egg-laying.

The last one I saw in this area was in summer 2023, but singletons do pop up here from time to time.

Dave

[bugboy]

Like Dave, the promised sunshine never really quite happened but there was just enough for some activity. I had another wander around the coastal paths near Tilbury. Walls it would seem are still emerging, a couple of fresh ones were seen amongst several worn ones. Also seen a trio of Common Blue, Small, Large and GV Whites, Speckled Wood and Red Admiral.

Context shot of prime Essex Wall real-estate

[David M]

Thursday 17th, Aberthawe Beach, Glamorgan:

Small White 23
Red Admiral 1

En route back home, there was a single Speckled Wood in Oystermouth Cemetery.

[millerd]

Very foggy in my part of the world this morning, with it only lifting and clearing to sunshine after midday. Pleasantly warm thereafter, but not as many butterflies were seen as yesterday. However, the roster included two new females today - or should I say one-and-three-quarters...

The first was a Speckled Wood that had lost an entire hindwing very early in life...

...and the second was a striking new Common Blue.

There were two males flying within a few metres of where she was basking, so one of them may make an unexpected discovery before the day is out.

Amongst other butterflies seen was a Comma, the first I've come across for a week. A lousy shot, but it was disturbed by both the wasp and the Red Admiral just behind it.

The ivy flowers are beginning to go over, and there is a fair bit of competition for their remaining nectar.

Dave

[bugboy]

All my weather apps kept telling me the extreme south east would be bathed in sunshine today, and for once they were right, near cloudless skies from dawn to dusk along the Kent coast between Dover and Kingsdown.

Peacock 20+ (must have been a strong second brood down there)
Small White 10+ (nothing exciting to report amongst them)
Red Admiral 5
Speckled Wood 3
Painted Lady 2
GVW 1
Large White 1
Brimstone 1
Common Blue 1
Wall 1

Quite respectable for the second half of October

[David M]

Quite respectable for the second half of October

Extremely good I'd say, Paul, given how things have been for much of the year.

I don't think even with great fortune I could hit double figure numbers of species right now round my way, and that additional brood of Peacocks is a real blessing, providing some colour and variety.

[millerd]

After another wet night, the sun came out this afternoon locally, but there were fewer butterflies. After the new female Common Blue yesterday, I spotted a very new-looking male today, but as I approached it something didn't seem quite right. Aside from one sudden jerk of the wings to fully open, it wasn't moving for one thing.

Then it abruptly fell from the flower head to reveal that it had been caught by a spider - not a crab spider for once, but some other species.

With so few butterflies around, this was one very lucky arachnid indeed, but the sad demise of a lovely fresh butterfly that may well have only emerged within the last day or two.

Dave

[David M]

Shame to see such a pristine specimen suffer a demise such as that, Dave. As you say, the spider hit the jackpot there.

[PhilBJohnson]

Lincolnshire, latish Red Admiral sighting October 19th 2024

Gardening tips
A white variety, dwarf buddleia, which had profuse blooms, that appeared to keep on flowering, when "spent" flowers were removed. For vigorous buddleia growth, sunlight days are reducing, but the semi evergreen shrubs, might be progressively pruned back, to encourage more shoots to develop, lower down, on a mature plant. Advice was to not leave them with no leaves, or only a small number, as growth bounce back, might be significantly reduced, with amounts of dead wood later.

Keep dancing!

[David M]

Saturday 19th, Kenfig NNR, Glamorgan:

Comma 2
Small Copper 1
Red Admiral 1

[millerd]

After two days of gloom, sunshine and a warm breeze returned today (22nd) - as did a few butterflies. I found five species locally, with ten individuals seen altogether. These included a brand new Red Admiral...

...a surprise male Green-veined White (but no other whites at all)...

...and a nearly new female Common Blue.

The other species were Specklies and a Comma: more in my PD fairly soon.

Dave