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Cheers Wurzel. Fingers crossed for a few more butterflies but to all intents and purposes my season has almost finished here.

Friday 23rd September.

After a few days with lots of cloud and a few occassional sunny spells, the week finished with a day of mostly warm sunshine that brought a bit of action around the flowering Ivy in my back garden with a Red Admiral, Comma and a couple of Speckled Woods visiting at various times during the afternoon.
With the weather turning cooler next week, I am not expecting to see many more butterflies around here now unless we get a warm spell in October. A late Clouded Yellow is possible given that a few have been reported in Warwickshire this year, but with no third brood Wall Browns or exotics like Long-tailed Blues or Queen of Spain around here, this is usually the time of year that my season fizzles out.

Bye for now,

Neil.

Lovely set of Commas Neil they've been a bit scarce this end of the season round here Fingers crossed for a nice warm spell in October

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Things looking equally on the wind down here, Neil, although Small Whites are hanging on nicely (and still a few Small Coppers here and there).

If we get another mild winter, we may see Clouded Yellows in spring given the quantity of eggs the immigrants have laid recently.

Cheers Wurzel. To be honest, I have not been able to get out looking as much as usual this year so I am finding it difficult to say how most species have actually done.

Thanks David. Yes, still a few Small Whites around here as well, or at least there were before the weather turned cold and wet over the past couple of days.

Garden Moths – September.

I have only had the garden moth trap out once so far in September, that being last week on the night of Tuesday September 20th which was mild with good cloud cover and very little wind.
The result was 83 moths of 20 species with 74 of 17 being macros and just 9 of 3 micros. The macros included a couple of typical autumn species with a nice fresh Black Rustic and 14 Lunar Underwings. Other than those however, it was very much a late summer selection with Large Yellow Underwings being the most numerous with 34 counted and everything else in ones and twos.

I think I have commented before that the Black Rustic always puts me in mind of the underside of a Peacock butterfly with its distinctive shades of black.
The Lunar Underwing comes in a variety of colour forms and I always get a good selection as shown below.
Since then we have had another run of quite chilly nights with some also being wet and quite windy and things are not set to change much this week so I am not sure when the trap will be out again.

Bye for now,

Neil.

My butterfly season has been well and truly over here for a while now, my last sighting being a faded Speckled Wood in my garden in the second week of October. There have been a few random sightings around the midlands more recently, mostly Red Admiral and there were also some Clouded Yellows reported from herbal leys further afield in Worcestershire and Northamptonshire but these were too far for me to travel in the time I had available.

My moth season is still going however…

Garden Moths – October.

During October I ended up running the moth trap in my garden on just three occasions. This was partly due to poor conditions i.e. too wet and/or windy but also towards the end of the month, we were away for a few days for our youngest son’s wedding down in Bristol.

The best night was that of the 3rd October when I had a total of 60 moths of 13 species. These included a NFG of The Gem, a migrant species which is more often recorded down south and which I am informed was one of only two recorded in Warwickshire so far this year. A fairly nondescript little moth really but one of my most notable records here this year.
There was also anther NFG with my first Beaded Chestnut for here. These can look very similar to some colour forms of Lunar Underwing and I have bee checking the latter carefully for the past few years hoping for one of these.
NFY’s on the night were Blair’s Shoulder-knot, Pink-barred Sallow, Green-brindled Crescent (dark form) and Red-line Quaker.
The next occasion was on the night of 13th and resulted in a much lower count of 10 moths of 7 species although these did include a NFY of a single Brick.
No doubt the lower numbers were due to the breeze swinging round to come from the north plus the clouds clearing overnight leading to the temperature dropping lower than expected.

Numbers were up a bit again on the night of the 29th with a total of 32 moths of 10 species. These were a typical selection of autumn moths including a NFY of Barred Sallow.
Also notable were 8 Red-green Carpets, most of which were nice and fresh, this being the highest number of these I have ever had on one night.
I haven’t run the trap yet in November but will hopefully do so on any promising looking nights as there are still a few species I could get at this late stage of the year.

Bye for now,

Neil.

Interesting set of Moffs Neil I've seen a Brick before and I totally get that name but I'm slightly bemused by the Gem -were they being sarcastic when they named that one Good luck with the next trap run

Have a goodun

Wurzel

that Red-green Carpet is the pick of the bunch for me

Cheers Wurzel. The only information I can find about The Gem's name is that it might refer to the spots on the forewings of the females (the males lack these). These can vary in brightness and can apparently look like small gemstones on some individuals...not so much on the one had though.

Thanks Paul. Out of 8 Red-green Carpets to the trap that night, 6 of them were nice fresh examples like that one.

Cheers,

Neil.

bugboy wrote: ↑Wed Nov 09, 2022 9:21 pmthat Red-green Carpet is the pick of the bunch for me

Me too, although I have to say they are all very attractive in their own way.

Thanks David. No more moths recently, wet and windy weather a now cold and frosty.

Looking back at 2022 part 1 - Spring

I was not going to do a ‘looking back’ post this year, mainly because much of my time was taken up with various family issues and I did not get out as much as I would have liked to.
These issues were mostly to do with looking after both mine and Jane’s moms due to their age and needing help with their houses and gardens as well as running them around for hospital appointments and other support.
However, Checking my records, I still managed to see 42 species which is about average for me over the past few years as I have long since given up chasing around trying to see a maximum number of species every year and these days much prefer a more relaxed approach to my butterflying.
These were all seen either around my local patch which this year consisted of me mostly concentrating on the small area of rough ground adjacent to my local park at Wagon Lane, or on a number of visits to Blythe Valley Park over the other side of Solihull. I only visited my nearby sites at Castle Hills and Bickenhill on one occasion each, not only due to the constraints on my time but also due to the disruption caused to some of the roads, mostly by HS2 but also other local ‘developments’, which have made getting there more awkward.

As always, my comments are based on what I saw myself and things may differ considerably from what others saw in other parts of the country.
Spring.

Anyway, after a fairly mild winter, early spring was pretty normal around here and although I looked a few times I failed to see a February butterfly this year.
My first sightings were on March 14th which is a few days earlier than the average around here but that can easily by accounted for by variations in the days I actually went out looking. The first butterfly was a Small Tortoiseshell which was quickly followed by a few others and a couple of Peacocks and Commas plus a single Brimstone giving me four species on the first day which is actually the first time I have managed this here.
The following couple of weeks saw good numbers of Small Tortoiseshells coming out of hibernation along with quite a few Commas, but Peacock numbers were lower than the past few years. Most days around this time would produce double figures of Small Tortoiseshells with around half a dozen Commas but just one or two Peacocks.
Brimstones would appear in ones and twos on most days which is pretty normal for me.

I have still never seen a spring Red Admiral around here.

The second week of April produced my first Speckled Wood of the year at Wagon Lane but then a trip down south to see our daughter in Emsworth meant that I did not see one in my garden until after our return, although I did see a few around Emsworth and the lanes around Bosham where we stayed in a B&B for a few days.
This trip was quite productive with good weather not only producing my first Green-veined Whites, Large White and Orange-tips of the year but also my first Red Admirals.
I also met up with Mark Tutton at Butser Hill where we found both Dingy and Grizzled Skippers, Green Hairstreaks and a couple of early Duke of Burgundy plus a single fresh Small Copper on a return visit a couple of days later.
Back home later in April, Holly Blues were appearing in good numbers and for some reason, quite possibly due to the warmish but often cloudy weather, they settled more often in my garden this year giving me some of my best photo opportunities of this species I have ever had.
The first part of May continued with a mix of sun and cloud but with very little rain. Numbers of Speckled Wood and Holly Blues were on the up but Orange-tips and Green-veined Whites didn’t seem as numerous as usual around here.

A trip down to Bishops Hill in mid-May produced good numbers of Small Blues plus a few Dingy Skippers but I failed to find any Grizzled Skippers there this year.
As is often the case here, my first Common Blues were also seen. These always appear on the warm limestone here a good week or so earlier than they do around my local spots which are on cold midland clay.
On 28th May, I paid what turned out to be my only visit to my local site at Castle Hills this year. This produced my first Small Heaths plus a single Brown Argus along with my first local Red Admirals along with a few Common Blues and Specked Wood. I also saw a few fresh looking Orange-tips and apparently others around Warwickshire were still seeing fresh OTs appearing.

In summary, Small Tortoiseshells had once again been my butterfly of the spring with good numbers appearing through the second half of March and through April. Peacock numbers were down on usual and both Orange-tip and Green-veined White numbers seemed lower than usual. I did not see many Small Whites either and only a couple of Large Whites. I can’t really comment on any of the more premium species as I simply did not see them often enough to make any real comparison.

Temperature wise, things had been warming up through May and there had been very little rainfall with what we had being quite light. Consequently it was already beginning to look quite dry everywhere.

I will continue with my impressions of the summer in my next post.

To be continued…

Neil.

Interesting read Neil a nice winter warmer , looking forward to the next one Cracking array of shots as well and that Specklie shot is just sublime

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Some nice species there, Neil, particularly the Common Blue with those faint, hindwing submarginal spots.

Surprised by your admission that you've never seen a spring Red Admiral round your way. The way the last few winters have been I'd have thought there'd be the odd one on the wing in March or April even in the Midlands. Mind you, with this cold, frosty spell showing no sign of letting up, it might be late May before any of us see them next year.

Love your shot of the Small Blue Neil, the blue really stands out Goldie

Cheers Wurzel...next lot coming up.

Thanks David. There have been some reports of spring Red Admirals in the last few years from other parts of the midlands but I have not seen one around my local patch, by which I mean the immediate vicinity around Solihull.

Thanks Goldie, the light caught that one nicely giving the blue scales a bit of a 'sparkle'

Looking back at 2022 part 2 – Summer.

As we moved from late May into early June and into meteorological summer the weather continued to be mostly warm although clouds would build up on most days but these rarely brought any rain. We also entered into a noticeable June gap here this year although the low numbers of butterflies were made up somewhat by day flying moths, some of which would have a great year, most notably Latticed Heath and Burnet Companion, both of which I saw in very good numbers around Solihull.

Our daughter Sarah came up from Emsworth with the grandkids for a few days over the Jubilee Bank holiday and with her husband on deployment in Poland we arranged to take her back afterwards and stay down there for a couple of days. During this trip I managed a visit to Chapel Common on the 6th of June to look for Silver-studded Blues. They were obviously early in their flight period there and I ended up seeing a couple of dozen fresh males and a single very fresh female on what started out as a dull day but brightened up a bit later in the morning.
On that same day I then went on to Old Winchester Hill in the afternoon where I found first brood Adonis Blues plus some fresh Dark Green Fritillaries which were the earliest I have ever seen these with my sightings of this species usually being later in June.
I had seen my first Meadow Brown at Blythe Valley on 2nd June, an early sighting for my local patch, then a few more were seen at both Chapel Common and Old Winchester Hill

Back home, summer brood Speckled Woods and Small Tortoiseshells started appearing in the second week of June and my first Large Skipper of the year turned up at the local park by my mom’s house on June 10th.
A few days later, a wander around Sheldon Country Park by Birmingham Airport produced more Large Skippers along with an early Small Skipper and the first Small Heaths of the year as well as more Meadow Browns and loads of day flying moths, mostly Latticed Heath and Burnet Companions as mentioned previously plus a few Mother Shipton. I also saw a few Chimney Sweepers and Grass Rivulets these two being local species in Warwickshire and my targets for this walk.
A wander down to my local spot by Wagon Lane on 17th June produced my first Ringlet of 2022 along with a dozen or so Small Tortoiseshells and Meadow Browns. A similar walk three days later produced lots more Ringlets along with increasing numbers of Meadow Browns and Small Tortoiseshells plus the first summer Commas and a couple of Painted Ladies. The latter were the first I had ever seen at this spot which was an indication that this was going to be a good year for these.
A trip down to Oversley Wood on the morning of 22nd June produced Silver-washed Fritillaries in good numbers along with a few White Admirals and another couple of Painted Ladies as well as half a dozen Red Admirals and large numbers of Ringlets, Meadow Browns and Large Skippers.
No Purple Emperors for me at Oversley Wood this year, apparently I was a bit too early.

After Oversley, I drove the short distance over the border into Worcestershire and Grafton Wood where I saw my first Wood Whites for a few years. These were getting a bit late in their flight period there but I managed to find a dozen or so still flying.
By the end of June and going into July we still weren’t seeing much rain and things were becoming very dry with some vegetation already starting to show signs of desiccation.
Small Skippers were now outnumbering Large Skippers and my first Essex Skipper of the year appeared at Wagon Lane on 4th July on a warm sunny day which also produced good numbers of Small Tortoiseshells and Commas.
Blythe Valley produced my first 2022 Marbled Whites on July 6th which was a warm but cloudy day that also produced a fleeting glimpse of my first Gatekeeper along with hordes of Meadow Browns and Small/Essex Skippers.
After a lot of cloud in the first week of July, we then entered a period of increasingly warm weather with lots of clear blue skies although we would still often see clouds bubble up through the afternoon. By the middle of the month, there were loads of Gatekeepers flying around here and Essex Skippers were outnumbering Smalls but by the third week of the month Large Skippers had almost disappeared with just a few worn examples still hanging on.
Small Tortoiseshells and Commas were seen in fairly good numbers but my impression was that both species were not quite as numerous as in the spring. Summer Peacocks also appeared with my first seen on 20th June but following on from a poor showing in the spring their numbers were well down. I was also seeing Red Admirals at most places that I went to although usually just in ones and twos.
Common Blues appeared to be having a poor year around here and although I saw them at all the sites where I would expect to see them, numbers were well down from a couple of years ago. I believe that the poor weather and storms that hit the emerging summer brood here last year led to the poor numbers this spring and the dry weather this year hasn’t helped the follow on summer brood.
The same conditions hit Small Coppers and Brown Argus around here and I only found a few of the former locally and failed to find any summer brood Brown Argus here at all. Having said that, Brown Argus are never numerous around here and are very hit and miss from year to year.
On the other hand, I saw lots of summer brood Holly Blues with similar numbers seen as in the spring.

Whites also became more numerous from mid-July with lots of Green-veined Whites appearing first before Small Whites joined them later in the month.
Large Whites were also seen in increasing numbers but they remained the least numerous of the three common species.

I think I will stop there and continue with late summer into autumn in the next post.

To be continued…

Neil.

You've got some fantastic shots there Neil all so clear and sharp, I can never seem to get that sharpness in my shots.

Love the shots of the Small Heath and the Essex Skipper Goldie

Cracking set of images again Neil That's a very swarthy looking Painted Lady Is Grafton Wood easy to find - I've got in-laws that live in Worcester so I'm trying to convince my wife that we need to visit them

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Some beautiful colours in your last post, Neil, particularly that Peacock with the wonderful, powder-blue suffusion on the upf eye-spots.

I especially like the Green Veined White at the end. It's not marked particularly strongly but that lemon yellow hue makes it look more attractive than most of this species.

Thanks Goldie, Wurzel and David, much appreciated

Wurzel wrote: ↑Thu Dec 15, 2022 8:29 pm ...Is Grafton Wood easy to find - I've got in-laws that live in Worcester so I'm trying to convince my wife that we need to visit them

Quite easy Wurzel although there is a walk from the car park. Take the A422 west from Worcester and look for the turn off for Grafton Flyford. Head for the church where there is space for parking. You then need to take the public footpath through the farmyard and follow the path over the fields to the wood.

Looking back at 2022 part 3 – Late Summer into Autumn.

The last day of July saw us going up to the Arnside/Silverdale area for a few days. The main reason for this trip was to catch up with Scotch Argus as I had not seen this species since before covid struck, in fact my last visit up this way was in June 2019 which was to see other species and was obviously far too early for Scotch Argus.
As is our usual practice on our trips to this area, we arrived with a few hours to spare before we could check in to our B&B and so we called in at Warton Crag. We had left the midlands under thick cloud and on our way up had driven through a couple of heavy downpours as well as some nice sunny spells. As we went further north the general scenery became much greener than back home and it was obvious that there had been more rain up that way, something that was confirmed in a number of conversations over the next few days. This really brought home to us how much our weather can vary in different parts of the country and some people up there were rather disparaging about the media coverage of ‘the drought’. Their opinion was that they had seen a bit less rainfall than usual but they were more concerned about the almost constant cloud, something we also saw a lot of during our few days along with it being quite windy.
Anyway, Warton Crag produced plenty of the usual suspects, these mostly being Gatekeepers and Meadow Browns with a scattering of Common Blues and Brimstone plus a few Small Tortoiseshells and a couple each of Peacock and Painted Lady. I also saw my first couple of Graylings for 2022 and a surprise White-letter Hairstreak.
With time still to spare we carried on to Arnside Knott where I found a couple of dozen Scotch Argus in the usual spots. Both males and females were flying with some already looking worn and faded although nice fresh looking examples were easy to find with this being still quite early in their flight period here.
During a couple more visits to Arnside Knott, I saw plenty more Scotch Argus along with a few worn and faded Dark Green Fritillaries. The DGF females were mostly in better condition than the few males that I saw that really were on their last legs.
On my previous visits up this way, I have often managed to see a High Brown Fritillary or two, although these were often a bit worn by this time. On my visit on August 1st I initially concentrated on the lower areas where I had seen these before and was rewarded with a nice female that was still if fairly good condition. I did see a another possible HBF in another part of the knott on the next day but couldn’t get close enough to be absolutely sure.
Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers were seen in good numbers along with Graylings which were mostly around the areas of loose scree. There were also plenty of Small Skippers, some of which were surprisingly fresh looking for this time of the season…although it must be remembered that some species do fly later up here than in the south.
Another surprise for this trip was a Brown Hairstreak seen up on Arnside Knott after a tip off from a couple of other enthusiast that had seen one (or maybe two) up here. This turned out to be the only Brown Hairstreak that I saw this year as, back home, the circumstances previously mentioned preventing me having the time to see any more.
Back home in the second week of August, Common Blues and Small Coppers were flying at the local spots that I managed to visit although only small numbers of both species were seen.
Gatekeepers were looking tired now and Meadow Browns had all but finished around here, as had the skippers.

Lots of Whites were around with Green-veined easily outnumbering Small and Large Whites still only being seen occasionally.

Speckled Woods had been seen constantly seen through the summer and late August saw a definite upsurge in fresh ones emerging.

Most of August had been a warm month here with some very warm days in the middle of the moth although we had a lot of cloud, usually increasing through the day after clear nights. By the end of the month and into September we started to have a lot more rain, often in the form of thunderstorms.
Following one such thunderstorm on the night of Sunday 4th September, we set out for another couple of days down at Sarah’s in Emsworth. We saw loads more rain on the way down but on our arrival in Emsworth it began to brighten up and with some blue skies heading in for the afternoon I decided to make the most of it and have a look around Thorney Island.
As the clouds thinned and more blue sky appeared, it became quite warm and more and more butterflies appeared as I ventured along the perimeter path down to the southern end of Thorney. These were mainly Speckled Wood and Small White to start with but as I went further along the path they were joined by Small Heaths and a few Red Admirals as well as a couple each of Comma and Small Copper.
I was hoping to catch up with Clouded Yellows here, this often being a good spot for these and was therefore pleased to catch up with a few down at the southern end, including a nice female helice.
Apparently, Clouded Yellows had a good year and in some notable cases were seen in large numbers in fields and herbal leys around the country, including one in Warwickshire, but these on Thorney turned out to be the only ones I would see in 2022.

We had a spectacular thunderstorm that night and after a dull start to the next morning (Tuesday Sept. 6th) a visit to Old Winchester Hill produced second brood Adonis Blues and half a dozen or so Silver-spotted Skippers, both species mostly looking past their best now.
Also past their best were a small number of really knackered looking Chalk Hill Blues with this being the only occasion I saw this species this year.

Back home in mid-September, thing were winding down fast with just a few Speckled Wood and Small Whites being seen.

The last butterflies that I photographed in 2022 were singles each of Speckled Wood, Comma and Red Admiral that appeared in my garden on 23rd September and spent some time around the flowering Ivy when the sun came out.
Other than that, we had a lot of cloud and rain here in the later part of September and then going into October with the last butterflies seen being a couple of well-worn Speckled Woods that just about hung on into the second week October.

So then, a strange year in many respects, not least the fact that I couldn’t get about as much as in previous years which obviously mean that for a lot of species I cannot really make accurate comparisons with previous years.
After a dry spring, the summer saw some very hot weather with record breaking temperatures in some parts, although we never saw the magic 40 degrees that some experienced. I believe the highest temperature recorded locally was 38.5c which is still well above normal. We also saw a lot of cloud around here at times, seemingly a lot more than further south, although not as much as I was told about up around the Arnside area.

Some species, most notably those flying during the warmest and driest periods, appeared to have shorter flight periods than usual. Also, the dry conditions caused a lot of desiccation of foodplants as the summer progressed and it remains to be seen how this will affect numbers next year.

For me, the season fizzled out rapidly in mid-September with just a few butterflies hanging on into October as described above.

That completes my look back at my 2022 season and it just remains for me to wish everyone a...

Merry Christmas

and a

Happy New Year.

Great annual round up Neil, and a few mrgreens too!

For the High Brown, and anther for the Scotch Argus.
Good to see a few Sussex butterflies in the mix as well.

Have a great Christmas and 2023 ,

Trevor.

That was an extremely productive trip up north, Neil. Scotch Argus, High Brown Fritillary, Grayling with a bonus pair of Hairstreak species must have been very satisfying.

Great that you unearthed a helice later on too. I've still never seen that form in the UK.