www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Tuesday 19th November

My season is well and truly over and has been for a few weeks now. The last butterflies that I saw were a couple of faded Speckled Wood and a Small White in my garden in the second week of October which is fairly normal for here, my season rarely extends past mid October. There have been sightings since from around the midlands with the odd Red Admiral and Speckled Wood being reported and I could possibly have found something if I had really put my mind to it but with the law of dimishing returns and so much else to do, it is hard to justify the effort.

The past few weeks have been really dull here with day after day of gloomy grey clouds with just the occasional brighter spell. Yesterday morning was not too bad but some rain started in the afternoon and became heavier into the evening until some time in th early hours when it turened to snow.
We woke up this morning to a covering of a couple of inches and then the snow continued through most of th emorning although with it settling on wet ground it was melting as fast as it was coming down. We have had snow here in early December a few times with occasional heavy falls but this is the first time I can remember having any this early in November, certainly not in my recent memory anyway.
As usual at this time of year as it has got colder, increasing numbers of birds have been coming to the garden. Most of the usual species are there although I no longer see the Bullfinches. I think the reason for this is the numbers of House Sparrows that I now get with boisterous mobs of them in the garden most days which I think deter the more shy Bullfinches from visiting. Swings and roudabouts I suppose as a few years back the Sparrows became quite scarce around here but now numbers have bounced back remarkably quickly and it is good to hear their constant cheeping and chattering again.

One species that I do see more often here these day is the Nuthatch, one or two of which visit most days.
Over the next week or so I will try and put a few words together for a look back at my season, my gut feeling is that is was a poor one for me but I will see what my notes tell me.

Bye for now,

Neil.

Wow! Didn't realise the snow had come so far south, Neil.

Nothing except a half hour of sleet down here (which didn't stick).

I think the butterfly season all over the country is probably over now.

Hi David. It got a bit further south of us by all accounts. Also Northamptonshire which lies to the east of us looks to have got more than us.
Most of it here had melted by late afternoon but I was surprised to see that we had some more last night with another light coating to greet us this morning.
As I write this the sky has cleared and temperature are plummeting. Looks like we are in for a proper frost tomorrow morning.

Bye for now,

Neil.

A bit more snow on Wednesday night leading to a light dusting to greet us on Thursday morning. It was mostly melted by midday but some stubborn patches remained in shady spots until today (Friday). A cold week with more snow seen here so far than we had in the whole of last winter...and it actually isn't winter yet .

Anyway. Time for a look back at my 2024 season

Looking back at 2024 part 1.

As usual, my thoughts are mostly based on my observations around my local patch here in Solihull although I will include some thoughts on what I saw elsewhere around the country.
I will not go into too much detail on individual species here to avoid duplication of comments with the favourite photo threads. Similarly I will try to avoid posting the same photos in both places but it may be unavoidable in some cases due to the limited number of photos that I managed to take of some species this year.

It will come as no surprise that my season was a poor one, in fact I would go so far as to say that for me it was the worst season I have seen since the so called washout summer of 2012. The reason for this was simply down to the weather which around here consisted of long periods of dull grey cloud, not just in the spring but continuing through the rest of the year. This lack of warm sun led to runs of cool temperatures with only a couple of times through the whole season when we had warm sunny weather that lasted for longer than just a day or two. This poor weather meant that I got out less often than I probably would have done which in turn obvioulsy led to me seeing fewer butterflies. Even so, when I did get out there were often fewer butterlies to be seen with some species being well down in number.

I saw my first butterfly on March 15th, a Comma that flew through my garden, but it was another 9 days (March 24th) before I saw anything else when my local spot by Wagon Lane produced 3 Commas, 2 Peacocks and a single Small Tortoisehell.

Late March into early April saw a lot of cloud and rain here with butterfly numbers seen on the occasional brighter day remaing low and consisting of the three 'common' hibernators here, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock and Comma.
Red Admiral is still not a spring butterfly for me although it does appear to have overwintered successfully in more sheltered parts of the midlands in recent years.

The first Speckled Wood appeared on April 11th along with the first Brimstone and Orange-tip and then Holly Blue showing up a week later on April 19th.
Overall numbers were still low with the weather later in the month being awful as summarised in these comments copied from my PD at the time;
Saturday 27th April.
Dull grey overcast all day. Nothing seen.
Sunday 28th April.
More grey cloud but now with added rain or drizzle all day. Nothing seen.
Monday 29th April.
A little brighter but only in that there was some lighter grey cloud. Quite windy but at least no rain. Nothing seen.

It brightened up on April 30th when I finally saw my first Small and Green-veined Whites but numbers of these remained low locally throughout the spring.

Things remained much the same going into early May and on 5th we went down south to spend a few days at what has become our regular B&B in Bosham so that we could visit our daughter and family in Emsworth. The first couple of days down there were dull and wet but I did catch up with a couple of Duke of Burgundy when we stopped off in these poor conditions at Old Winchester Hill. Especially suprising as these were the only two butterflies seen there on that occasion.
The weather improved greatly on the 7th when I noticed good numbers of Orange-tips and Green-veined Whites around the lanes opposite our B&B in Bosham.

On the 8th I had my first really good day of the year with a morning at Butser Hill where I added Green Hairstreak, Small Heath, Grizzled Skipper and Dingy Skipper along with more DoB.
This was followed by an afternoon when I met Mark Tutton at Stansted Forest where we saw a couple of fresh Pearl-bordered Fritillaries.
I also saw the first Large White and Red Admiral of the year at Stansted Forest although total numbers of butterflies seemed to be on the low side.

Back home the weather was once again unsettled with butterfly numbers remaining low but I did see my first Painted Lady of the year when one appeared on the Red Valerian in my garden on 18th May.
Later in the month the weather improved a bit and became a bit warmer although there would still often be a lot of cloud about. A trip down to Bishops Hill in south Warwickshire on the 20th in mixed conditions provided good numbers of Small Blue and fresh Common Blues along with a few dingy and Grizzles Skippers.
A few days later on 25th, my second really good day of the year, down at Prestbury Hill by Cheltenham added Marsh Fritillary, Brown Argus and Adonis Blue along with lots of Small Blue, some faded Green Hairsteaks and some mostly worn and faded Duke of Burgundy still flying.
After that, a week of dull and surprisingly cool weather for the time of year saw us to the end of the month and into June.

Apart from a couple of good days as descibed above, both of which were away from my local area, it had been a poor spring. Butterfly numbers for most species locally remained low. Small Tortoiseshell in particular did poorly compared with recent years with just half a dozen being the highest daily count, compared with 18 in spring of last year and 25+ in 2022.

I'll stop there and continue into summer with my next post.

To be continued.

Neil.

I read your post with interest Neil as it's always good to get an insight into spots further afield. The weather certainly hampered me a it this year but not as much as yourself and the lack of butterflies was a worry I found just looking through the cracking images after I'd read the text cheered me up a bit though

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Neil Freeman wrote: ↑Fri Nov 22, 2024 7:30 pm...A cold week with more snow seen here so far than we had in the whole of last winter...and it actually isn't winter yet..

Frightening thought, Neil, although winters generally are much milder than they used to be!

Nice to see your spring species. Gives us something to look forward to as in 4 months they'll be returning to brighten our lives once more.

Hi! Neil, you got a few of the species I missed But I agree it's been an awful year for the Butterflies funny though, that the Heath Fritillary seem to have a great year, maybe it's because they're more protected with being so rare, hope fully next year will be better Goldie

Cheers Wurzel. I always find it a pleasure looking back through my photos and reminding myself of better days, especially with the cold wet and gloomy weather we are having here lately.

Thanks David. Yes, winters here have tended to be mild lately. Lets see what this one has in store for us.

Hi Goldie. I noticed that Heath Fritillary looked to be having a good year, as did one or two other of the more habitat specialist species.

Looking back at 2024 part 2.

Early June continued with the theme of mostly poor weather and we entered a period that was very much a definite 'June gap'. The second week of June was appalling here, cool and cloudy with lots of rain. It finally cleared up on 16th when my local spot by Wagon Lane produced my first couple of Meadow Browns along with handful of Speckled Wood and a couple of unidentified whites.
The first Large Skippers showed up a few days later on 19th which heralded a few warmer days although there would still be quite a bit of cloud around and a cool breeze which would knock the temperatures down a few degrees.
A trip over to the other side of Solihull to visit Blythe Valley Park on the 20th saw the first Ringlets along with more Meadow Browns and a few Large Skippers and Speckled Wood and just a single Common Blue.
The third week of June was much of the same with numbers of butterflies, even Meadow Browns and Ringlets, still being worringly low although I did see the first Marbled Whites at Castle Hills near Solihull on 22nd.
Around 50+ Ringlets and 25-30 Meadow Browns were also seen along with a dozen or so Large Skippers, all three being well down on what I should normally see here at this time of year.

Then a few days of better weather culminated on the 26th with the warmest day so far this year. In fact I believe some parts of the south-east saw 30 degrees although the highest temperature I personally saw was 28C with 29 being the highest reported from the midlands. I made the most of this with a trip over to Grafton Wood in Worcestershire where I added Wood White and White Admiral to my years tally with approx a dozen of each seen.
Reasonable numbers of Meadow Browns and Ringlets were also seen but again both species were nowhere near as numerous as they should have been. In fact I bumped into the reserver manager John Tilt who told me that he was quite despondant about the low numbers of butterflies that he was seeing on his transects.
A run down to Harbury Spoilbank on 27th on a morning of mixed cloud and sun produced 100+ Marbled Whites, 40+ Ringlets but only 20-25 Meadow Browns. A single Large Skipper was also seen along with the first Small Skipper of the year.
I had gone there to look for Dark Green Fritillaries but only found a couple of males. Numbers of these have been steadily dropping in recent years due to the lack of management at this site which is steadily scubbing up and with this years rank grass growth I fear they may be lost from this site. Fortunately there is another side to the reserve which is inaccessible from this side that is a private site and which is better managed (by Warks BC), where they seem to be doing better.
The first half of July was pretty lousy here. I believe that the following passage, taken from the GMS (Garden Moth Scheme) Q3 report sums it ip pretty well.
'July continued June’s cooler theme but with occasionally more wet weather. The start of the month was the coldest since 2004. These cool below-average temperatures continued for the first two weeks and low-pressure systems brought through bands of rain in places.
However, the second half of July brightened up with temperatures in the southeast reaching the high 20s. Other parts did not fare so well with temperatures below average. More settled conditions prevailed for the rest of the month, though there was a threat of thundery weather towards the end'.

Oversley Wood on 10 July produced the first Gatekeepers and a single Silver-washed Fritillary along with the usual woodland species which included good numbers of Large Whites which up until now had been a bit thin on the ground.
Small White and Green-veined White numbers were also on the increase as the summer broods started appearing but as yet were still relatively low in numbers.
Essex Skipper finally showed on on 13th July, a week later than I first saw them in 2023.
All three golden skippers were down in numbers locally with Small Skippers doing the best out of the three although, as with a number of species this year, they came and went quite quickly.

A trip down to Snitterfield Bushes near Stratford-upon- Avon produced a dozen or so Silver-washed Fritillary along with the expected woodland species but as with everywhere else I was visiting, I had seen better numbers there in previous years.
I had been on the lookout for summer Small Tortoiseshells but it was 23rd July before I saw a couple, at my local spot by Wagon Lane. These proved to be very scarce this year with just a handful seen around my local sites, a massive drop from just a couple of years back when 40+ would be an easy daily count.
I had seen a summer Peacock at Snitterfield on 17th July but it was the last day of the month before I found another one with a couple seen at Blythe Valley. Like the summer Small Tortoiseshells these proved to be hard to find this year.
With these and the Tortoisehells often going into hibernation early, I am hoping that with the poor weather I simply missed most of them but I must admit I have concerns about both species for next year here.
Summer Commas did better and had been appearing at most places I went to over the second half of July but still only average numbers at best.
The end of July went out with a couple of days of thunderstorms including a blinder overnight on 31st and into the morning of 1st August.

I will leave it there and continue into August in the next post.

To be continued...

Neil.

Great to see more of your cracking shots Neil Once again I read first and then looked at the images to cheer me up - Small Torts also had a dismal summer round here Hopefully the few that I saw will make it through til next year

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Cheers Wurzel. It looks like Small Tortoisesehells are going into one of their periodic downturns, irrespective of differences around the country.

Looking back at 2024 part 3.

After the thunderstorms that brought an end to July, the first couple of days of August were warm and with all that moisture in the air it felt very humid. Around my local patch, the usual Gatekeepers, Meadow Browns, Speckled Wood and Small/Essex Skippers could be found in reasonable numbers along with a few Green-veined Whites and the odd Comma and Common Blue. Out of these, the Gatekeepers appeared to be doing the best but numbers were still not as high as had been in the past few years, they just seemed to be doing well in comparison to other species that were having a poor year around here.

On 4th August we went down to spend 5 days on The Lizard in Cornwall. From what the hosts at our B&B told us, it appeared that the weather down there had been similar to ours back home most of the time albeit a few degrees warmer which is usually the case. Like us they had seen some dramatic thunderstorms a few days earlier. During most of our our stay we saw a lot of cloud with some sunny breaks and also some stiff breezes, especially on the exposed sections of the coast path that I walked along, on both the east side of the peninsular between Cadgwith Cove and Poltescu and on the west side around Kynance Cove.

Red Admirals in particular looked to be doing well down there with multiples seen on every day, from right outside our B&B, all along the nearby lanes and everwhere along the coast paths.
I only saw a couple of Painted Ladies down there and for the first time time ever since I have been visiting Cornwall, not a single Comma or Small Tortoiseshell.
The best weather we saw during our stay was on Tuesday 6th August when clear blue skies lasted for most of the day resulting in the warmest day of our stay. A visit to the undercliff areas to the south of Kynance Cove produced a dozen or more Small Pearl-bordered Fritillaries, both males and females in varying condition including some nice fresh examples.
I also found a few SPBF around Enys Head to the south of Poltescu, although I did not get chance to look elswewhere so I cannot really comment on how well they did down there this year.

Dark Green Fritillaries were still flying down there with a number seen around Kynance Cove, mostly worn and faded but one or two were not too bad looking.
I got the impression that Grayling were doing well with good numbers seen both around Enys Head and along the cliff tops around Kynance Cove.
Wall Browns also appeared to be doing well, appearing at a number of places around the coast paths. The most numerous species seen down on The Lizard were Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers, the former in particular were far more numerous than they had been back home.

Small Whites were also numerous with quite a few Large Whites also seen but I only found a single Green-veined White.

Common Blues appeared in most places down there but only in small numbers and nowhere near as numerous as I have seen there before.
So far I had failed to see a Small Copper locally, or anywhere else for that matter, and I finally found the first one of the year by Kynance Cove.

Back home the following week it was back to low numbers with just a few Speckled wood, elderly Gatekeepers, a few Small and Large Whites and single Common and Holly Blue seen during another run of cool and mostly cloudy days.

The third week of August saw storm Lillian track across the country bringing an autumnal feel with lots of rain and strong winds. This set the tone for the rest of the month with lots of cool cloudy weather interspersed with occasional brighter spells. The later brood of Speckled Wood appeared to be doing reasonably well with some nice fresh examples now swelling the numbers but the only things now keeping them company around here were a few well faded Gatekeepers, Small Whites and Common Blues.
The beginning of September saw us heading down to Dorset for a few days to stop at a B&B that we had used before, on a farm located roughly half way between Corfe Castle and Kimmeridge Bay. Thunderstorms were forcast to be heading up from the south and I just had time for an hours stop off at Fontmell Down before they hit us. I failed to find any Silver-sptted Skippers there this time although apparently a few had been reported a few days before albeit only in smalll numbers. I did see second brood Adonis Blues in reasonable numbers though along with the usual Meadow Browns, Small Whites and Small Heath.

The next few days saw a mix of weather starting from a dull and drizzly Monday 2nd and then steadily improving up to Wednesday 4th which was the warmest day of our stay. We visited Durdle Country Park, Balllard Down, Osmington, Lulworth Cove/Bindon Hill and Durdle Door and saw a similar mix of species at most of these sites including Adonis Blue, Common Blue, Brown Argus, Large and Small White and Red Admiral, all of these in fairly good numbers although not as numerous as they were down here a few years ago. Brown Argus seemed to be doing well down there, certainly much better than back home where I had not found one yet. These are always hit and miss for me locally though and seem to be either boom or bust with this year being a bust.
Having missed Chalkhill Blue so far this year I was pleased to catch up with a few mostly worn and faded examples on Bindon Hill.

A single Small Copper was also seen on Bindon Hill, just the second one I had seen this year.
A few Graylings were still flying around Durdle Door but again I would have seen higher numbers there a few years back.

As with everywhere else I had been this year, the rank grass growth was very noticeable and no doubt contributed to some of these lower numbers, particularly of species with a second brood which would have found their foodplants suppressed by these more vigourous grasses.

Back home in the second week of September we went into a cold spell with a chilly wind and we saw our first couple of light frosts of the year. The 16th saw an improvement in the weather with my local spot at Wagon Lane producing a handful of Large and Small Whites, Speckled Wood, Comma, Red admiral and best of all a Small Copper, just my third this year and the first one locally.

The rest of September was more of the same with lots of cloud and chilly winds which took us into October. The last butterflies I saw were a couple of faded Speckled Wood and a Small White in the garden in the second week of October. No doubt I may have been able to find the odd butterfly after that, a random Speckled Wood or Red Admiral maybe, but with so much to do and the law of dimishing returns making it difficult to justify going far, my season was over. This is actually pretty much the normal time for me to finish here.

As I said at the beginning of part 1 of my looking back, this was a poor season for me. Despite this I managed to see 40 species although some of these were single individuals or in very small numbers.

The two species that did particularly badly around here were Small Tortoiseshell and Small Copper. As mentioned earlier, Small Tortoiseshell numbers were not too bad here in the spring but summer numbers crashed from the previous few years.
After a good year here last year, Small Coppers also crashed with just one seen locally and only a couple more seen elsewhere. I notice that they had a resurgence in those areas that enjoy a regular third brood but around here they only ever have a third brood in good seasons, and his year was far from one of those. Some other species that have a regular third brood in more favoured areas also seemed to do better later in the year.

I would not say that anything had a good season here, those species that appeared to do better (i.e. Gatekeeper, Ringlet) only appeared to do so in comparison with everything else having a poor year.

I am hoping that next year will be better but I cannot help but have some concerns about what the knock-on effects of this year will be.

Anyway, that completes my looking back at 2024.

Bye for now,

Neil.

Neil Freeman wrote: ↑Mon Dec 09, 2024 8:53 am
The two species that did particularly badly around here were Small Tortoisehell and Small Copper. As mentioned earlier, Small Tortoisehell numbers were not too bad here in the spring but summer numbers crashed from the previous few years.
After a good year here last year, Small Coppers also crashed with just one seen locally and only a couple more seen elsewhere. I notice that they had a resurgence in those areas that enjoy a regular third brood but around here they only ever have a third brood in good seasons, and his year was far from one of those. Some other species that have a regular third brood in more favoured areas also seemed to do better later in the year.

I would not say that anything had a good season here, those species that appeared to do better (i.e. Gatekeeper, Ringlet) only appeared to do so in comparison with everything else having a poor year.

I am hoping that next year will be better but I cannot help but have some concerns about what the knock-on effects of this year will be.

Anyway, that completes my looking back at 2024.

Bye for now,

Neil.

Much the same experience here Neil, and your statement about Gatekeepers and Ringlets nails the experience perfectly. I cannot even say Small Whites (in their resurgence period) were particularly numerous. After such a nice summer that 2023 brought 2024 was certainly not amazing. Hopefully 2025 will be better and our species can bounce back, but it feels slightly silly expecting that "from them" considering the challenges they're facing, largely because of our species's activities...

P.S. Was the SPBF photographed second brood?

Zayed

Thanks Zayed.
Yes, the SPBF was second brood, a normal occurance on The Lizard and some other coastal sites in Cornwall.

Cheers,

Neil.

The worry for me regarding the Peacock and Tortoiseshell is that the crash in numbers is unexplained. Given the lush growth of the nettles, both should have had a good year. Especially as there were excellent numbers of Peacocks in spring, and plenty of caterpillars. But virtually nothing emerged. Predated by parasitic wasps and flies, perhaps...

Worrying indeed Mark. Although we had a lot of lush nettle growth around here, much of it was swamped by even more vigourous bindweed that spread everywhere.
Small Tortoiseshell numbers here have been dropping over the past couple of years but this summer they fell off a cliff. A similar thing happened here around 10 years ago and they were very scarce for a couple of years before recovering to a peak about three years ago.
Peacocks were also at a peak here three years ago and have seen numbers drop over the past couple of years.

Something a bit different.

Ring-necked Parakeets have been resident in the UK for some years now and have spread out from their original colonies in London and the south-east and can now be found over a large part of the country, often in urban parks.
I know they have been around here since at least 2017 when someone I know started monitoring a couple of roosts in local parks. I have seen small flocks passing through my garden occasionally but until this year they have never stopped.
A few weeks ago I spotted one on the peanuts on my bird feeder and since then they have become regular visitors with half a dozen or so visiting at some point on most days.
I know there are various views on these but they do provide a welcome splash of colour on dreary dull days.

Bye for now,

Neil.

Neil Freeman wrote: ↑Wed Dec 18, 2024 9:53 am Worrying indeed Mark. Although we had a lot of lush nettle growth around here, much of it was swamped by even more vigourous bindweed that spread everywhere.
Small Tortoisehell numbers here have been dropping over the past couple of years but this summer they fell off a cliff. A similar thing happened here around 10 years ago and they were very scarce for a couple of years before recovering to a peak about three years ago.
Peacocks were also at a peak here three years ago and have seen numbers drop over the past couple of years.

Worryingly Neil & Mark, the same thing is happening here in Chelmsford where there are large patches of lush nettle growth along the River Chelmer and within the floodplain. As I have written within the Species-specific thread for Small Tortoiseshell 2024 Small Tortoiseshell abundance & distribution for recorded sightings within Essex, I am devastated by the decline. If they recover from this year I will be the happiest of butterfly ecologists but I am heartbroken at the moment and very anxious. You are more than likely right Mark about the parasite damage causing the natural ebb & flow - here is hoping it is the case - but they are certainly declining around here along with it. When will they reach the point when they are unable to recover?

While I am at it, I really love your PD Neil. Excellent images and the review of the year is very interesting.

Cracking images from Cornwall Neil - that SPBF in particular stands out - very lightly marked Also nice to see the Parakeets even though they can be quite divisive, I also like one of their origin stories - that they were released by Jimi Hendrix

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Neil Freeman wrote: ↑Wed Dec 18, 2024 9:53 am...Something a bit different.

Ring-necked Parakeets have been resident in the UK for some years now and have spread out from their original colonies in London and the south-east and can now be found over a large part of the country, often in urban parks.
I know they have been around here since at least 2017 when someone I know started monitoring a couple of roosts in local parks. I have seen small flocks passing through my garden occasionally but until this year they have never stopped.
A few weeks ago I spotted one on the peanuts on my bird feeder and since then they have become regular visitors with half a dozen or so visiting at some point on most days...

I didn't know they'd got that far north, Neil!!

I'm yet to see any here in south Wales but would certainly welcome them. As you say, they provide an interesting splash of colour, although I'm well aware they can be noisy and quite destructive, which explains why some people don't like them.

Thanks David, glad you find my PD of interest

Cheers Wurzel. That Jimi Hendrix story is an urban myth apparently. It seems that there wasn't a single original incident, rather a number of escapes and releases over a number of years, something that has continued and helped to spread them further around the country.

Hi David, they are much further north than me, up to the Scottish borders apparently although I am not sure how far west they have reached yet.


For various reasons I have not run my moth trap here in my garden for a while now so I missed out on most of the usual autumn species and those such as Winter Moth that I would normally see here.

I did however get a Silver Y moth fluttering against the kitchen window last week, by far the latest I have ever seen one of these here.

More seasonally appropriate, I have also had a few December Moths emerge over the last week or so. These were reared from around a dozen eggs that were left by a female that came to my trap last year. I overwintered the eggs and when they hatched in the spring reared them on hawthorn, one of a number of deciduous trees and shrubs that is used by this species. They pupated in early May and started emerging around a week ago.
With Christmas just a couple of days away now, I will wish everyone a very

Merry Christmas

Neil.

Cracking December Moth Neil Even though it's an urban myth I still prefer it to the true origin story

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Cheers Wurzel.

Wurzel wrote: ↑Mon Dec 30, 2024 8:01 pm ...Even though it's an urban myth I still prefer it to the true origin story

Often the case with urban myths...which is I guess the main reason why they spread

Happy New Year to you and to all on here.

Bye for now,

Neil.