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Another Painted Lady this afternoon 15th April, this time on the coast path between Lands End & Nanjizal, West Cornwall. it was accompanied by two Red Admiral. Also of interest nine Small Copper on the same stretch of coast, bringing my species total to 12 for the year so far.

After delivering a butterfly identification workshop with the Steyning Downland Scheme http://www.steyningdownland.org, which a male Holly Blue attempted to gatecrash, I helped a film crew obtain footage of Adonis Blue caterpillars being attended by ants at Malling Down. One image shows three ants feasting from the honey gland. The tentacle organ has been raised in order to keep the ants interested, as the caterpillar moves between patches of Horseshoe Vetch. Thanks to Crispin Holloway for guidance.

Two Grizzled Skippers at Denbies Hillside, Surrey yesterday (15th April).

Pristine Speckled wood in my garden today in spite of mornings rain. Eric

Plenty of Peacocks, Brimstones & Small Tortoiseshells by the river in Brampton Cambs today. And one male Orange Tip

A couple of hours at Hutchinsons Bank today revealed a dozen or so Peacocks, several Small Tortoiseshell, a couple of Orange Tips, 2 Commas, a few Brimstones and some Speckled Wood. Popped over to Frith Wood when it clouded over to see what that was like and found a White Admiral larvae

bugboy wrote:A couple of hours at Hutchinsons Bank today revealed a dozen or so Peacocks, several Small Tortoiseshell, a couple of Orange Tips, 2 Commas, a few Brimstones and some Speckled Wood. Popped over to Frith Wood when it clouded over to see what that was like and found a White Admiral larvae

Well done finding the post hibernation White Admiral larva. They are far more difficult to locate in spring as I suspect only about 10% survive the winter mainly due to wave after wave of insectivorous birds passing through the woods during the winter.

When looking for these and Purple Emperor larvae in January, every visit I saw numerous birds systematically working through the bare leafless shrubs and trees. One August during the 1980s, in a Hampshire Wood not far from Eastleigh which backed onto a relative's garden, I wandered around to have a look what might be about. I located fifty White Admiral larvae in the tangles of Honeysuckle growing around a couple of Oak Trees about thirty foot inside the wood.

An early Large White caused me some confusion today - my first of 2015 and seen before both Small and Green-veined White
Nottinghamshire - Bingham Linear park

A superb image JasonB.

7 Grizzled and 2 Dingy Skippers out on Mill Hill at Shoreham this afternoon. This female Grizzled was enjoying the last warmth of the day before heading to bed.

Green Hairstreak at Bedfont Lakes Country Park (south section), near Ashford Middlesex, this afternoon.
Dave

Can I claim the most northerly report on ukb this year?

Common Tortoiseshell at Jemimaville, Cromarty Firth, 57.6 degs latitude

Jack

Great to be back on UK Butterflies and with the added pleasure of the new season in warm weather mode...lets have lots more please

Working in the garden during the past week or so I've been visited by Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Small White and my earliest ever garden record for Speckled Wood. Judging by the other postings the latter species is having an early start nationwide, bit of a contrast in comparison to last year (if memory serves ).

Hope it's a great year for all UK Butterflyer's...and our butterflies!

Bill

Some very good numbers of Holly Blue over the last week along with the usual Peacock, Small Copper, Speckled Wood and Small Tortoiseshell in East Cornwall this week. Also putting in an appearance along there were Wall Brown plus several firsts for the year in form of Green Veined White, Orange Tip, Clouded Yellow and Pearl Bordered Fritillary which was also a UK first (14/4/15)
Generally both numbers and species have been higher here than any other location i've recorded this year (14 species). Probably being south facing on a steep cliff but also being relatively sheltered gives it its own micro climate i guess, two UK firsts (PB Fritillary and Wall Brown) within a few hundred metres of each other might suggest so

Looks like it's all kicking off big time! PBFs and even Clouded Yellows! Not bad for mid-April.

Distant white seen near Oban, Argyll & Bute, Sunday 19th - almost certainly GV White (just possibly but unlikely female Orange Tip). So we run about three weeks behind S. England.

Also first Swallow of year at Fort Augustus.

Jack

Hey Penhale Paul, is that a tick lurking on the leaf just under your Small Copper?

bugboy wrote:Hey Penhale Paul, is that a tick lurking on the leaf just under your Small Copper?

I did wonder that myself but wasn't sure whether the 'fluid sack' part would be there? When i have seen them/had them on me they just look like a tiny black spider until they've filled with blood, so not sure

Penhale Paul wrote:

bugboy wrote:Hey Penhale Paul, is that a tick lurking on the leaf just under your Small Copper?

I did wonder that myself but wasn't sure whether the 'fluid sack' part would be there? When i have seen them/had them on me they just look like a tiny black spider until they've filled with blood, so not sure

Definitely looks like a tick to me, it's even doing the classic "tick pose" reaching out with it's front legs waiting to grab onto a passing victim.

Today was the first full day this spring when I could forget the time and fully indulge myself in this magical time of year. At Chantry Hill (Storrington) the Green Hairstreak numbers are building fast, with 23 seen before the thin cloud was sufficient to stop them flying. I also saw my first Grizzled (2) and Dingy (1) Skippers here this year. At Wiston Church I spent an hour amongst the aromatic ramsons, enjoying the under-rated Green-veined White (5), flying together with Small White (1), Orange Tip (1, female) and Speckled Wood (2). By the time I reached a damp meadow nearby, the butterflies had gone to roost, but a careful search soon revealed 2 male Orange Tip and a Green-veined White.