millerd

[millerd]

It was three days later on Sunday 27th October when the weather became sunny enough to make a local walk worthwhile again. However, there were now only six butterflies - a Small White (which didn't stop long enough for a photo), a Speckled Wood (which did) and four Red Admirals on various bits of ivy - none of which were particularly easy to get within lens range.

Here's a shot of a bit of path that is particularly sheltered and can be full of butterfly life at the right time of year - but not now!

It was still quite green for the end of October.

Dave

[Wurzel]

That bit of path looks like it would be little slice of butterfly heaven at the right time of year Dave The Red Admirals do seem to like looking down imperiously at you

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Goldie M]

Hi! Dave, the Red Admiral came into my Garden but mostly on the Budleia, surprisingly my Ivy never flowered this year ,I think being too near the sea is not too good when the weather was rubbish this year.

Your Admiral Shots look great Goldie

[millerd]

No sooner had I posted the comment about that bit of path lacking butterflies at this time of year, Wurzel, when a Red Admiral turned up there.

The Red Admirals definitely prefer the ivy towards the end of the season, Goldie, even when there are still a few buddleia flowers left. I'm glad you like the shots - there are one or two more to come.

The next fortnight was almost entirely cloudy throughout, though not particularly chilly at all - or indeed wet. An hour of sunshine on 30th October prompted a couple of Small Whites to appear, plus two Red Admirals.

The only other days during this gloomy spell that I saw a butterfly were 5th and 11th November, with a single Red Admiral on each day.

I was beginning to think that the season was over - but it was good to be proved wrong!

Dave

[Wurzel]

Come on Dave that has to be a Southern Small surely not that I want to collect my winnings or anything Love the imperious Red Admiral

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

I'm afraid you'll have to wait till 2025 for another flutter on the SSW stakes, Wurzel. That was the last one I saw this year.

On Wednesday 13th November, there was a bit of warm sunshine, and I hoped at least a Red Admiral would appear to take advantage. In fact there were two around, but I only managed to get a shot of one of them - quite a fresh-looking example.

There were no more Small Whites, but I found a reasonable looking Speckled Wood in the same spot I'd last seen one over a fortnight earlier.

Then came another relatively unexpected butterfly - a Peacock presumably roused by several days of mild temperatures and now the sunshine to go with it.

Not a bad selection for mid-November really, especially after such a prolonged sunless spell.

Dave

[millerd]

Another four days passed, but then Sunday 17th November seemed reasonably encouraging with some bright morning sunshine (though temperatures were only in single digits). My circuit of Hithermoor Lake gave me a couple of Red Admiral sightings, though the photos revealed two shots of the same butterfly in different places.

The Speckled Wood I'd seen on 13th appeared again in the same sheltered nook...

...but I was surprised to find another one in a different spot entirely.

Without thoroughly checking back, these may well be the latest in the season I have seen Specklies.

Dave

[Wurzel]

What was that Peacock doing out of bed - they're normally the first or second to tuck themselves up for the winter And that is a very late Specklie; I feel a bit sorry for it to be honest

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

...Without thoroughly checking back, these may well be the latest in the season I have seen Specklies.

Given its condition, I wouldn't be surprised if that one made it to December, Dave.

[millerd]

In the end, nothing locally made it into December, David.

However, I realise I didn't quite finish off my accounts of November sightings before going into midwinter hibernation... On both 25th and 26th November there was enough sunshine to tempt me out, and I managed to find no fewer than four Red Admirals on 25th (here are two of them)...

...and one of those reappeared on 26th.

I'll hopefully manage a brief overview of 2024 locally before 2025 stutters into action in a month or two...

Dave

[trevor]

Well done with your Nov. 25th Red Admiral, Dave.
Co-incidentally my last butterfly of 2024, a Red Admiral, visited my garden wall
on the very same day. A January sighting this year is looking remote.

The new season beckons !

[Wurzel]

Cracking to see/read about those final Red Admirals Dave Might be a while until the first of this year come about what with the cold and wet weather forecast

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

In the end, nothing locally made it into December, David...

That doesn't surprise me, Dave. I think it was the same practically everywhere.

There were far fewer Red Admirals this time around than the previous year. I'm wondering if my first butterfly of 2025 will be a different species this time. Red Admirals have rather monopolised early sightings these last few years.

[millerd]

Cheers Trevor, David and Wurzel - it's now two months since that last sighting, making the longest winter gap for a few years. However, signs of spring are underway, with snowdrops out and even the odd daffodil - and hazel catkins abound too. The noisy Ring-necked Parakeets nest early and have already started chasing one another squawkily about and are very easily seen amongst the leafless trees at this time of year.

I promised a quick overview of 2024 on my local patch before 2025's butterflies get underway, so here goes.

A year of mixed fortunes, certainly. I'll start with the disappointing bits and build up to the better and more memorable aspects - and as tends to happen, there is always a surprise or two. The weather was disappointing in terms of sunshine, that essential butterfly requisite, and It was also pretty wet. However, it was not a cold year, and in fact the stats show it to have been the fourth warmest on record in the UK (beaten only by 2014, 2022 and 2023).

Every year now I look for Ringlets on my local patch, but despite suitable habitat, I saw the last one back in 2022 (a paltry total of two!). They fly down at nearby Staines Moor, but I don't understand what has caused them to disappear more locally.

Also verging on disappearance, as is the case widely in the south of England, is the Small Tortoiseshell. I found barely double figures in the spring, and just two different individuals in the summer. I shall keep my eyes peeled, but I fully expect not to encounter any here in 2025.

Another species on a steady decline here is the Large Skipper. They are widely spread, and I'm sure I missed a few, but I was lucky to find more than one on any given day in 2024 or in any one spot. Again, there are healthy numbers at Staines Moor, not so far away.

The other two Skippers found locally, Small and Essex Skipper, both appeared in reasonable numbers, and the latter now seems to emerge at the same time as the former, and has been gradually catching up with it over the last few years. I was also pleased to discover that the Essex Skipper colony on the Heathrow perimeter road had not vanished as I had suspected and soldiers on. The numbers of these skippers are affected more than those of any other species by the annual cut of the grass in the middle of July, but things seem reasonably balanced - if the cut was later they might increase.

As others noticed, both Large and Small Whites had poor seasons early on. but both were noticeably bolstered by immigration later in the year. By contrast, Green-veined Whites had a steady year throughout, perhaps appearing more noticeably because of the lack of Small Whites with which to confuse them. Orange Tips had a relatively good year locally, probably as their bit of the year didn't suffer so much from a lack of sunny weather. Brimstones were encouraging post-hibernation, but sparser in the summer - though this is often the case here.

After a very good year in 2023, Peacocks reappeared in the spring in decent numbers, but this didn't translate into anything special in the summer - though there was a notable small second brood in early autumn, including a November sighting. Commas had an average kind of year, with decent numbers appearing from hibernation, and a reasonable (though delayed) hutchinsoni emergence. The next round of butterflies heading for hibernation 2024/5 were also well spread out through August and September, overlapping quite a bit with their predecessors.

One marked disappointment for me in particular was the poor showing of Holly Blues throughout the year. They weren't too bad in the spring, but they were late and very sparse in numbers in the summer brood and the customary third brood amounted to just a handful of individuals. The well-known cycle of boom and bust associated with their specialist parasite has not been apparent in previous years here, so I'm inclined to blame the weather for the lower than usual numbers - but either way, fingers crossed 2025 is back to business as usual.

Two related species whose fortunes often go in tandem are the Common Blue and Brown Argus. In 2023, the latter outnumbered the former but a slight recovery in Common Blue numbers was unfortunately accompanied by a marked drop in those of the Brown Argus. However, this was somewhat tempered by my discovery of colonies of both species in a previously unexplored area unaffected by the grass cut in July, something I hope to monitor closely in 2025.

Overall, Speckled Woods had a reasonably average season, continuing into November (which is becoming more of a common occurrence). Gatekeepers also had a decent year overall, though perhaps slightly down in numbers in spots that had suffered from late spring flooding. Meadow Browns were very numerous (but this is normal!), for several summer weeks outnumbering everything else put together.

Small Coppers had an intriguing season. They appeared in encouraging numbers in the spring (in some years they are very hard to find here at this time), and then almost entirely disappeared for the whole period when I'd have expected to see a second brood. However, towards the end of the summer and into early autumn they reappeared and on one day in September I recorded my highest ever daily total here. They effectively seemed to have skipped a brood entirely - if true, an excellent strategy for the conditions.

One species in particular excelled here in 2024: the Marbled White. I had noted a steady increase in numbers year on year recently, and in 2023 sightings had just reached double figures overall. In 2024, I counted 57 individual sightings, and I am hopeful that with a good mix of males and females seen there will be even more in the summer to come.

Small Heaths also did well in 2024, having been declining a little in previous years, and they were flying almost continuously from May into October.

Purple Hairstreaks are difficult to record here, only being obvious on calm sunny July evenings - of which there were few. However, on a couple of rare opportunities I managed to confirm that their usual colony was apparently thriving.

Now for the first of the surprises. Until 2024 I had not seen any other Hairstreak species here for certain (a possible WLH a few years ago is all). However, on a sunny morning in mid-April, I found a fresh Green Hairstreak courtesy of a male Holly Blue with which it had tussled briefly. I shall be searching this particular spot very carefully this year...

The last part of this account will be the immigrant species.

Painted Ladies turned up on a few days in the spring, and then again late in the summer. A few appeared to return south later on, but overall it wasn't a good year for them. Red Admirals had overwintered in small numbers and no doubt gave rise to the few locally seen individuals early in the season, but there was no substantial immigration until late in the summer. Some returned south, and as usual a few hung around until the signs of impending winter where upon us in late November.

With so few reported sightings of Clouded Yellows in among the other immigrants in late summer, I was fully expecting to draw a blank with this species for the first time for many years - not just locally, but anywhere at all. However, I was immensely pleased to come across a male Cloudy on 11th September, followed by a female on 19th and another male on 21st. All were adjacent to the river, and it may well be that these migrants follow river valleys from the coast.

To finish, perhaps the biggest surprise of all. Like the Cloudies, there had been very few reports of immigrant Long-tailed Blues anywhere in 2024, probably because of the adverse weather which had affected northern Europe in general as well as the UK. However, on 3rd September, I struggled to identify a very mobile butterfly, but was lucky that a bit of cloud becalmed it within camera range. It turned out to be a very worn male Long-tailed Blue.

All in all, an interesting year on my local patch. Two new species for the site in the Green Hairstreak and the LTB, a trio of Clouded Yellows when there were hardly any to be seen anywhere, and a sharp increase in numbers of one of my favourites, the Marbled White.

Who knows what the new year may bring? Hopefully NOT a definite green light for a third runway at Heathrow or the majority of the locations for the species seen in the account above will be erased...

Dave

[David Lazarus]

I really enjoyed your review of butterfly sightings in your local patch at Heathrow during 2024, Dave. Very interesting indeed. Some surprises for me in the lack of both Ringlet and Large Skipper sightings near you as they both had a reasonably successful year here in Essex especially at Hatfield Forest where they were both seen together in healthy numbers. Probably a lack of habitat and ideal microclimatic conditions constraining abundance where you are. I remember us sharing happy moments with the cloudies. I think you are right about them flying up the riverbanks from the river estuary. This was definitely the case for the ones I saw along the Thames Estuary Path near East Tilbury that were seen a few days later further up the River Thames at Purfleet/Rainham Marshes.

I am looking forward to reading your sighting reports for 2025 - lets hope there are many (despite the time-consuming work writing them up).

[Neil Freeman]

A nice roundup of your season Dave, broadly similar to my experiences but with better numbers of some species for you due to our different locations.
Like David, I am surprised at your lack of Ringlets although Large Skipper numbers were also down around here, as were Small and Essex Skippers.
Although summer temperatures were fairly warm, the overall figures were skewed somewhat by higher nightime temperatures thast raised the average. As well as wet, it was also a windy year, something which seems to be becoming more of a thing over th epast few years.

Here's hoping for a better 2025, although I can't help but have some concerns about the knock on efeect for some species.

Cheers,

Neil.

[Wurzel]

You did really well with the Clouded Yellow sightings Dave particularly in a year of such paucity for this species.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

...However, it was not a cold year, and in fact the stats show it to have been the fourth warmest on record in the UK (beaten only by 2014, 2022 and 2023).

Given the lack of hot days (28c+) that's a surprising statistic, Dave. I wonder if the more regular than usual night-time cloud cover kept overall average temperatures fairly high?

..Who knows what the new year may bring? Hopefully NOT a definite green light for a third runway at Heathrow or the majority of the locations for the species seen in the account above will be erased...

That would be tragic. I have seen the area of land earmarked to be the site of the new runway. I wasn't aware that this was on your 'patch'.

This political obsession with economic growth will undoubtedly negatively affect the environment, since any growth is usually accompanied by more habitat loss.

[millerd]

Thank you, David (L) - I shall be taking an interest in your amazingly comprehensives studies of your neck of the woods too!

Many thanks, Neil - as we've mentioned before, the relatively small difference in latitude between your patch and mine really does seem to make a difference. The Ringlet situation here is a real conundrum - they've never been numerous (considering how generally damp a lot of the site is), and have just tailed off to nothing over the last three years.

Cheers, Wurzel - those Cloudies were an amazing bonus really, even though only the first one hung around enough for proper photos. The LTB was a bit special too...

On the weather stats for 2024, David (M), you are right to say that the average was boosted by high temperatures overnight. You also have to take into account that the main statistic takes the year as a whole (not just the butterfly season), so with warm winter/early spring/late autumn months being much warmer overall an indifferent summer doesn't skew things very much. Also, the lack of sunshine really influences the perception of the temperature. A 25 degree cloudy day in August doesn't feel as summery and warm as a 23 degree brilliantly sunny one in late May.

On the other topic, that of Heathrow Expansion, I am guessing that the plan put forward 5 years or so ago won't change that much. The area where I see most of my butterflies lies between the M25 (to the west) and the River Colne (to the east) with the southern boundary being the A 3113 (the link to T4 from J14)and the northern one being the Old Bath Road between Longford and Colnbrook. This area will be completely obliterated,flattened and initially used to store plant and construction materials. The river will be rerouted somehow. As far as the planners are concerned, once everything is completed (say, in 15 years time?) they will have restored all the green areas in amounts more than equal to what was erased in the first place.. However, details on how the green is maintained between now and the distant future are a little hazy to say the least.

As you can imagine, it's not a rosy outlook, but not as bad as it will be for those living to the north of the airport, whose properties will be demolished to make way for the new runway itself. The traffic chaos will be dire for anyone using the M25 (bearing in mind what the remodelling of J10 has done to traffic flow over the last couple of years as an example of what a relatively small scale project can do) and all the other roads nearby. We shall see.

On a lighter note, I saw my first butterfly of 2025 on 30th January. On a chilly but very sunny morning, I disturbed a Peacock from the ground and promptly lost it in the glare - only to do so again a bit further on. It then flew over a hedge, but having initially drawn a blank trying to find it again, I managed to put it up for a third time from a sheltered spot I swear I'd just walked past. I blame the novelty of having a shadow to worry about - sunshine has been a rare commodity for many weeks now!

Dave

[Wurzel]

Congrats on getting a January butterfly Dave - I'm still looking for mine - although it's generally the second or third week of February round our way

Have a goodun

Wurzel