millerd

[millerd]

Cheers, Wurzel! It was the unaccustomed brief spell of brilliant sunshine that did the trick, as it wasn't really very warm.

However, today (Monday 24th February) was different. The last couple of days have been markedly warmer, but though there has been a bit of sunshine, it's been a bit feeble and not the type to tempt a butterfly out. However, the warmth of the air both day and night had no doubt been percolating down deeper and deeper into the clumps of ivy and bramble and stirring the hibernators into life.

After another very wet night, around lunchtime the clouds started to dissipate and a much brighter sun shone strongly through. Despite a lot of water and mud underfoot I set off round my local patch with real hopes of seeing something. I wasn't disappointed - a large clump of ivy close to the path had not one but two male Brimstones fluttering around it, darting in and out of the foliage as if uncertain whether they should really be up and about yet. I tried to capture them both as they circled each other, but in the excitement of seeing them made a bit of a fist of the shots.

However, one of them ran out of steam and rested for a bit.

Walking on a bit further alongside the river, I was passed by a third Brimstone coming the other way. It appeared to be in patrol mode and I imagine it had been out in the sunshine longer than the other two.

After a wander round the northern part of the site, I returned and immediately after passing through the underpass beneath the A3113 next to J14, I spotted a Red Admiral sunning itself. It looked in pretty good condition, considering the species doesn't really hibernate, but wasn't particularly energetic when it flew briefly between perches.

I returned towards home, and despite carefully scanning the ground I failed once again to spot a Peacock sitting on the grass. It was in exactly the same place as the one I had disturbed in the same way on 30th January, and the result was the same - no photo. Still, I know where it lives...

A great result for the day, though - five butterflies and three species, setting the butterfly year properly in motion. There is more sunshine (though lower temperatures) in the forecast for the next week or so, so I shall be going out hopefully as often as I can - muddy or not.

Dave

[trevor]

Great finds Dave. The sun around here was not consistent enough for any sightings, even PM.
Your Brimstone shot alone was worth going out for!

[bugboy]

Tomorrows looking good for some more action. Might even find butterflies returning to my PD!!!

[Wurzel]

That is a mighty fine Brimstone shot for this time of year Dave - most of mine are of the blurry, lemon ilk Still at least they're out - there will only be more now then

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

A nice early selection there Dave

...Great finds Dave. The sun around here was not consistent enough for any sightings...

Pretty much the same here. As I write this on Wednesday morning it is lashing down and today looks like a washout. Some sun returning tomorrow alhough headline temperatures look to be still in single figures for a few days. Next week looking more promising here, fingers crossed.

Cheers,

Neil.

[millerd]

Thank you all. The season really is underway now, probably because of the sudden increase in the amount of sunshine. However, the clear skies have meant very chilly nights, and several scrapings of the car windscreen around sunrise. This in turn has likely been behind the fact that though there have been butterflies, there haven't been very many of them.

On the last day of February, I managed to find a Brimstone cruising up and down a hedgerow, carrying on even when the sun went in. Eventually it ran out of steam and ended up on the grass, where after the overnight frost the ground and overlying air layer was still very chilly.

After a few shots, I decided to relocate the butterfly in the warmer environment of the brambles in the hedge.

Here it quickly crawled out of view under a leaf and roosted.

Meteorological spring arrived on 1st March, with more strong sunshine but no increase in temperature (a maximum of 11 degrees, as it had been the day before). On my usual walk, I soon found another Brimstone, but it failed to stop at all as there were no clouds at the time to slow it down. I failed to see any other butterflies, but my eldest offspring was also out walking in the same area, and returned home to gleefully show me some photos they'd taken of a Red Admiral.

March 2nd started frosty again (at 0700, my car thought it was minus 3 degrees), but once again the sun got to work and warmed things up a bit - though today's high was only ten degrees. However, there were no clouds and no wind, and while out on the northern part of my usual circuit I spotted a Peacock in a sheltered nook next to where the spur from the M25 to T5 crosses the River Colne. My (bad) luck with the species this year continued and the butterfly took off towards the river before I could even turn the camera on. No more Brimstones appeared to have been tempted out, but back nearer home I encountered another Red Admiral circling another favoured bit of path next to Hithermoor Lake, a spot where I am frequently buzzed by the species in the summer. It stopped briefly once or twice, just long enough to be immortalised.

I have to say I'm looking forward to it becoming a bit warmer along with the sunshine. The low overnight temperatures must be keeping a few things from properly emerging from hibernation.

Dave

[millerd]

Monday 3rd March was a replay of the previous days weatherwise, though there were some subtle differences. It was just as cold overnight, if not more so, but the wind (such as it was) had become a gentle waft from the west rather than the east and by lunchtime the temperature was nudging 14 degrees.

I set out on my local circuit once again, noting that at last the mud and puddles were beginning to dry up (though some in deeper shade were still frozen, even at noon). As I approached a particularly lush bit of ivy festooning a sunny wall, I spotted a leaf that looked just a bit paler than its surroundings. As I had hoped, it was not a leaf at all, but a rather splendid Brimstone sunning itself. It looked as new as it would have done six or seven months ago.

Next to appear were my first Commas of the season. The first was very close to home, gently flying up and down a bit of hedge, and stopping first on the grass...

...and then on the hedge itself.

The second Comma was just to the north of the A3113 underpass, a spot I have dubbed " Comma Corner" in the past with good reason. This individual was in excellent condition and must have hibernated nearly unmarked.

Finally, I visited the spot where two days ago my youngest (at 19, not so young...) had seen a Red Admiral - and sure enough there it was circling around, but with a great deal more energy now and didn't stop long enough for a photo today.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Cracking Commas Dave I feel your pain with the Peacock Dave - they seem to be at their most flighty first thing in the spring once they emerge Far too full of vim and vigour for me still in winter mode

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Good to see some butterfly action, Dave. The next few days will see temperatures rise so I'm sure by early next week normal service will be underway (certainly in the southern half of the country).

[millerd]

Cheers, Wurzel. Peacocks have been a right pain so far, but then they prefer to sit and bask on dry paths at this time of year and there are precious few of those round here at the minute!

True enough, David: hopefully when it stops being frosty overnight, a few more will be tempted out..

Tuesday 4th March was a carbon copy of the previous four days (five sunny ones in a row after a very dull winter - very encouraging). That said, it was maybe a wee bit cooler than Monday, and no Brimstones appeared today. However, during the afternoon I found another Comma, and then a Red Admiral that was a new individual for the year. It was a bialbata variation - which I think I read somewhere makes it likely to have been a female. The shape of the abdomen tends to support this.

It was also quite a tame butterfly, apparently accepting me as just another part of the undergrowth.

Dave

[millerd]

Wednesday 5th March: A morning trip to a sunny Box Hill produced no butterflies, but some interesting views across towards Leith Hill and the Greensand ridge as the fog cleared.

Back home, and a local walk after lunch. Just one Red Admiral, and a familiar one - seen previously on both 1st and 3rd of the month in the same sheltered nook. It was behaving very territorially today, chasing passing birds (and their shadows!) and persistently settling on me when I stood in the middle of the path. I assume from this that it was a male.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Loving all the Red Admirals Dave My only sighing of one this year was in the middle of the 'city' and was a little fraught as I was crossing the road in front of a bus at the time the things we do to see butterflies eh?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Cheers, Wurzel. I've always had a fondness for Red Admirals. They are the species that I find interacts most with me when I come across them and perhaps gives the most entertainment over the course of the whole season. Maybe for a week or two the Purple Emperor might overshadow them, but for the rest of the year? There will always be a Red Admiral. I also think it is true to say it's the only species to have been seen somewhere in the UK on every date during the year.

I found one today (Thursday 6th March) in the same spot as I had yesterday. Initially I thought it was the same one, damaged by an encounter with one of the birds I'd seen it chasing, but a closer look at the markings revealed a different insect.

With no overnight frost and more warmth early on, the morning on my local patch was dominated by Brimstones. They can be difficult to count, as they can often be encountered more than once as they patrol up and down a path you are walking along, so I was cautious in my estimations. Nevertheless I managed a conservative total of nine spread over a wide area and including a gaggle of three in one spot. They were very active today, and only one of the males first thing stopped long enough for a photo...

...but the only female seen was much more obliging.

I suspect it wasn't long before she was intercepted by one of the males.

Today was the day I finally caught up with a Peacock long enough to get the camera lens on it. It didn't stay still for long and I wasn't all that close.

I saw another one later on as well.

Making four species for the day were two Commas, one of which I'd seen earlier in the week (notable for its particularly fresh condition).

The other was less vibrant.

14 butterflies, four species - not too bad at all.

Dave

[David M]

Things fair motoring round your way, Dave.

Hopefully we'll have a warm day here in S Wales tomorrow and double figures will be on the cards.

[Wurzel]

Cracking stuff Dave Lovely shots of the female Brimstone I just hope that things don't have a little hiatus what with the colder weather returning...

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Yes, there have been good numbers in all the sunshine, David.

Cheers, Wurzel - that Brimstone female was very accommodating, settling right in front of me at an ideal height. I saw a male very shortly afterwards, so he should have been able to find her - well, if I could, a male of her own species certainly ought to be able to...

Friday 7th March started as another sunny one, and I decided to vary the theme a little by investigating the track down to Staines Moor, which has been under water and/or thick mud for many months now. I hoped that the recent dry and sunny weather might have made things easier - even passable. In the end it was just possible to squeeze past the worst of the mud by clinging to the fence bordering the "path", but there were very few butterflies to be seen down on the Moor: just a couple of Brimstones. A sheltered corner reliable for early Small Tortoiseshells had the nettles they usually fly around, but these were stunted and badly frosted and I suspect the open Moor has been very exposed during the series of frosty nights we have had (five in March already - there were none at all in December). I made my way back and undertook a circuit of the nearer part of my local patch, and before it became a bit cloudy in the afternoon managed to find another seven Brimstones and a couple of Commas.

Dave

[millerd]

Saturday 8th March promised to be sunnier and even warmer than previous days. I had toyed with the idea of driving down to Kent to join the Large Tortoiseshell party, but the closure of the M25 this weekend between J11 and J10 meant that there was no way round from my part of the world that didn't involve queuing traffic (in retrospect maybe I should have taken the Bugboy option of the train).

However, I stuck with my local patch again, and the continuing favourable weather meant there were more butterflies around. The highlight was finding a Small Tortoiseshell in the spot where I had last seen the species back in July (just two seen for the whole summer emergence). I watched it fly up from the path in front of me and over a large clump of brambles. I found a way round to the other side, and there it was - but not for long. It promptly set off along the nearby river, leaving me to pick my way back through the unforgiving prickliness. However, I was able to get a shot of a Brimstone sitting nearby, probably wondering what all the kerfuffle was about.

Overall, I counted 12 Brimstones today, including three groups of three butterflies (all males), plus three Commas, three Peacocks and two Red Admirals.

Five species today, even if I didn't get a shot of all of them.

Dave

[essexbutterflyer]

Love the photo of the Comma with the background Dave. Biotope photos should be more common!

[millerd]

Love the photo of the Comma with the background Dave. Biotope photos should be more common!

Thank you, Zayed - I entirely agree with you about photos showing the butterfly's habitat and environment, and capturing a bit of the feel of the day. I find it so much better for bringing back memories of the day when reviewing in the dark depths of winter. Guy Padfield is a past master of this type of shot, and his personal diary is full of great examples (and his location in Switzerland does rather lend itself to this kind of thing! ). I take many close-up shots as well, but I think the context photos give me more pleasure overall. I'm really not a fan of plain featureless backgrounds that could be anything, anywhere - but it's just a matter of taste: there are no rights and wrongs! I think there may be one or two more in the post coming up...

Sunday 9th March was set to be the last of the particularly warm and sunny days, so I made the most of the opportunity around my local patch. During the day I managed to find a total of 30 butterflies (possibly a personal record for so early in the year). Only four species were represented though, with Brimstones understandably being the front runners - a dozen sightings, just one of which was a female. Next came the Commas, and the warmth had clearly woken several more up, as I counted 10 individuals well spread out along my walk. The remainder comprised 5 Peacocks and 3 Red Admirals. Peacocks have been very slow in getting going, but their preference is to sit and bask on the paths, and until now the paths have been largely muddy and wet (and sometimes the puddles have been frozen overnight too) so hopefully things will improve as the tracks dry out. Here is a selection of shots from the day.

the sole female, cruising past...

As frequently happens one or two individual butterflies can be quite tame, like this docile Comma...

...or almost aggressively so, like this Red Admiral annexing me to its territory. It came back repeatedly.

A lot of pictures, but with much cooler, cloudier weather forecast for a few days, it seemed a necessary indulgence!

Dave

[Wurzel]

Cracking set of shots Dave Things have turned a bit colder now so good job that you made the most on 'first spring'

Have a goodun

Wurzel