David M
Re: David M
I wouldn't dare walk in the woods round here. Far too slippery.
Re: David M
A look back at 2023
Late October, early November
The last few days of October were a mix of sunshine and showers, so in between those showers I entertained myself by following the antics of the small group of resident Red Admirals that could be relied upon to spend time near the Himalayan Balsam bush at the back of the health club car park on my estate:
During the daytime on Hallowe’en, the showers vanished and 14c temperatures tempted me down to Limeslade Bay, where I was delighted to see this airborne female Clouded Yellow:
Another welcome surprise was this Painted Lady:
November started with similar changeable conditions, though it was still sufficiently warm for Red Admirals to pop up here and there.
On 3rd, it was once again 14c, and I saw both Speckled Wood and Comma at Oystermouth Cemetery:
Another Speckled Wood was seen in Dan-y-Graig Cemetery on 5th:
Quite incredibly, I had shattered my previous best tally for November butterflies within the first 5 days of the month this year, and several more were to follow, with individuals seen on 7th and 10th:
Just when I thought things were all but over for the year, I got a big surprise on 15th when I saw four Speckled Woods at Kilvey Hill:
Another Speckled Wood was seen two days later at the same site, extending the latest in the year when I’ve seen this species by 12 days.
Late October, early November
The last few days of October were a mix of sunshine and showers, so in between those showers I entertained myself by following the antics of the small group of resident Red Admirals that could be relied upon to spend time near the Himalayan Balsam bush at the back of the health club car park on my estate:
On 3rd, it was once again 14c, and I saw both Speckled Wood and Comma at Oystermouth Cemetery:
Re: David M
A look back at 2023
Late November and December
Following the Speckled Wood on 17th, the remainder of November was just Red Admirals, on both 23rd and 28th:
This brought my November total to 61, which shattered the previous best of 27.
Unusually, there were a couple more in December on 11th, at Limeslade and Bracelet Bay:
This is the first time I have seen active butterflies in the UK in all 12 months of a calendar year.
Late November and December
Following the Speckled Wood on 17th, the remainder of November was just Red Admirals, on both 23rd and 28th:
Unusually, there were a couple more in December on 11th, at Limeslade and Bracelet Bay:
Re: David M
Wednesday 6th March – Time to wake up
It’s been a mild winter in south Wales, but sunshine has been at a premium, so with the promise of blue skies and 12c temperatures I headed down to Cwm Ivy, arriving at around 11.45am.
Yesterday had been sunny but I saw no butterflies. However, two sunny, mild days on the run seem to wake a few butterflies up and so it proved today, with me disturbing a male Brimstone on this stretch of brambles:
He came down for a while, but not in a particularly accessible position:
Whilst taking images, I noticed a movement to my side and saw this Red Admiral which briefly nectared from some tree catkins near ground level:
I moved through the dunes and headed towards a sheltered spot where I can usually rely on there being early season Commas:
Sure enough, there was one holding territory close to the tree cover:
I decided to walk through the tallest dune crater and was glad I did, because I saw a Peacock flying in this area:
As it flew by, it disturbed another Peacock and the pair of them jousted for a little while before one came back and settled, albeit warily, on the ground:
The woodland glade isn’t terribly well lit by the sun at this time of year, but there was still a Red Admiral on patrol there:
Another Comma was seen on the way out and with a total of 10 butterflies seen (3 Brimstones, 3 Peacocks, 2 Red Admirals and 2 Commas) it’s safe to say that things have finally woken up.
It’s been a mild winter in south Wales, but sunshine has been at a premium, so with the promise of blue skies and 12c temperatures I headed down to Cwm Ivy, arriving at around 11.45am.
Yesterday had been sunny but I saw no butterflies. However, two sunny, mild days on the run seem to wake a few butterflies up and so it proved today, with me disturbing a male Brimstone on this stretch of brambles:
Re: David M
Monday 11th March – Restricted window
With almost continual cloud during the peak times of day (irritatingly, it has often been brightening up after 4.30pm here lately), I acted quickly when I saw blue sky encroaching from the south west just before midday today.
It was a good job I did because this window lasted for just 35 minutes, but during that short period I saw three male Brimstones and two Commas on the track leading past Pennard Golf Club near Southgate.
Interestingly, one of the Commas was seen nectaring on gorse flowers:
The only other butterfly I’ve ever seen do this is Green Hairstreak, which uses it as a foodplant round these parts.
Sadly, proceedings were curtailed when this bank of cloud rolled in from the north:
Just shows how rapidly butterflies will respond at this time of year. They’re busy creatures and will become active very quickly with a bit of sunshine and 12c warmth.
With almost continual cloud during the peak times of day (irritatingly, it has often been brightening up after 4.30pm here lately), I acted quickly when I saw blue sky encroaching from the south west just before midday today.
It was a good job I did because this window lasted for just 35 minutes, but during that short period I saw three male Brimstones and two Commas on the track leading past Pennard Golf Club near Southgate.
Interestingly, one of the Commas was seen nectaring on gorse flowers:
Sadly, proceedings were curtailed when this bank of cloud rolled in from the north:
Re: David M
Monday 18th March – Pukka for Pierids
Finally, a decent weather forecast, although the sun didn’t actually come out till almost midday by which time I was already at Lower Kilvey Hill, looking to have a wander round the cemetery.
Surprisingly, nothing was seen, but after vaulting the wall at the eastern end, my first butterfly sighting was a surprise one – a male Small White.
He was a devil to track, flying over this barbed wire fence and into the field beyond:
He settled only briefly, before taking to the air again:
There were ten Brimstones too, all males, but surprisingly no vanessids.
My first bluebells of the year were a welcome surprise:
The plants are clearly doing rather better than the butterflies.
Finally, a decent weather forecast, although the sun didn’t actually come out till almost midday by which time I was already at Lower Kilvey Hill, looking to have a wander round the cemetery.
Surprisingly, nothing was seen, but after vaulting the wall at the eastern end, my first butterfly sighting was a surprise one – a male Small White.
He was a devil to track, flying over this barbed wire fence and into the field beyond:
My first bluebells of the year were a welcome surprise:
Re: David M
Monday 18th March – Worrying decline
I regularly find Small Tortoiseshells in Dan-y-Graig cemetery in spring, so I was quite surprised I was unable to do so today, although the authorities cutting much of the grass didn’t help – the numbers of flowering celandines had been decimated.
So, I headed to the stream not far from my former workplace, where the raised banks provide an area where both celandines and nettles can thrive:
There was just this one individual in the 300 yard stretch I walked down, even though there must have been a four-figure number of celandine flowers:
This species has become a lot scarcer these last couple of years in my area. Hopefully it’s just a blip and numbers will recover.
I regularly find Small Tortoiseshells in Dan-y-Graig cemetery in spring, so I was quite surprised I was unable to do so today, although the authorities cutting much of the grass didn’t help – the numbers of flowering celandines had been decimated.
So, I headed to the stream not far from my former workplace, where the raised banks provide an area where both celandines and nettles can thrive:
Re: David M
Same here in Somerset - only one vanessid to date (unidentifiable but flight pattern suggested Small Tort). A few Brimstones about. Opportunities for butterflies are few and far between amid the endless rain.
Re: David M
The local decline (South Derbyshire) in the numbers of Small Tortoiseshell in the few years I have been collecting data on them is alarming. If I designed a graph to represent that data, it would look rather horrific. I would describe them as 'common' in 2019 and 'quite rare' in 2023. Hopefully you are not having the same decline David.
Re: David M
This rain and cloud has indeed been depressing, Chris, although we have a fair bit of sunshine for today and tomorrow at least.
Re: David M
20th to 26th March – No escape…
All seemed normal when I arrived at Tenerife South airport on the evening of 19th. However, from mid-afternoon on 21st, things took a surprise turn when a ‘weather bomb’ arrived from the north, closing the roads near Mt Teide for the next two days.
Although temperatures were still above 20c near the coast, a fair bit of cloud interfered with proceedings over the next few days, although that didn’t stop the dozen or so Monarchs at the Palmetum in Santa Cruz from going about their business:
A pleasant surprise was seeing quite a few Plain Tigers. There were none when I visited the island in March last year, but this species was the first I saw on the morning of 21st and I probably reached a dozen and a half by the end of the week:
This mating pair was a first:
Several Canary Brimstones were seen, although they were in no mood to pose for a photo. Canary Large Whites were about in extremely low numbers and again I never got near one.
It was shades of Morocco last May for me, with a long drought and abnormal early year temperatures replaced overnight by stormy and wet conditions, particularly at altitude.
It took quite some effort to find the butterflies I was after.
All seemed normal when I arrived at Tenerife South airport on the evening of 19th. However, from mid-afternoon on 21st, things took a surprise turn when a ‘weather bomb’ arrived from the north, closing the roads near Mt Teide for the next two days.
Although temperatures were still above 20c near the coast, a fair bit of cloud interfered with proceedings over the next few days, although that didn’t stop the dozen or so Monarchs at the Palmetum in Santa Cruz from going about their business:
It was shades of Morocco last May for me, with a long drought and abnormal early year temperatures replaced overnight by stormy and wet conditions, particularly at altitude.
It took quite some effort to find the butterflies I was after.
Re: David M
A nice change to see those Danaid butterflies, David. 
Your account of inclement weather on Tenerife reminds me of a holiday taken many years ago at this time of year when I nearly got stuck in a bad and unexpected snowstorm on the approaches to Las Canadas. It was a very hairy and slippery drive down to warmer levels...
I hope there are some more Canary specialists to come (despite the weather)...
Cheers,
Dave
Your account of inclement weather on Tenerife reminds me of a holiday taken many years ago at this time of year when I nearly got stuck in a bad and unexpected snowstorm on the approaches to Las Canadas. It was a very hairy and slippery drive down to warmer levels...
I hope there are some more Canary specialists to come (despite the weather)...
Cheers,
Dave
Re: David M
Your report reminds me of my own visit, in March 2022. Over the course of 8 days, I had only about 2 days worth of sunshine on the North side of the island, and that involved chasing it! That said, the weather was still better than the UK at that time of year. And the endemic butterflies I did see, more than made up for it.
Re: David M
20th to 26th March – Hard work…
With the altitude site at Las Lajas now off limits due to the weather conditions, I had to rely on Santiago del Teide to find Canary Blue.
Two abortive visits were made to this first site that is (supposedly) just outside the 'rain shadow' of the island.
The third visit didn’t look promising initially, but the sun came out long enough for me to locate two males and a female:
A visit to Parque de las Mesas for Canary Skipper was similarly fraught with difficulties, with me having to explain to the local police why I was on land which had a sign saying ‘Prohibido el Paso’ on it.
Thankfully, my Spanish is now reliable enough to talk my way out of such situations, and as I was talking to them a small butterfly landed close by:
Although this was the only one seen, I was delighted that it was a female as last year at the same location the sole individual I saw was a male.
With the altitude site at Las Lajas now off limits due to the weather conditions, I had to rely on Santiago del Teide to find Canary Blue.
Two abortive visits were made to this first site that is (supposedly) just outside the 'rain shadow' of the island.
The third visit didn’t look promising initially, but the sun came out long enough for me to locate two males and a female:
Thankfully, my Spanish is now reliable enough to talk my way out of such situations, and as I was talking to them a small butterfly landed close by:
Re: David M
It's ever since we had those two heatwaves in the summer of 2022, Chris. Everything got parched even this far west and numbers have been poor both last year and at the start of this year.Chris L wrote: ↑Thu Mar 28, 2024 1:24 pmThe local decline (South Derbyshire) in the numbers of Small Tortoiseshell in the few years I have been collecting data on them is alarming. If I designed a graph to represent that data, it would look rather horrific. I would describe them as 'common' in 2019 and 'quite rare' in 2023. Hopefully you are not having the same decline David.
Re: David M
20th to 26th March – Brightening up…
Near to the coast, things were generally warm but rather cloudy, and a visit to nearby La Orotava in decent sunshine provided the highlight of the week, when this Canary Red Admiral decided to bask on a stone wall for a good ten minutes, allowing close approaches:
Nearby, there was also a decent concentration of Canary Speckled Woods, a butterfly that had proved surprisingly difficult during the first couple of days. They were around only in small numbers and tended to settle in hard to get to places:
Three Monarchs were also seen, along with African Grass Blue and Bath White.
Near to the coast, things were generally warm but rather cloudy, and a visit to nearby La Orotava in decent sunshine provided the highlight of the week, when this Canary Red Admiral decided to bask on a stone wall for a good ten minutes, allowing close approaches:
Re: David M
20th to 26th March – Last day…
I had bumped into two friends at the Mirador on the north coast on my penultimate day, and they told me they had seen more than ten African Migrants at Playa San Juan, the bulk of which were nectaring from ornamental flowers on the street next to the roundabout where the foodplant grows.
It was cloudy and damp until I travelled beyond Santiago del Teide, and whilst I arrived (for the third time) in largely sunny conditions on the west coast, the gusty wind did not fill me with a great deal of hope.
However, as soon as I got to the flowers my friends had tipped me off about, there was a solitary florella feeding there:
Although the yellowish underside suggested it was a female, when it flew the uppersides were creamy-white as in the males. Some subsequent research informed me that there is a female form where the uppersides are pale in colour so this individual was the first female I had ever seen.
Furthermore, there were two seen at the roundabout itself, one of which was settling on the cassia frequently:
A review of my images showed ovipositing behaviour, so this one was clearly a female too.
I shall hopefully return next year in calmer conditions and in the late morning, when they seem to be particularly active, as this is a sub-saharan species that you won’t find in continental Europe.
I had bumped into two friends at the Mirador on the north coast on my penultimate day, and they told me they had seen more than ten African Migrants at Playa San Juan, the bulk of which were nectaring from ornamental flowers on the street next to the roundabout where the foodplant grows.
It was cloudy and damp until I travelled beyond Santiago del Teide, and whilst I arrived (for the third time) in largely sunny conditions on the west coast, the gusty wind did not fill me with a great deal of hope.
However, as soon as I got to the flowers my friends had tipped me off about, there was a solitary florella feeding there:
Furthermore, there were two seen at the roundabout itself, one of which was settling on the cassia frequently:
Re: David M
Thanks, Dave. It was pretty awful and in retrospect I'm grateful we got to see the Blue Chaffinches on the high plateau on the first day, because it was inaccessible thereafter.millerd wrote: ↑Sun Mar 31, 2024 8:39 pmA nice change to see those Danaid butterflies, David.
Your account of inclement weather on Tenerife reminds me of a holiday taken many years ago at this time of year when I nearly got stuck in a bad and unexpected snowstorm on the approaches to Las Canadas. It was a very hairy and slippery drive down to warmer levels...
I hope there are some more Canary specialists to come (despite the weather)...
The butterflies were fairly low in numbers compared to last year, but the range was excellent (we only missed out on one target species).
Re: David M
Remember it well, Paul. You suffered as I did but you still got to see almost everything you had planned to see, just like me.selbypaul wrote: ↑Mon Apr 01, 2024 11:13 amYour report reminds me of my own visit, in March 2022. Over the course of 8 days, I had only about 2 days worth of sunshine on the North side of the island, and that involved chasing it! That said, the weather was still better than the UK at that time of year. And the endemic butterflies I did see, more than made up for it.
It may have been unseasonably bad by Tenerife standards, but it was still far preferable to life in the UK during that week!