Butterfly Diary
- field notes by Adrian Hoskins
my earliest sightings
of each brood are highlighted in bold type
|
|
Sightings policy - details
of certain sites where visitor pressure or trampling may
pose a threat to butterflies or alienate landowners are
excluded from these pages.
|
2007
April
Jan
|
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jly |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct
|
Nov |
Dec
|
Sunday
29th April
Marsh Fritillaries have begun to emerge at several
sites in Dorset, including a site near Dorchester where I saw at
least 30 fresh males flying today. Other species included
about 50 Dingy Skippers, 20 Grizzled Skippers, 3
Brimstones, 4 Orange tips, 15 Green Hairstreaks, a Small
Copper, 7 Holly Blues, 2 Red Admirals, 3 Peacocks and 2
Speckled Woods. Day-flying moths included fresh specimens
of Burnet Companion, Mother Shipton and Cinnabar.
|
|
Saturday
28th April
The exceptionally warm
spring weather is causing many species to emerge much
earlier than normal.
Ballard Down for example today produced 10 Adonis Blues
including a fresh female, and there were at least 40 fresh
Brown Argus flying. Other species seen included
about 50 Dingy Skippers, at least 4 Clouded Yellows, a
Brimstone, 2 Small Whites, a dozen Orange tips, about 30
Green Hairstreaks, 3 Small Coppers, 6 male Common Blues,
3 female Holly Blues, 3 Peacocks, 2 Commas, a Red Admiral
ovipositing on nettles, about 8 Wall Browns, 10
Small Heaths, and 8 Speckled Woods.
|
|
Saturday
21st April
I saw fewer than expected butterflies at
Bentley Wood this morning - 10 Speckled Woods, a couple of
basking Peacocks, a Small White nectaring at bluebell, 2 fresh male
Pearl-bordered Fritillaries, 3
Brimstones, and a Small Copper.
Later in the morning I
visited a private wood in central Hampshire, where I saw 3
Pearl-bordered Fritillaries,
5 male Duke of Burgundy, 2 Dingy Skippers, 2
Grizzled Skippers,
6 Holly Blues including a female ovipositing on dogwood
flowers ( see photo below ), a Small Copper, a Green
Hairstreak, a Green-veined White, a Small White, 6
male Orange tips, a
Peacock, and about 20 Brimstones.
In the afternoon I visited Noar
Hill where I saw 8 Duke of Burgundy, 7 Holly Blues, 7 Dingy
Skippers, a Small Tortoiseshell, a Peacock, 10 male Orange
tips, 12 Brimstones and a Green Hairstreak. Finally I
visited Stockbridge Down, and saw about 20 Grizzled
Skippers, 2 Green Hairstreaks, 10 Small Coppers, a Holly
Blue, 15 Brimstones, 2 Peacocks, a Comma, 4 Small Whites,
and the pretty micro moths
Pyrausta purpuralis, Pyrausta nigrata
and Adela reaumurella.
|
|
Saturday
14th April
At
Ballard Down today I saw about 20 Speckled Woods, 2
Commas, a dozen or so Peacocks, a Small Tortoiseshell, 6
Holly Blues, 8 Small Coppers, 4 Green Hairstreaks, an
Orange tip, 2 Small Whites, 2 Brimstones, 3 Clouded
Yellows, and about 10 Dingy Skippers. I found 3
male Dingy Skippers whose territories overlapped. All
passing butterflies were intercepted - Clouded Yellows and
Peacocks were quickly investigated but not challenged.
Small Coppers were challenged and quickly ousted from the
vicinity. When any of the male Dingy Skippers encountered
each other a sortie took place, with both butterflies
whirling in tight circles close to the ground,
occasionally making physical contact. After about a
minute, the pair would suddenly rocket skyward to a height
of about 3 metres, and the "intruding" male would be
chased off, after which the "owner" of the territory would
return to ground level and continue flying back and forth
in search of females.
|
|
Monday
9th April
I visited Magdalen Hill Down today, where I met Colin
Baker. Together we saw about a dozen Grizzled Skippers, 3
Brimstones, a Small White, a Holly Blue, 2 Commas, 3 Green
Hairstreaks and about 10 Peacocks. We watched a group of 4
male Peacocks chasing each other in wide circles, then
returning to their respective territories. The first Green
Hairstreak we saw was a male, occupying a territory at the
bottom of the hill, where it perched on privet and on low
herbage. Later we saw a female egg-laying.
|
|
Sunday
8th April
This morning at Levin Down, Steve Meredith and myself saw 4
Grizzled Skippers. We later visited Chiddingfold Woods, where
we saw 2 Brimstones, a Speckled Wood, 2 male
Orange tips, a Comma, and a Peacock. We also surveyed a Marsh Fritillary site (
which we cannot name, due to the risk of visitors
trampling on the larvae ) where we found 458 final instar
larvae, most of which were seen wandering across a
footpath.
|
|
Friday
6th April
A walk at Ballard Down this morning produced no less than
5 Clouded Yellows, including a mating pair. All
were faded and worn, and were probably migrants, but the
possibility that they had over-wintered as adults cannot
be ruled out.
I also saw a Holly Blue, a Green-veined White,
3 male Brimstones, a Small White, a dozen fresh Speckled
Woods, 6 Small Coppers, a Comma, a dozen Speckled
Woods, a Small Tortoiseshell, 5 Peacocks, and a Red
Admiral.
|
|
Thursday 5th April
Despite warm sunshine, Stockbridge Down was very quiet this
morning, producing only 6 Peacocks and 4 Commas, all
nectaring at blackthorn, and a single male Brimstone.
Magdalen Hill Down was only marginally better, with 3
Commas, 4 Brimstones, and 5 Peacocks, but also produced my
first Small Tortoiseshell of the year, seen flying
around a nettle patch; and 2 fresh Green Hairstreaks. |
|
Monday
2nd April
At Botley Wood this afternoon I saw 14 Commas, 18 Peacocks, 2
fresh Speckled Woods, and a Small White.
These species however were far outnumbered by the Brimstones -
I saw a minimum of 49 males, and 5 females. Most were seen in
flight, but several were nectaring at primroses, violets and
bluebells. I watched one confused male attempting to copulate with a
fallen ivy leaf, and watched another as it intercepted a passing
female. The pair landed on a bush, whereupon the male
attempted to copulate. The female responded by leading him on a
long courtship flight, during which the male constantly
fluttered a few inches below her. The pair rose to a height of
about 100m, then disappeared into the far distance, the
male still hovering below. Later I watched another female fly
up into an oak, where she went to roost under an ivy leaf at a
height of about 5 metres.
The Nymphalids also provided some
interesting observations - at one stage I watched a male Comma
battling with a male Peacock, both of who believed they had
legal ownership of a particular birch log. The pair engaged in
battle several times during a period of about 20 minutes, the
Peacock eventually conceding defeat to the victorious Comma
illustrated below !
|
|
Sunday 1st April
This afternoon at Stansted Forest I saw 4 male Brimstones, 2
Commas, and 2 Peacocks, both of which were nectaring at a patch of ground
ivy. There were no signs of any Red Admirals, huge numbers of
which used the forest as a refuge during the winter months (
see
chart
), but I did see one a couple of miles away in my garden at
Havant in the late afternoon.
|
|
