Butterfly Diary
- field notes by Adrian Hoskins
my earliest
sightings of each brood are highlighted in bold type
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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.
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2010
Jan
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Feb
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Mar
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Apr
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May
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Jun
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Jly
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Aug
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Sep
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Oct
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Nov
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Dec
April
Saturday 24th April
Today 7 Duke
of Burgundy males - the first of the season, and 3 Dingy Skippers, were seen
at Noar Hill by a friend who also told me that Wood Whites
have just started to emerge in Surrey. I didn't see any "first of
season" species myself today - I visited Ballard Down in Dorset,
where cool conditions kept butterfly activity minimal.
Nevertheless I managed to see 2 Commas, 2 Peacocks, 14 Speckled
Woods ( including an ovipositing female ), an Orange tip, and 2
Dingy Skippers.
Small Copper,
Lycaena phlaeas,
Magdalen Hill Down, Hampshire
Dingy Skipper,
male,
Erynnis tages,
Ballard Down, Dorset
Friday 23rd April
Green Hairstreaks
were very active at Magdalen Hill Down this afternoon. In some
spots up to 4 males could be seen within a metre or two of each
other, perching on low growing bramble leaves. Every now and then
one would fly up and immediately a battle would take place, with 2
or 3 males spiralling rapidly up to a height of about 3 metres,
after which each returned to it's original perch or to another
nearby leaf. Other species seen included a Small Copper, about
15-20 Grizzled Skippers including a mating pair, 2 Commas, 6
Peacocks and one Orange tip.
Green Hairstreak
Callophrys rubi,
Magdalen Hill Down, Hampshire
Thursday 22nd April
The first
Painted Lady of the year was reported today from Lardon Chase
in Berkshire.
Wednesday 21st April
The first
Clouded Yellow of the year was reported today from Swanage in
Dorset.
Sunday 18th April
Orange tips are
now appearing in good numbers at Stansted Forest. Early this
afternoon I watched several males relentlessly patrolling back and
forth searching for females. Most of the latter seem to
have already mated however, judging by the "raised abdomen"
rejection signals that they were displaying to their suitors.
Peacocks were present in high numbers, indicative of a very high
winter survival rate. I also saw my first Speckled Wood of
the year, basking on a sunny path in the late afternoon. Total count for
the afternoon was 11 Orange tips ( 8m, 3f ), 1 Speckled Wood, at
least 40 Peacocks, and 9 Commas.
Speckled Wood,
male,
Pararge aegeria,
Stansted Forest, West Sussex
Saturday 17th April
Peacocks were by
far the commonest butterflies at the 3 Hampshire sites that I
visited today, with counts of 19 at Magdalen Hill Down, 8 at
Stockbridge Down and 7 at Pitt Down. Magdalen Hill Down had the
greatest species diversity - in addition to Peacocks there were 12
Brimstones, 7 Grizzled Skippers, 2 Small Tortoiseshells, 2 Commas,
1 Green-veined White, 1 Holly Blue and 3 Orange tips.
The first
Small Copper of the year was reported today from Gosport,
Hampshire.
Grizzled Skipper,
male
Pyrgus malvae,
Magdalen Hill Down, Hampshire
Friday 16th April
The number of
Commas seen this afternoon at Stansted Forest was slightly lower
than it was a few days ago, but Peacocks were present in high
numbers, and could be seen sparring with each other, or chasing
bumble bees, in sunny spots throughout the woodland. My species
count comprised of 6 Commas, 17 Peacocks, 2 Brimstones, 1 Small
White and 2 Orange tips ( 1m, 1f ). Strangely I have not yet seen
any Speckled Woods, but these can only be a day or two away from
emergence.
Orange tip
Anthocharis cardamines,
Stansted Forest, West Sussex
Tuesday 13th April
The first
Dingy Skipper of the year was reported from Mill Hill in
Sussex today.
Sunday 11th April
Cool weather
reduced the numbers of butterflies seen this morning, but
nevertheless a visit to Noar Hill in Hampshire produced a mating
pair of Brimstones, a Small Tortoiseshell, 2 female Commas and 4
Peacocks. In mid afternoon I visited Dunsfold in Surrey,
where temperatures were by then high enough to encourage a few
more butterflies to take flight. In a boggy woodland clearing I
saw 4 male Orange tips ( and a single female ), 2 Brimstones, 3
Peacocks and 2 Commas. Just over the Sussex border in nearby
Fisherlane Wood I added another 5 Peacocks, 2 Commas and 2 Orange
Underwing moths.
Orange tip
Anthocharis cardamines,
Dunsfold, Surrey
Small
Tortoiseshell
Aglais urticae,
Noar Hill, Hampshire
Peacock
Inachis io,
Stansted Forest, West Sussex
Saturday 10th April
This afternoon I
visited the Butterfly Conservation reserve at Magdalen Hill Down,
Hampshire, and saw my first Green Hairstreak of 2010. Other
species included 2 Small Tortoiseshells, 1 Comma, 7 Peacocks, 3
Brimstones and 2 Orange tips. I also had time for a short walk on
Stockbridge Down where I saw a Red Admiral laying eggs on nettles
along the valley bottom. There were also at least 4 Commas, 2
Brimstones, 4 Peacocks and a Small White flying in the same area.
More exciting news came from a visitor to Parkhurst Forest on the
Isle of Wight, who saw and photographed a
Large Tortoiseshell today !
Friday 9th April
At Stansted
Forest, this afternoon's warm sunshine resulted in a frenzy of
butterfly activity. In one small glade I counted no less than 8
Commas, mostly males. They were actively defending their
territories against each other, and against the Peacocks which
regularly intruded, and it was great fun watching them chase
around, trying to anticipate which butterfly would emerge
triumphant after each sortie. Commas are brave and inquisitive
butterflies, and succeeded in chasing off most of the Peacocks,
also bees, flies and even an angry hornet !
By 5.30pm the
temperature had dropped, and I spent several minutes watching the
various species seeking out their overnight roosting places. I
lost sight of some of them, but saw 2 Brimstones settle down for
the night under bramble leaves. The Commas were the hardest to
follow, but I saw one go to roost under a branch, and another
disappeared into a log pile. Peacocks were quite easy to follow,
and I watched 2 of them investigating a tangle of fallen branches,
beneath which they both settled. My total count for the afternoon
was 12 Commas, 7 Peacocks and 5 Brimstones.
Thursday 8th April
As the long cold
winter finally ends, and the first warm sunny days of spring
arrive, sightings of
Peacock, Comma, Brimstone and Small
Tortoiseshell continue on a daily basis. More surprisingly, the
last 2-3 days have brought earlier than expected sightings of
the
first Green-veined White, Small White, Large
White, Orange tip, Grizzled Skipper and Duke of
Burgundy
of 2010 from various sites in Hampshire, Sussex, Dorset and
Oxfordshire.
Monday 5th April
I revisited Bentley Wood today and
took the opportunity to take another look at the Speckled Wood
pupa that I discovered there on 14th March. At the moment there is
no sign of it "colouring up" in preparation for emergence, but the
first Speckled Wood adults of 2010 have already been reported from
Oxfordshire on 28th March, so it's emergence at Bentley Wood can
be expected soon. The only adult butterfly I saw today was a
Brimstone which briefly took flight during a short sunny spell.
Brimstone
Gonepteryx rhamni,
Bentley Wood, Wiltshire
At another site
in Wiltshire I found several half grown Marsh Fritillary larvae,
including some which had been parasitised by
Apanteles bignelli
wasps. The photo below shows a cluster of 4
Apanteles
cocoons and the corpses of half a dozen Marsh Fritillary larvae.
The wasps will emerge in a few days and lay their eggs on other
aurinia larvae,
and the resulting grubs will feed on them until the larvae are
fully grown. Luckily a small number of larvae manage to escape
parasitism and produce adult butterflies. Marsh Fritillaries lay
about 500 eggs, to ensure that enough larvae are produced to
survive the ravages of Apanteles
and other natural enemies.
Apanteles
wasp cocoons lying beside the corpses of
Euphydryas aurinia
larvae,
Wiltshire
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