Butterfly Diary UK - Latest Sightings

Butterfly Diary - field notes by Adrian Hoskins

note : earliest sightings of each brood are in bold type

2012

Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jly | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec

February

Sunday 26th February

A mild day across Britain brought reports of several Brimstones from the New Forest and elsewhere in the southern counties. The first Small White of 2012 was seen today at Chilton in Oxon. Today also brought a report of the largest gathering of any single species so far this year, when no less than 6 Red Admirals were seen at Graffham in Sussex.

Saturday 25th February

Red Admirals were seen at Bursledon and Browndown in Hampshire. Also from Hampshire came a report of a Speckled Wood at Liphook, and a Peacock at Alresford.

Friday 24th February

Another record of a Small Tortoiseshell, this time from Henfield in Sussex would appear to indicate that the species is off to a good start in 2012. Brimstones were reported from several sites including Benson in Oxfordshire and Bourne End in Bucks.

Thursday 23rd February

Brimstones were reported as singletons from several sites today including Cholsey in Oxfordshire and Great Missenden in Buckinghamshire. The first Commas of the year were recorded today from Stansted Forest and Isfield in Sussex, and from Gosport in Hampshire. Also from Hampshire came a report of 2 Small Tortoiseshells from Southampton.

Sunday 19th February

After the snowfall which affected Britain earlier this month the weather is slowly improving. The sunshine which greeted us today will undoubtedly be short-lived, but it was enough to encourage a few butterflies out of their state of semi-hibernation, at least in sunny Sussex, where Red Admirals were reported from Lewes and from Abbots Wood.

Wednesday 15th February

A Brimstone was reported today from Weavers Down in Sussex.

Sunday 5th February

Winter is now making its presence felt, with temperatures plummeting across the UK. Last night we had heavy snowfall here in Leicester. We awoke to find the city under a 6" deep carpet of snow this morning! As might be expected there have been no butterfly reports yet this month from anywhere in the UK - but watch this space!

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