Butterfly Diary
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field notes by Adrian Hoskins
note :
earliest
sightings of each brood are in bold type
2012
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
May
Sunday 13th May
Call me crazy
if you like but I took a 5 hour each-way train journey which
included enduring 2 hours of drunken loudmouthed football
"fans" on East Midlands trains ( why don't you people call the
police to throw these hooligans off at the next station? ) so
that I could spend an afternoon in the beautiful New Forest
enjoying Pearl-bordered Fritillaries. The flight season has
barely started and the weather was less than perfect but I saw
3 males and a female in woodland near Brockenhurst. Other
species seen included
2 fresh Small
Coppers,
1 Green
Hairstreak, 2 Peacocks, 1 Orange tip, 1 Green-veined White and
2
Brimstones. Time well spent!
Pearl-bordered Fritillary
Clossiana euphrosyne, male,
Brockenhurst, Hampshire
Green Hairstreak
Callophrys rubi,
Brockenhurst, Hampshire
Friday 11th May
Several
freshly emerged male Adonis Blues were reported today
from Mill Hill in Sussex, and the first Glanville
Fritillaries of the year were seen at Wheeler's Bay on the
Isle of Wight. The Duke of Burgundy is now approaching peak
flight season in Hampshire, and Wall Brown is flying in good
numbers at its Sussex and Dorset coastal localities. So far
there have been no reports of any Marsh Fritillary sightings
but they should appear at their sites in Dorset and Wiltshire
very soon.
Tuesday 8th May
Two fresh
Clouded Yellows were seen at Southbourne Undercliff on the
Hampshire coast today. It is not clear whether these were migrants
or the result of overwintered larvae. Brown Argus, Small
Blues, Common Blues, Small Coppers, Brown Argus and Wall Brown
are now emerging at several sites in Hampshire, Dorset and Surrey. Duke of Burgundy, Dingy Skipper and Grizzled
Skipper are now approaching their peak flight periods in
Hampshire and Sussex. Pearl-bordered Fritillaries have already
reached peak numbers at Rewell Wood in in Sussex but are only
just beginning to emerge elsewhere. Wood Whites are now
emerging in Surrey, where 12 adults including a copulating
pair were seen at Chiddingfold.
Sunday 6th May
The weather
today in Leicester was cool but mostly bright and sunny, so
Emily and myself decided to explore Evington Meadow, a small
attractive area of parkland to the east of the city. A Peacock
appeared shortly after we arrived, soon followed by
2 Speckled
Woods,
3
Green-veined Whites,
1 Small White
and several Orange tips. In total we saw about 10
males and 3 females, including one which we watched ovipositing on garlic mustard.
While watching the Orange tips a sparrow hawk suddenly swooped
across our path chasing a pair of house sparrows, but luckily
they saw it coming and dived into a bush just in time to have
a lucky escape!
Speckled Wood
Pararge aegeria, male, Evington
meadow, Leicestershire
Orange tip,
Anthocharis cardamines,
ovipositing female, Evington meadow, Leicester
Tuesday 1st May
The first
Common Blues of 2012 were seen today on the Isle of Wight
and in West Sussex. I've also received reports of Brown
Argus and migrant Painted Ladies from various sites
in Dorset, Hampshire and Sussex.
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