34theletterbetweenB&D Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 Never mind the butterflies, I am under the pergola getting hit by the odd drop of rain which makes its way through the overhead foliage, and enjoying the petrichor. Guess I will have to run inside if the slight rumblings hint at real rainfall to come. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted August 26, 2018 Share Posted August 26, 2018 it's getting near the end of the season for butterflies but there are still some to be seen. Yesterday we went off to Broughton Down hoping for same late silver-spotted skippers and some second brood adonis blues. No skippers were seen but three or four adonis blues were about. If you can get them at the right angle with the sun out the blue is stunning. Also saw a lot of common blues, brown argus and small heaths. Found one of the latter species perched nicely and backlit... Sue spotted this red-legged partridge five feet away from us. A very obliging bird. Chaz 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted September 5, 2018 Share Posted September 5, 2018 (edited) Spring is long gone but this month offers a last chance to see those little gems - small coppers. They have a third flight period in September and, as I have had little luck finding them this year, I set off today to Old Winchester Hill with my fingers crossed. They really are quite small and the ones I found perched on the bare chalk path were hard to get near being easily spooked. The ones busy taking nectar from flowers were easier to get closer to. Chaz Edited September 5, 2018 by chaz 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted September 14, 2018 Share Posted September 14, 2018 The butterfly season draws to a close. This week is the last transect week of the year and yesterday was the warmest, sunniest day so I went up to Magdalen Hill Down to do my duty. very few butterflies were showing but I did find small coppers and one common blue in surprisingly good condition, a few others I saw were very tatty. Below, two shots of the same small copper. Chaz 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jbqfc Posted September 14, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 14, 2018 (edited) common blue common blue by john brace, on Flickr small copper small copper by john brace, on Flickr both take at warnham nature reserve near horsham west Sussex Edited September 14, 2018 by jbqfc 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sb67 Posted September 14, 2018 Share Posted September 14, 2018 The butterfly season draws to a close. This week is the last transect week of the year and yesterday was the warmest, sunniest day so I went up to Magdalen Hill Down to do my duty. very few butterflies were showing but I did find small coppers and one common blue in surprisingly good condition, a few others I saw were very tatty. 850_6810.jpg Below, two shots of the same small copper. 850_6805.jpg 850_6798.jpg Chaz Forgive my ignorance but what is the last transect week and what happens to Butterflies during the winter? This is the first year I've really taken notice of things flying around my garden and got to say it's fascinating. I'm planning stuff to plant next year to help the little creatures. Steve. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted September 14, 2018 Share Posted September 14, 2018 Forgive my ignorance but what is the last transect week and what happens to Butterflies during the winter? This is the first year I've really taken notice of things flying around my garden and got to say it's fascinating. I'm planning stuff to plant next year to help the little creatures. Steve. Transects are butterfly counts. A fixed route is walked (usually on a reserve) and numbers of all species seen are recorded. The results can be compared year by year and trends noted. This week is the last week for transects in Hampshire. There isn't much point in carrying on longer as numbers seen will tail off fast. I did two transects yesterday and saw less than a dozen butterflies in about two hours. What happens to butterflies in the winter varies from species to species. Some overwinter as adults - for example the comma disguises itself as a dead leaf and hibernates on top of logs and branches. Many species overwinter as a chrysalis (cocoon). The small copper is an example of a butterfly that overwinters as a caterpillar. The chalkhill blue survives the winter as an egg. Painted ladies can't survive our winters and migrate south to warmer conditions. HTH Chaz Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sb67 Posted September 14, 2018 Share Posted September 14, 2018 Thanks Chaz, I've learnt something there. Steve. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted September 14, 2018 Share Posted September 14, 2018 (edited) Thanks Chaz, I've learnt something there. Steve. Happy to oblige. Should you get to the point where you want to get a field guide I recommend Richard Lewington's "Pocket Guide to the Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland". For each species (we have 59) it has a double page spread with several life-size illustrations (male and female, top and underside), pictures of eggs, caterpillars and chrysalis, a distribution map, a calendar showing how the life cycle goes in a year and some detailed notes. All for around a tenner. Chaz Edited September 14, 2018 by chaz 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
auld_boot Posted September 19, 2018 Share Posted September 19, 2018 Hummingbird hawk-moth feeding on the window boxes of the Olde Ship Inn in Seahouses this morning, not brilliant photos as I only had little compact camera with me. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sb67 Posted September 20, 2018 Share Posted September 20, 2018 Hummingbird hawk-moth feeding on the window boxes of the Olde Ship Inn in Seahouses this morning, not brilliant photos as I only had little compact camera with me. 20180919_120258.jpg 20180919_121046.jpg Nice photo's, we got one in my Girlfriends garden earlier in the year, it never stayed still enough to get a good photo! Fascinating to watch though as I never knew they existed up until then. Steve. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted September 27, 2018 Share Posted September 27, 2018 (edited) The season is definitely drawing to a close but a very warm day yesterday prompted me to make another trip to Old Winchester Hill. I spent an hour and a half spent walking around the site of the iron-age fort and I saw only a red admiral and two very distant small butterflies fluttering together on the steep bank. I was on the point of leaving when I came across two small coppers close to the path (possibly the two small insects that I had seen earlier). Low, early evening sun making for a very photogenic light. Damage to the left upper wing shows this to be a different insect. I couldn't resist this view across the reserve as the balloon appeared. And having taken a few more butterfly snaps I noticed a second balloon had joined the first (launched from not far away?). Chaz Edited September 27, 2018 by chaz 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Co-tr-Paul Posted September 27, 2018 Share Posted September 27, 2018 (edited) Just caught up to date with this thread today and thought 'ah no Hummingbird HM this year ' , went out into the back garden and low and behold, there's one on the Valarian ! And on possibly the last warm day of the year too. Its been a bit strange as despite the long hot bits, poorish year. Only 5 Torts on the Buddlea at one time. Worst ever. 23 a few years back. 9 last year and I thought that was bad. One from august. Edited September 27, 2018 by Co-tr-Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Posted September 29, 2018 Share Posted September 29, 2018 Saw a few today whilst out walking the dogs on the South Downs. Small White (Pair) Woodland Brown (2-3 off) Painted Lady (Single) Red Admiral ( 3-4 off) 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Co-tr-Paul Posted December 22, 2018 Share Posted December 22, 2018 Well, Dec 22 and just seen a Peacock in Long Rock, Penzance depot yard ! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Downendian Posted February 23, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 23, 2019 Well do I win a prize? First RMweb 2019 sighting of a new brood male Brimstone seen about 15 minutes ago on the wing in Bristol. A balmy 15-16C here. Neil 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonny777 Posted February 23, 2019 Share Posted February 23, 2019 Well done Neil. I have to say that I was surprised not to have seen one so far today, but maybe I am just unlucky. 16.3 C here in Nailsea, a whole ten degrees warmer than this time last year. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Joseph_Pestell Posted February 23, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 23, 2019 20 minutes ago, Downendian said: Well do I win a prize? First RMweb 2019 sighting of a new brood male Brimstone seen about 15 minutes ago on the wing in Bristol. A balmy 15-16C here. Neil No. I saw a butterfly on Thursday afternoon. But it went past the window too quickly for me to identify it. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Phil Bullock Posted February 23, 2019 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted February 23, 2019 Any advance on Thursday lunch time for a female brimstone in Churchdown? I was off work with laryngitis, the sight of her outside the lounge window certainly brightened the day Phil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
34theletterbetweenB&D Posted February 23, 2019 Share Posted February 23, 2019 Saw our first Brimstone of 2019 in central Herts approx. 4 pm. (Not quite as warm as Bristle, peaked at 14C today on the max and min thermometer.) 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Co-tr-Paul Posted February 24, 2019 Share Posted February 24, 2019 (edited) My first of the year today, Peacock at Glendurgan Gardens, near Falmouth. Out with the cider..... !! Edited February 24, 2019 by Co-tr-Paul Autospell 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
2750Papyrus Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 2 Brimstones and a brief sighting of what looked like a Tortoiseshell in the Bedfordshire garden yesterday. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Phil Bullock Posted February 25, 2019 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted February 25, 2019 And a male Brimstone in Sandford Park Cheltenham today Lets face it you can hardly miss them! Wonderful... Phil 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 One Brimstone in Ashford (Kent), where it was 20 Celsius at lunch-time. My two apricot trees are in flower, so I hope there's something around to pollinate them. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
2750Papyrus Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 A comma in the garden today. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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