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Where Are The Butterflies?


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Posted
  • Location: chellaston, derby
  • Weather Preferences: The Actual Weather ..... not fantasy.
  • Location: chellaston, derby

early august, buddlias out in full bloom, not 1 vanessid to be seen. normally id see double figures small tortoishell and peacock, occassional comma, a few red admirals..... this year theres NOTHING. no meadow brown either, had an occassional gatekeeper, holly blue and ringlet! yes, ringlet here are rare but ive seen more ringlets then peacocks and small tortoishells put together.

im sure its not all down to weather, after all we have had bad summers before and will again.

anybody seen anything?

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Posted
  • Location: Runcorn, Cheshire
  • Weather Preferences: Snowy winters, hot, sunny springs and summers.
  • Location: Runcorn, Cheshire

Yeah, plenty of butterflies up here.

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Posted
  • Location: chellaston, derby
  • Weather Preferences: The Actual Weather ..... not fantasy.
  • Location: chellaston, derby

Yeah, plenty of butterflies up here.

im not far from you and have nothing.....

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Posted
  • Location: Cheddar Valley, 20mtrs asl
  • Weather Preferences: Snow and lots of it or warm and sunny, no mediocre dross
  • Location: Cheddar Valley, 20mtrs asl

Not a lot down here, the odd Cabbage White and a couple of Peacocks - Nothing at all on the Buddleia.

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Posted
  • Location: Peasedown St John.N.E.Somerset
  • Weather Preferences: Fair to Foul...
  • Location: Peasedown St John.N.E.Somerset

Did my Big Butterfly Count and sent them to the site online..!" 12 sightings of different butterflies with a total of 44 in number..When I Posted the site number of reports was 15036...23 people stated they had not seen any..The figures are well down .They are seen about as sun comes out with no rain.Saw a few Large whites today out the back where there is afield...

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Posted
  • Location: Whitkirk, Leeds 86m asl
  • Weather Preferences: Anything but mild south-westeries in winter
  • Location: Whitkirk, Leeds 86m asl

They're all dead I suppose.

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Posted
  • Location: Exile from Argyll
  • Location: Exile from Argyll

The poor summers in the UK have played a part but is not relevant to the rest of Europe where there has been a staggering decline in some species.

This, IMO, is the real culprit.

http://smallbluemarble.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Global-Wildlife-AIDS-associated-with-the-Neonicotinoid-Insecticides.pdf

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Posted
  • Location: Beccles, Suffolk.
  • Weather Preferences: Thunder, snow, heat, sunshine...
  • Location: Beccles, Suffolk.

early august, buddlias out in full bloom, not 1 vanessid to be seen. normally id see double figures small tortoishell and peacock, occassional comma, a few red admirals..... this year theres NOTHING. no meadow brown either, had an occassional gatekeeper, holly blue and ringlet! yes, ringlet here are rare but ive seen more ringlets then peacocks and small tortoishells put together.

im sure its not all down to weather, after all we have had bad summers before and will again.

anybody seen anything?

Indeed we have, mushy. But this year's seen a combination of a fine, warm, dry spring (which ought to encourage early butterfly activity) followed by an abrupt and long-lasting change to cold, wet and windy conditions...I don't think it's been this bad for years?

Isn't that paper on animal AIDS a good advert for the introduction of GM crops?

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Posted
  • Location: North York Moors
  • Location: North York Moors

The poor summers in the UK have played a part but is not relevant to the rest of Europe where there has been a staggering decline in some species.

This, IMO, is the real culprit.

http://smallbluemarb...nsecticides.pdf

The evidence doesn't really stack up for this anti-pesticide ramping.

There's now far more sensitive management of hedgerow margins and wildflower areas than in the past.

Also only in April mega_shok.gif the BBC were trumpeting dramatic increases in many species as a result of good weather in 2011.

The culprit is this years cool and wet conditions which have stopped adults flying and killed many individuals before they could even fully develop - simple as that.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/17769868

Actually I have seen a few more the last few days in particular small tortoiseshell and meadow brown.

What has been particularly bad this year is almost incessant cool and wet since early April until now.

We usually get periods of poor weather but not with no let-up at all for most areas.

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Posted
  • Location: Near Beverley, East Yorks. (5 metres a.s.l.)
  • Weather Preferences: Something good in all four seasons
  • Location: Near Beverley, East Yorks. (5 metres a.s.l.)

Same here, flowers in full bloom, including 3 large buddleias and

next to no butterflies. I have a seen few Cabbage Whites and one

Red Admiral in my garden this last fortnight.

I hope they can somehow recover numbers.

B.

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Posted
  • Location: Beccles, Suffolk.
  • Weather Preferences: Thunder, snow, heat, sunshine...
  • Location: Beccles, Suffolk.

A few cabbage whites and small blues here. Bugger-all else!

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Posted
  • Location: Chorlton (h) Cheadle Royal (o)
  • Location: Chorlton (h) Cheadle Royal (o)

Not many to be seen in Manchester, but I travelled down to Somerset over the weekend and there were plenty there, including the first Peacock I've seen for a while. Stopped en route in Gloucestershire somewhere and there were lots there too.

Earwigs now, we have plenty of those. Never seen so many. Lifted a rock in the garden and thought I'd disturbed an ants' nest.

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Posted
  • Location: South Gloucestershire BS35
  • Weather Preferences: Severe weather enthusiast
  • Location: South Gloucestershire BS35

Ugh earwigs. Hate those buggers.

Anyway here in S Glos ive hardly seen any butterflies. There were a fair few cabbage whites fluttering about in the most recent warm spell, but thats it.

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Posted
  • Location: Lower Brynamman, nr Ammanford, 160-170m a.s.l.
  • Location: Lower Brynamman, nr Ammanford, 160-170m a.s.l.

Round here in w. London I've seen nothing except a couple of cabbage whites and a small blue. A couple of weekends ago in E. Sussex we saw what we think might have been some form of gatekeeper, but that i/d is by no means certain!

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Posted
  • Location: Beccles, Suffolk.
  • Weather Preferences: Thunder, snow, heat, sunshine...
  • Location: Beccles, Suffolk.

Three peacocks and a brown thing...Things are looking up!

Slugs - lots of slugs destroying my cabbagesaggressive.gif , plenty of Brown and white butterflies, the farmers have been unable to cut silage in a few fields and the amount of butterflies in them is great to see

Praise the Lord! Slugs can't fly!rofl.gif

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Posted
  • Location: chellaston, derby
  • Weather Preferences: The Actual Weather ..... not fantasy.
  • Location: chellaston, derby

actually had a peacock today! wow! lol

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Posted
  • Location: Stockport, South Manchester
  • Weather Preferences: Thunderstorms & Snow.
  • Location: Stockport, South Manchester

I haven't seen any peacocks, tortoisehells etc at all. Only white cabbage butterflies.

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Posted
  • Location: Beccles, Suffolk.
  • Weather Preferences: Thunder, snow, heat, sunshine...
  • Location: Beccles, Suffolk.

Four peacocks, a red admiral, a small blue, several cabbage whites and a 'brown thing', on the buddleias yesterday. Sadly, my interest in butterflies never really extended as far as brown ones.

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Posted
  • Location: LANCS. 12 miles NE of Preston at the SW corner of the Bowland Fells. 550ft, 170m approx.
  • Location: LANCS. 12 miles NE of Preston at the SW corner of the Bowland Fells. 550ft, 170m approx.

Plenty of whites meadow browns, one of the coppers and the odd tortoiseshell while the weather was fair.

Can't find the appropriate thread -- but has anyone got wasps? Not one anywhere here this year, though I vaguely recall seeing a queen in spring. Usually we've quite a few nests and certainly by now I'd be wafting them off the loganberries.

But there's not going to be much fruit about for them if they do turn up. Poor apple and damson crop for instance . Hopefully blackberries will be better than last year. Then I picked 12, yes just 12, when normally I pick several buckets full.

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Posted
  • Location: Sheffield South Yorkshire 160M Powering the Sheffield Shield
  • Weather Preferences: Any Extreme
  • Location: Sheffield South Yorkshire 160M Powering the Sheffield Shield

More than there were last year but that isn't all that hard. Last years butterfly survey for me was very easy. None.

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