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

thought there was a thread for this... maybe not, maybe im blind!


a poor summer so far, after a promising spring and a reoprted large migration northwards of painted ladies.

ive had a hummingbird hawk moth, and a couple of red admirals.

a few small tortioshell and comma , currently a good time for gatekeeper with more of them then recent years. saw a holly blue yesterday (all garden sightings).

the big success this year locally is ringlet, which has become rather common this year after being scarce.


oh...i forgot to add... peacocks are almost absent! saw one yesterday, but by now i should have well into double figures on my budlias.

maybe the cold nights has hit them hard?

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Posted
  • Location: Leeds
  • Weather Preferences: snow, heat, thunderstorms
  • Location: Leeds

I've seen a lot of butterflies in my garden, or maybe there aren't as many as usual and I just don't notice them usually.

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Posted
  • Location: Derbyshire Peak District. 290 mts a.s.l.
  • Weather Preferences: Anything extreme
  • Location: Derbyshire Peak District. 290 mts a.s.l.

I saw two Hummingbird Hawk moths feeding on Centranthus Ruber a couple of weeks ago; the first ones I'd ever seen.

 

A few Tortoiseshells and Red Admirals in this area but fewer than in April and May and no Peacocks seen since early June.

A lot of Meadow Browns. Gatekeepers  and Ringlets and the ever present Large Whites.

Quite a few Small Heaths over the last 10 days or so and a couple of Brown Hairstreaks, the latter also the first ones I've seen.

Saw a few Holly Blues in June and early July but none in the last couple of weeks.

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

Plenty of small whites on the sugar snaps at the moment....

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Posted
  • Location: Surrey and SW France.
  • Location: Surrey and SW France.

thought there was a thread for this... maybe not, maybe im blind!

a poor summer so far, after a promising spring and a reoprted large migration northwards of painted ladies.

ive had a hummingbird hawk moth, and a couple of red admirals.

a few small tortioshell and comma , currently a good time for gatekeeper with more of them then recent years. saw a holly blue yesterday (all garden sightings).

the big success this year locally is ringlet, which has become rather common this year after being scarce.

oh...i forgot to add... peacocks are almost absent! saw one yesterday, but by now i should have well into double figures on my budlias.

maybe the cold nights has hit them hard?

 

There has been no issue with cold nights here but still a scarcity of moths and butterflies. By this stage there is usually a cloud of moths round our outside lights but hardly any at all.

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

hell.. this has to be one of the worst years ever, and its pretty dry and sunny.

theres nothing save the odd peacock on my buddlia....

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

24c yesterday, warm, dry, rather humid, buddlia out in full flower and the rich scent carrying on a gentle breeze... perfect

1 red admiral
2 peacocks
1 comma
3 gatekeepers.

that is shockingly bad.

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

yay! had a pristine painted lady!

along with 3 gatekeeper
2 peacock
1 comma.

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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

Had a Hornet Moth in the garden, it was around for three or four days a couple of weeks ago, always appeared late afternoon but only stayed for a minute or so - never long enough to grab the camera. I've never seen one before and it scared the living daylights out of me when it first appeared, thought it was one of those horrendous Asian Hornets which have been in the press for killing people in France.

 

Edit....tried to add an image but it won't let me!

​

Edited by jethro
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Posted
  • Location: Saddleworth, Oldham , 175m asl
  • Weather Preferences: warm and sunny, thunderstorms, frost, fog, snow, windstorms
  • Location: Saddleworth, Oldham , 175m asl

Yeah pretty poor for butterflies this year. I do a butterfly survey for my local RSPB reserve every week and most species are down, with the exception of Small Heaths of which there have been hundreds!!

 

Having said that I do expect an emergence of species like Peacocks in the next few weeks as I have seen lots of caterpillars on nettles in this area. Many species are late as well as low in number.

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Posted
  • Location: Solihull, West Midlands. - 131 m asl
  • Weather Preferences: Sun, Snow and Storms
  • Location: Solihull, West Midlands. - 131 m asl

Dont wish to start a climate change debate on here.

But todyas Mirror has an item about 6 types of butterfly expected to dissappear by 2050 (by climate change).

They include small, large and green veined whites. Now I find this hard to believe as I have been out in the garden today and had no less than 8 large whites (at same time) fluttering around my sprouts and broccoli. I was encouraging my grand children to catch them with nets! I have also noticed the othes at varous times.

The other species were not unexpected (larger skipper,ringlet and speckled wood), but the whites I'm inundated with in my garden.

Has anyone else noticed a reduction in the various white species?

Ps I too have noticed a shortage of Peacocks on the Buddhleas this year after a very good year last year. Perhaps its the absence of southerly, southeasterly winds this year!

MIA

Edited by Midlands Ice Age
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Posted
  • Location: Camborne
  • Location: Camborne

One Red Admiral on the buddlia today that I saw. Not many around this year.

 

I think this is the paper (not newspaper) to which I think you refer MIA but I'm puzzled why you find it hard to believe on the strength of being out in the garden for a couple of hours.

 

Severe droughts could lead to widespread losses of butterflies by 2050

http://www.ceh.ac.uk/news-and-media/news/severe-droughts-could-lead-widespread-losses-butterflies-2050

post-12275-0-08185500-1439321995_thumb.j

Edited by knocker
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Posted
  • Location: North York Moors
  • Location: North York Moors

They always do poorly in cool wet summers though.
Seems like a typical pre-determined-outcome study, with a slant towards southern England.
In the north there are precious few days they can fly in an average year,
They can't fly when it's cool or rainy.

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

Dont wish to start a climate change debate on here.But todyas Mirror has an item about 6 types of butterfly expected to dissappear by 2050 (by climate change).They include small, large and green veined whites. Now I find this hard to believe as I have been out in the garden today and had no less than 8 large whites (at same time) fluttering around my sprouts and broccoli. I was encouraging my grand children to catch them with nets! I have also noticed the othes at varous times.The other species were not unexpected (larger skipper,ringlet and speckled wood), but the whites I'm inundated with in my garden.Has anyone else noticed a reduction in the various white species?Ps I too have noticed a shortage of Peacocks on the Buddhleas this year after a very good year last year. Perhaps its the absence of southerly, southeasterly winds this year!MIA

Ringlets have increased their range here in derby, they were rare but are now common. Speckled wood (and holly blue) became common 30 - 20 years ago here and are now frequent visitors to my garden. Good! I like them!

Nope on the various white front, lots of whites here.

The big absentee this summer is the once abundant small tortoishel, ive not seen even one this buddliea season. And ive a lotof buddlieas in my garden.

They always do poorly in cool wet summers though.

Seems like a typical pre-determined-outcome study, with a slant towards southern England.

In the north there are precious few days they can fly in an average year,

They can't fly when it's cool or rainy.

Its not wet here in derby, its dry and temps below normal.

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Posted
  • Location: Saddleworth, Oldham , 175m asl
  • Weather Preferences: warm and sunny, thunderstorms, frost, fog, snow, windstorms
  • Location: Saddleworth, Oldham , 175m asl

Well the study was saying those species are particularly at risk during bad droughts, which is fair enough. Now the question would be is how common droughts will be in future? Who knows.

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Posted
  • Location: Solihull, West Midlands. - 131 m asl
  • Weather Preferences: Sun, Snow and Storms
  • Location: Solihull, West Midlands. - 131 m asl

One Red Admiral on the buddlia today that I saw. Not many around this year.

 

I think this is the paper (not newspaper) to which I think you refer MIA but I'm puzzled why you find it hard to believe on the strength of being out in the garden for a couple of hours.

 

Severe droughts could lead to widespread losses of butterflies by 2050

http://www.ceh.ac.uk/news-and-media/news/severe-droughts-could-lead-widespread-losses-butterflies-2050

Knocker,

No its not just this afternoon.

Everytime I've looked out the window onto the garden, recently, I have seen them fluttering around.

Its just that I noticed the item in the paper and thought back to todays preceeding event.

I wonder if its more likely to be a shortage of food (ie people not growing Brassica type plants) in their gardens anymore for the whites, that is causing numbers to drop.

PS This evening I've been and looked and their eggs are everywhere on the leaves, with quite a few caterpillars already munching away! Grrr

Now..... do I leave them alone for conservation, OR do I remove them.

MIA

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

Well the study was saying those species are particularly at risk during bad droughts, which is fair enough. Now the question would be is how common droughts will be in future? Who knows.

 

it is... some speciese dont like warm dry others dont like wet cool.

in c25 years of casual observation ive seen the rise of some speciese (locally) like speckled wood, holly blue, and most recently ringlet. its the venessids that seem to have taken a tumble. ive yet to see a small tortoishell on my buddlia this season and thats shocking.

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Posted
  • Location: Bishops Cleeve, Cheltenham. 300 M ASL
  • Weather Preferences: Extremes, the very hot and the very cold.
  • Location: Bishops Cleeve, Cheltenham. 300 M ASL

We're members of the butterfly conservation charity. It's been a dire year around here. Don't think I've seen a small tortoiseshell all summer.

A couple of years ago I counted 30-40 butterflies on Our buddleia but other than a few peacocks (and a painted lady) there has been v few.

I do a fair bit of cycling and pretty quiet in the country lanes - good for whites, gatekeepers, meadow Browns and a comma but numbers seem poor to me.

Personally I think for us in our area numbers have been affected by new house development (removing fields, hedgerow etc), it has been v windy and the habit of the local authority or farmer cutting grass verges where many of these butterflies have their habitat.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Posted
  • Location: Derbyshire Peak District South Pennines Middleton & Smerrill Tops 305m (1001ft) asl.
  • Location: Derbyshire Peak District South Pennines Middleton & Smerrill Tops 305m (1001ft) asl.

A Comma in garden this afternoon, Plenty of Peakocks..

post-12319-0-60702800-1440357406_thumb.j

Edited by Polar Maritime
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Posted
  • Location: Beccles, Suffolk.
  • Weather Preferences: Thunder, snow, heat, sunshine...
  • Location: Beccles, Suffolk.

Isn't that a comma, PM? That said, the last few days have been very good indeed! :D

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Posted
  • Location: Derbyshire Peak District South Pennines Middleton & Smerrill Tops 305m (1001ft) asl.
  • Location: Derbyshire Peak District South Pennines Middleton & Smerrill Tops 305m (1001ft) asl.

Isn't that a comma, PM? That said, the last few days have been very good indeed! :D

 

It is Pete, Yes correct have edited  :)

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