Butterfly Islands

Thursday 3 May 2018

Blue On Blue.

A walk in the countryside today saw an array of spring butterflies.The only first of the year new species was a Large White seen feeding on a bountiful crop of dandelions.However the highlight was a Holly Blue investigating a drift of bluebells.

Wednesday 2 May 2018

A First Small Copper of the Year.

Another butterfly species joined the growing number of Green Hairstreaks at Whiteways today.After a morning of torrential rain and strong winds the sun appeared just after midday and despite a stiff breeze it developed into a warm and bright afternoon.Just what this new arrival needed.

Tuesday 1 May 2018

Green Hairstreaks Take The Stage.

A favoured site for spring emergent butterflies produced its first residents this morning.Following several days of very cool and unsettled weather, today dawned bright,sunny and mild.The Whiteways Quarry site is now a National Trust car park and is situated at the base of Afton Down.It's south west aspect overlooking the sea is a good location for several spring butterfly species and soon Small Blue,Grizzled and Dingy Skipper,and Glanville Fritillary will be seen here.

Sunday 22 April 2018

First Blue of the Season

A few days of high summer weather is coming to an end and this coming week will see more normal spring temperatures.However for this morning the sun is in a blue sky and with it the first blue butterfly of the year fluttered into my garden.This Holly Blue found a warm sunny spot to pass a few minutes before it flew off.

Wednesday 18 April 2018

Orange Tips Busy in my Local Woods.

It was shirt sleeve weather today with temperatures topping 23 degrees celcius.At Walters Copse the trees and saplings are bursting into green and the primroses carpet the rides.To add to the colour the first Orange Tips are on the wing.Firstly a female busily searching for places to lay her eggs and a male trying to take her interest.He was given the message that she was not available and he quickly flew off to feed on the woodland flowers.

Monday 16 April 2018

Spring Gets Underway.

Spring it seems has finally arrived and in the garden a first of the year Small White. A visit to my local copse was rewarded with another first of the season,a Speckled Wood. As the warm and sunny weather is promised for the rest of the week it looks as though more species will be out and about.

Monday 26 March 2018

Spring Returns for One Day Only.

With the prospect of yet more cold weather on the way this week,today was perhaps only the second springlike day of the year.This sunny and warmish morning heralded the first butterfly of the season in the garden.The ever reliable Peacock appeared in the flower border close to the rear of the house where it nectared on the perennial wallflower 'bowles mauve',a real favourite it seems for butterflies.

Later,a walk around my local copse at Newtown saw an increase in the number of butterflies compared to last week's visit.Although the species were the same,more Comma,Brimstone,and Peacock were on the wing.It seems that the weather is not yet right for new emergents .and it could be another couple of weeks before the first of them will be seen locally.

Thursday 15 March 2018

Springlike Temperatures Encourage First Butterflies of the Season.

A soggy walk through my local copse today produced my first butterflies of the season.The cold wind had abated and the sun was shining with a temperature of 13 degrees centigrade.There were at least five Comma together with two Peacock and a bright male Brimstone.

Wednesday 21 February 2018

Glanville Fritillary Larvae Out in the Sunshine.

Now that the days are slowly lengthening and the sun's rays becoming warmer the Glanville Fritillary larvae are starting to move in and around their communal webs.Today on the slopes of the crumbling cliffs along the Island's south-west coast several webs showed signs of activity as the caterpillars enjoyed the sunshine, although due to the cold breeze they mostly remained huddled together.

Wednesday 2 August 2017

Rain Dampens Down Activity On Broughton Down

Despite the sunshine on my journey to Broughton Down in Hampshire yesterday,the heavens opened as soon as I stepped onto this area of chalk grassland.This chalk ridge with fringing woodland is maintained by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust and is one of the few places in England for the Silver-spotted Skipper.Happily the rain cleared although for the duration of my visit only the occasional sunny spell gave any chance of seeing this rare butterfly.I had to be satisfied with only three sightings,two just brief and one prolonged as a male sat in the grass hoping that the sun would stay out for a while.Sadly I was not treated to an underside view of the silver spots which gives the species its name.

The Adonis Blue

The Large Tortoiseshell

It seems the general view on the status of the Large Tortoiseshell in Britain is that it is now extinct as a breeding butterfly.
It is a butterfly of woodland edges and hedgerows that abound in willows,elms,and poplars.These trees are used by the adult to lay its eggs and this single brood appears in July and August.The emerging butterfly then hibernates over the winter in log piles and hollow trees until the next spring.
On the Isle of Wight sightings are more often than not made from early March to April.Have these butterflies overwintered on the Island or have they come from the continent where it is common?
Any sightings made in July/August pose the same question.Another explanation could be that captive-bred releases are responsible.Only the discovery of eggs and caterpillars will probably answer these questions.

I can now report that evidence has been found of breeding just along the coast at Portland in Dorset (June 2020) and again at the same location in the summer of 2021.

The Glanville Fritillary

This elegant butterfly is mainly confined to the crumbling undercliffs and chalk downs of the Isle of Wight.It is also found on the Channel Islands and at one or two isolated colonies on the British mainland.In Britain the Glanville Fritillary is at the extreme north-western edge of its range.On the continent it is readily found in flowery habitats.
Around the southern shores of the Isle of Wight the cliffs constantly erode causing them to slip away and provide perfect conditions for new growths of the butterflies laval host plant,Ribwort Plantain.
The eggs are laid to the underside of the leaves of this plant and normally hatch after about three weeks.The resulting caterpillars live together in communal webs spun over the plantain.In the autumn they hibernate and recommence feeding in the spring,eventually dispersing to prepare for pupation.
The adult butterfly is on the wing from May to the end of June with the female being larger than the male.They will feed on,amongst other things, Birds-foot Trefoil and Thrift.

The Wall Brown

On the Isle of Wight in particular,the Wall Brown is a butterfly of field edges,coastal cliffs and dunes,and rabbit-grazed downland.
The male is territorial and spends much of the time patrolling and basking on the ground.
The female,which lacks the males conspicuous dark sex brand across the forewings,is larger.The undersides of both sexes are beautifully cryptic when at rest.
The Wall Brown generally produces two broods a year,the first from late April until late June and the second from mid-July to mid-September.