Butterfly Islands: Peacock

Showing posts with label Peacock. Show all posts

Monday 5 August 2013

Summer Sweetness for Butterflies.

In the copse and hedgerows the fleabane is now in flower.It is a great favourite with many butterflies as they flock to drink its nectar

Tuesday 30 April 2013

Some First Time Sightings of the Year

The end of April has finished with some perfect spring weather.This week has continued sunny and mild and as a result new butterfly sightings are on the up.A visit to Walters Copse at Newtown started with no sightings until the afternoon when a male Orange Tip appeared, busily flitting around for flowering plants.Any flowers were then contested with a Green-veined White.

A wander around the copse also found a couple of Peacocks as well as my first sight of two Speckled Wood which were sparring for a sunny woodland spot.All the while the occassional male Brimstone would pass by hoping to come across the much paler looking female.

Saturday 27 April 2013

Courting Tortoiseshells.

With the report of two Painted Ladies at Wheelers Bay this week I went to the Bay in the hope of a sighting.The weather has now become springlike, but no doubt due to a very cold March butterflies are still not commonly seen.Walking along the bay I only came across one Peacock in the sunshine.Eventually returning, I was very pleased to see a Painted Lady in flight along the base of the cliff,spurred on by a very brisk breeze.Just a few steps farther and two Small Tortoiseshell butterflies were courting in the brambles.

Not a lot to be seen today but with an improvement in the weather likely, things will no doubt get better.

Tuesday 23 April 2013

Another Look At Our Large Tortoisehell

The male Large Tortoisehell at Walters Copse seems not to be going anywhere which is great news for butterfly watchers.An early visit to the copse yesterday and it appeared briefly in the usual spot.A couple of hours later just after midday it returned and stayed for some time sunning itself along with several Commas and a couple of Peacocks.

There has been a report of a second Large Toiseshell seen in the copse, and making my way back through the wood I saw 'another' one at the location of the second Large Tortoiseshell sighting.A close view and the attached photograph confirmed,unfotunately,that this time it was our original male.

Sunday 21 April 2013

The Stunning Peacock

With all the excitement of a rare butterfly on the Island in the last few days I have neglected to show what I consider to be most colourful butterfly on the wing at this time.

The Peacock is undoubtedly one of the most handsome of butterflies and I am glad to say not uncommon here. It can be seen in woodland,as shown in these photographs taken at Walters Copse, or in gardens as I was fortunate enough to witness in my own back garden this weekend.

Friday 19 April 2013

The Isle of Wight Large Tortoiseshell

Just when I feared that the euphoria of the 2012 sighting at Walters Copse,Newtown of the Large Tortoiseshell was a 'flash in the pan,'today proved me wrong as after several visits to the copse I came across what I had hoped for.

The spring weather had today arrived for the first time since the middle of January when at Wheelers Bay three Painted Ladies were seen.The prolonged sunny spells had brought out several Brimstone butterflies together with Commas and Peacocks and after some time wandering around I came across a Large Tortoiseshell enjoying a sunny spot.It certainly showed signs of a long winters hibernation but it still looked wonderful to me.I was able to get close views of this iconic butterfly and can say that I consider it to be a local overwintering specimen.Let us hope for more sightings in the next few days.

Tuesday 20 March 2012

An Early Speckled Wood

At this time of year butterflies that have hibernated through the winter are on the wing.With the weather warming up even newly emerged butterflies may be seen that are way ahead of their normal flight periods.This Speckled Wood is a case in point.At Woodhouse Copse it seems that my sighting of the 19th of March beats a current early sighting record at the copse by a couple of days.

Although no sightings of the elusive Large Tottoiseshell butterfly have yet been recorded here so far this year many Commas,the beautuful Peacock and a Red Admiral have been seen.

Thursday 20 October 2011

The Peacock Butterfly

Thankfully still a common sight in our gardens and countryside.This stunningly beautiful butterfly has a pair of staring eye-spots to flash and also produces a hissing sound by rubbing its wings together when alarmedPeacocks are normally the first butterfly to be seen in February or March after hibernating during the winterBoth sexes are similar ,however the female is slightly larger.

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.