Garden Painted Ladies.

The first Painted Lady to appear in my garden was two weeks ago, which coincided with the first flowers on the Buddleia bush.It is always a favourite with the butterflies and  especially Painted Ladies. Today a total of three were enjoying the blooms along with several Red Admiral,and Peacock.

Spring Butterflies Thin on the Ground.

Following a short cold snap,today's sunshine and mild temperature encouraged me to pay a second visit of the year to Bouldnor Forest. Immediately on entering the forest I was passed by a very fast flying male Brimstone but just a few yards farther on I came across this Speckled Wood butterfly. This is a first sighting of the season of this species for me and it obligingly settled on the side of the track for a few seconds. The only other butterfly encountered was a Comma, and it was not until I was returning that a rather tatty Red Admiral appeared on the track.This was followed by a second Speckled Wood fluttering around and landing in a sunny spot.

 

Plenty of Comma's On Show Today.

 My first butterfly sighting of the year  was a Red Admiral that I disturbed while it was enjoying the sunshine in my garden yesterday. A first outing of 2022 was taken today with an afternoon walk through Walters Copse at Newtown.

It was a fabulous early spring day with full sun and a temperature of around 16 celsius.Immediately on entering the copse I came across a Comma and during the visit at least eight other individuals were encountered. It was not until leaving that I saw one other species, a Peaccok.

  

The Cool Weather Persists.

Despite the sun today, temperatures were disappointing with a persistent cold wind that has prevailed for over a month. However some butterflies were to be seen in my local forest with several Brimstone and the occasional Orange Tip. Other  butterflies on the wing were a Green-veined White, a Red Admiral, one Speckled Wood, and a few Large White.

A Walk in the Woods.

Although not as warm as the last few days, it was nevertheless a lovely early spring day and the butterflies responded to the sunshine at Bouldnor. I was disappointed not to see any new emergent butterflies but the hibernators were on show with numerous sightings of Peacock, five Comma, three Red Admiral, and  two male Brimstone. One of the latter spent some time flitting from flower to flower enjoying the many primrose plants along the track.

Summer Butterflies Around the Buddleia.

Further to my recent post on our garden buddleia bush,it is still attracting the butterflies and today another Dark Green Fritillary flew in.Like other species it nectared on the blooms before resting close by, along with several Red Admirals and the ever dependable Peacock and Comma.
Of course there are always dangers and this Large White chose the wrong time to land on this bloom.A crab spider was ready and waiting for it's next meal.

October on Meganisi.

An opportunity to visit the Greek Island of Meganisi again this year could not be resisted, so last week I was able to stroll around the lanes close to the village of Spartochori in search of any late summer butterflies.Of course most species have finished their season but a few were to be found.Apart from the late summer regulars of Painted Lady,Clouded Yellow,Red Admiral,and Meadow Brown,the large flowering rosemary plants in the garden of our holiday villa were attracting Lang's Short-tailed Blue and Common Blue. Perhaps the highlight was the sight of several Sage Skipper's nectaring on the many flowering wild thyme dotted along the roadside.

Painted Lady Invasion Pays Dividends.

I could not ignore the well publicised influx of Painted Ladies to our shores since May.Now at the start of August, many newly emerged offspring are gracing our gardens and countryside with at least one sighting of this beautiful butterfly every time one is out and about.With the buddleia in full bloom it is a magnet for Painted Ladies as well as other summer species.The plant in our garden has attracted at least four Painted Ladies at any one time since yesterday, along with Red Admiral,Comma,and Peacock.

Just the Usual Suspects.

With the spring weather warming up over the last few days and set to continue,I was very hopeful of seeing the first newly emerged butterflies of the year today.

Speckled Wood and Orange Tip have already been sighted on the Isle of Wight and an afternoon walk through Bouldnor Forest and later Walters Copse at Newtown proved to be a disappointment as I failed to see any of these two species.Still,the usual suspects were out and about.Male Brimstone forever on the move, along with several basking Comma,a Red Admiral or two on the tracks,and good numbers of Peacock.The latter it seemed always to be found close to  Pussy Willow which is now flowering in our damp woods.

More Late Summer Butterflies.

At this time in late summer, the Clouded Yellow can sometimes be seen dashing around our fields and open woods.Most originate from mainland Europe,however I am sure that here on the south coast we have our own 'home grown' individuals.

In Bouldnor Forest near Yarmouth there is an open area in the woodland.Here a group of almost dried out scrape ponds are surrounded by low scrub and gorse bushes.Yellow Fleabane is prolific and a favourite for nectaring butterflies and today under sunny skies  there were no shortage of species.As well as the Clouded Yellow, Common Blue,Small Copper,Wall Brown,Red Admiral,and a Painted Lady were on show.

Speckled Woods & Peacocks On Show.

It was a lovely sunny spring afternoon although the butterflies did not seem to be much in evidence during my walk in Walters Copse at Newtown.Still,at least six Speckled Wood had claimed several sun dappled  spots in the wood and I had a glimpse of a Small/Green-veined White as it flew along a ride as I entered the Copse.
The Peacock seems to be very abundant this year and they are a regular sight here.Male Peacock butterflies set up their territories on the ground often in a sunny location at the end of a woodland ride and I came across one such spot in the copse today.The male(pictured below on the left of the photo) had attracted a female and he was gently opening and closing his wings in a courtship ritual while edging as close as possible to her.An example of this behaviour can been seen HERE The display abruptly ended when she flew off into the high branches of a nearby tree swiftly followed by the male.In contrast to the prevalence of the Peacock,the Red Admiral is a rare sight at the moment so I was glad to have a single sighting.Another all too brief sighting was a Holly Blue flying busily along a sunny track.

Bright & Beautiful.

With autumn here any nectar rich flowering plants in the garden are now attracting butterflies. Along with the reliable Red Admiral. I am still seeing the odd Speckled Wood,an occasional Painted Lady stopping off to feed on the buddleia,Large and Small Whites,and today this very colourful Small Copper.A very recent emergence by the look of it with bright markings. Individuals from later broods such as this tend to be often larger and brighter.This one also has a slight row blue dots on the hindwings of the form caeruleopunctata.   

First Butterflies of the Season.

Although I have already seen a  Red Admiral this year on the 25th February,today was the first time that the butteflies were around in numbers. This morning the sun shone in a cloudless sky and in Walters Copse any trace of the nagging easterly breeze that we have had recently was gone.It was very pleasant along a rides with primroses now in flower.In flower too were the sallows which attracted numerous hoverflies.Visiting the primroses was the odd queen bumblebee and also I noticed a Dark-edged Bee-fly. 

A female Brimstone was my first sighting of the day. I disturbed her enjoying a sunny moment.She took off and disappeared into the trees.It was not long before I came across a Comma and during the course of my wander in the copse I encountered at least three more.Finally,I finished by again disturbing a butterfly which had found a sunny spot,this time a Peacock.

It's Warming Up.

With the promise of rising temperatures over the next few days spring is almost here and  time to take a stroll through Walters Copse at Newtown. The sun was shining today and the cold wind that we have endured recently is all but gone.

It wasn't long before I came across a Red Admiral basking on the leaf litter.In fact over the two hours that I spent walking about I passed this butterfly three times in exactly the same spot.However I must say that despite the warm sunshine and almost cloudless sky this was the only butterfly I saw today.Nectar sources are scarce in the copse at the moment with only the odd primrose flower to be seen but hopefully given several days of sunny weather the plants, which carpet the wood, will burst forth in the usual springtime display.

A Quiet Day.

It has really been a pleasure to wander around Walters Copse this week.The excitement of discovering a second generation of White Admirals this year and the activity in the copse this week with the warm and sunny weather has been a joy.

Today in contrast was disappointing as the clouds returned and we had only the occasional sunny interval.

The butterflies did not seem to get going and sightings were low.When the sun did appear just the odd Red Admiral,Comma,and Meadow Brown showed.However the Wall Browns are still in the copse and along the main path two males vied with each other for any sunny spot.

Still Not Seen One.

The drifts of Common Fleabane are still attracting Comma,Red Admiral,Peacock,and Brimstone in Walters Copse,and joining them today.was this Painted Lady.It is the first I have seen for some time but it would have been good to see a Clouded Yellow as I have not managed to tick one off this year so far.