Survey by Graham H, Brian Gardner and Roger Vye submitted to Butterfly Conservation (UKBMS). Report and pics by Brian G. Click on pics to enlarge.
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Monday's transect was walked in an unusually high September temperature that averaged 24 degees during our walk around. Conditions were ideal but with only 38 butterflies recorded, our count was a few down on last week's. As usual, we saw more Meadow Browns than any other species with Common Blues second in the number rankings. As we frequently witness, numbers vary from week to week and one year to the next. Here are previous Week 24 counts for comparison: for 2016, 69; 2018,14; 2019, 46; 2020, 38 (we didn't do a transect on week 24 of 2017).
Survey by Graham H, Brian Gardner, Graham K and Roger Vye submitted to Butterfly Conservation (UKBMS). Report by Brian G. Pics by Graham K and Brian G. Click on pics to enlarge. Bonus creature Young Lizard enjoying the sunshine on Coneyboro Hill
Survey by Graham H, Brian Gardner, Graham K and Roger Vye submitted to Butterfly Conservation (UKBMS). Report by Brian G. Pics by Graham K and Brian G. Click on pics to enlarge.  Mint Moth on Eyebright, Coneyboro Hill - Brian G The strong wind and rain of the early part of the week had eased down and conditions for Wednesday afternoon's transect were warm and bright. Perhaps our butterflies were still recovering from the bad weather or maybe they'd even succumbed to the wind and wetting, but this week's count of 97 was a low one. Conditions do vary from year to year: for previous Week 22 Transects the totals were: 165 (2016), 139 (2017), 60 (2018) and 247 (2019). On Wednesday, Meadow Browns were still predominant but are slowly declining, while other species, i.e. Small Coppers, Small Heaths, Common Blues, Speckled Woods, Brown Argus, are into their second brood and could, if conditions are right, be seen in higher numbers in the next few weeks.
Survey by Graham H and Brian Gardner submitted to Butterfly Conservation (UKBMS).
Report by Brian G. The forecast fine warm day got off to rather a slow start and we headed out for today's proceedings into a stiff breeze with some threatening-looking clouds but, as we progressed, conditions improved steadily so that we completed today's walk-around in warm sunshine. The seasonal decline in butterfly numbers seems to be under way and whereas we counted 317 butterflies last week, today's total was a mere 135, 101 of which were Meadow Browns. The previously moderate numbers of Common and Chalkhill Blues, Small Heaths and Gatekeepers were also much lower. We were, however, surprised to find a Marbled White in Section 12 – it's been 4 weeks since we counted our last pair.
Survey by Graham H and Brian Gardner submitted to Butterfly Conservation (UKBMS). Report and pics by Brian G. Click on pics to enlarge.
Survey by Graham H, Brian Gardner, Graham K and Roger Vye submitted to Butterfly Conservation (UKBMS). Report by Brian G. Pics by Graham K. Click on pics to enlarge. CAUTION: ADULTS ONLY Some of these images depict activity of a sexual nature between consenting adults in public. If you have been affected by any of them, please don't bother to get in touch.  Mating Common Blues (male on top), Fames Rough
Survey by Graham H, Brian Gardner and Graham K submitted to Butterfly Conservation (UKBMS). Report by Brian G. Pics by Graham K. Click on pics to enlarge.  Common Blues on Marjoram, Hill Wood Field
Bonus creatures
The weather for Friday was probably the hottest we've had for our transects: it was already 30 degrees at 10:30am when we started and 35 when we finished at 1:20pm. We were glad of the strong breeze that sprung up during the morning, so strong that it may have prevented the butterflies from flying. Apart from the Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers, the numbers seen were quite different from the previous two transects. We recorded 121 Common Blues, up from 35 last week, and Chalkhill Blues down by just 1. All other species seen last week were either very much fewer or absent.
Survey by Graham H, Brian Gardner, Graham K and Roger Vye submitted to Butterfly Conservation (UKBMS). Report by Brian G. Pics by Graham K. Click on pics to enlarge. Bonus creatures
The weather for Thursday's transect was warm with varying amounts of sun and cloud, and with a noticeable SW breeze. Overall, the count was quite similar to that of last week but with a few changes to the species recorded: Meadow Browns continue to head the list, we saw a higher number of Gatekeepers and Common Blues but fewer Marbled Whites and Small/Essex Skippers. Missing from this week's list were Dark Green Fritillaries, Purple Hairstreaks, Small Blues, Clouded Yellows, Small Tortoiseshells and Commas but we gained a second-brood Dingy Skipper and a Green-veined White.
Survey by Graham H, Graham K and Brian Gardner submitted to Butterfly Conservation (UKBMS). Report by Brian G. Pics by Graham K. Click on pics to enlarge.  Worn Meadow Brown, Fames Rough We thought that our Week 15 species count was a special one, but yesterday's topped it by three with a massive total of 22 species. The species count was boosted by finding a single Small Blue (our first one of the year) on the scattered Kidney Vetch in Hither Field, two Clouded Yellows (our first sightings for two years), three newly emerged Chalkhill Blues and two second-brood Holly Blues. We saw a higher number of Gatekeepers but the Ringlet numbers have plummeted in only four days since our last transect. Here you can find the butterfly count spreadsheet detailing the season so far, along with the details of previous years' figures.
Survey by Graham H, Graham K, Brian Gardner and Roger Vye submitted to Butterfly Conservation (UKBMS). Report by Brian G. Pics by Graham K. Click on pics to enlarge.
 Silver-washed Fritillary on Blackberry, Fames Rough |
The TransectualsHere you'll find details and pictures from the team carrying out our regular butterfly surveys (known as transects) over 26 weeks during Spring and Summer. Archives
August 2020
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