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Butterfly Blog

First Common Blue

27/5/2021

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We were hoping the forecast weather improvement would arrive for Tuesday's butterfly count. Most of our walk around was in cool shady conditions which only lifted as we were in the final two sections.  
 
Our count was similar to last week's, as once again most of this day's tally was recorded in sections 2, 3 & 4 (11 Dingy Skippers, 1 Grizzled Skipper, 1 Small White and our first Common Blue of the season) plus 8 Brimstones (6 in section 8 and 2 in section 12).
 
Maybe we'll raise our score next week!

​
Click on butterfly names for more info.
Survey by Brian Gardner, Graham H, Graham Kenward, Roger Vye and Duncan Jennings ​submitted to Butterfly Conservation (UKBMS). 
​Report by Brian Gardner. 
Pics by 
Graham Kenward.
​Click on pics to enlarge.
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Small White, Fames Rough
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Male Common Blue, Fames Rough
More pics from the day
Crosswort & Germander Speedwell
Crosswort & Germander Speedwell
Fly Orchid
Fly Orchid
Roman Snails mating
Roman Snails mating
Pollen Beetles on Buttercup
Pollen Beetles on Buttercup
Picture
Fames Rough for Ant & Vetch
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Rain stopped play

18/5/2021

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The transect team chose Monday morning to do this week's butterfly count and although the weather held fair for the first four sections, by the end of Section 8 the rain started at which point we decided to abandon the transect. 
 
We saw all but one of the day's butterflies in the brief sunshine on Coneyboro Hill and Fames Rough (section 2, 3 & 4) . In these three consecutive sections we recorded 18 Dingy Skippers, 2 Brimstones, and 1 Grizzled Skipper, and ended the count with a single Speckled Wood (the first this year, so far) in the wooded footpath between Hill Wood Field and Barn Field.
 
For comparison, Week 7 of  2020 was our first transect following the first Covid 19 lockdown, and in obviously better weather than we encountered today we counted 42 Dingy Skippers, 21 Brimstones, 13 Common Blues, 7 Small Heaths, 2 Peacocks and 1 Small White and 1 Green-veined White.
Survey by Brian Gardner, Graham H and Graham Kenward ​submitted to Butterfly Conservation (UKBMS). 
​Report by Brian Gardner. 
Pics by 
Graham Kenward.
​Click on pics to enlarge.
Picture
Picture
Dingy & Grizzled Skippers, both favouring Germander Speedwell.
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Sightings down

11/5/2021

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After a sunny and warm start to the morning, the weather had deteriorated by the time we started our walk around. Fortunately there was some residual warmth in the ground and shelter from the wind at Coneyboro Hill (section 2) and neighbouring Fames Rough (sections 3 & 4) and it was here that we saw the majority of the day's butterflies: most notably 14 Dingy Skippers. Although the cloud cover thinned towards the end of of our transect, sightings were few and far between, adding only 4 Brimstones to our day's tally. 
 
Here's what we saw:
14 Dingy Skipper
  7 Brimstone
  4 Orange Tip
  3 Peacock
  2 Green Hairstreak
  2 Grizzled Skipper
  1 Small White
 Click on butterfly names for more info.
Total count: 33 butterflies from 7 species.
Survey by Brian Gardner, Graham H and Graham Kenward ​submitted to Butterfly Conservation (UKBMS). 
​Report Brian Gardner. 
Pics by 
Graham Kenward.
​Click on pics to enlarge.
Picture
Orange Tip, Fames Rough
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Grizzled Skipper, Coneyboro Hill
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Dingy Skipper, Coneyboro Hill
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Glow-worm, Coneyboro Hill
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Dingy Skipper, Coneyboro Hill. Dingy boot included for scale.
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Milkwort, Coneyboro Hill
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    The Transectuals

    Here 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.

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  • Home
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