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Butterfly Blog

Hot stuff

28/8/2019

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With temperatures rising above the 30 degree mark, yesterday's transect was an exceptionally hot one. This unusual late season heat has encouraged the flowers on which the butterflies feed to carry on producing nectar and correspondingly our butterflies are still around in reasonable numbers (albeit in fewer species), especially the Meadow Browns, Common Blues and Brown Arguses and Small Heaths. 
 
We recorded a total of 249 butterflies across 9 species. For the equivalent week's transect in 2016 our count was 165 from 11 species, in 2017 it was139 from 12, and last year it was 60 from 9. There's quite a difference between 2018 and this year.
 
Count details:
 
115 
Meadow Brown
  49 Common Blue
  28 Brown Argus
  26 Small Heath
    8  Large White
    4 Chalkhill Blue
    2  Small White
    1  Brimstone
    2  Gatekeeper

​
Click on butterfly names for more info.
Picture
Male Common Blue, Stagbury


​Survey on 28-8-19 by Brian G, Graham H and Graham K, submitted to Butterfly Conservation (UKBMS). 
Info by Brian G.​ Pics by Graham K.

Click on pics to enlarge.
Chalkhill Blue butterfly
Female Common Blue butterfly
Gatekeeper butterfly
Grasshopper
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Summer returns

24/8/2019

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Summer returned for Friday's transect. We had warm sunny weather all the way round and this brought out the butterflies, especially the Meadow Browns, Common Blues and Brown Arguses.
 
Here are the details of yesterday's count:
 
123
Meadow Brown
  38 Common Blue
  34 Brown Argus
  12 Chalkhill Blue
    9 Small Heath 
    9 
Small White
    7 Brimstone
    3 Gatekeeper
    2 Silver-washed Fritillary
    2 Small Copper 
    1 Large White
 
Total: 240 butterflies across 11 species.

Click on butterfly names for more info.
Picture
Small Copper, Fames Rough

Survey on 23-8-19 by Brian G, Graham H and Graham K, submitted to Butterfly Conservation (UKBMS). 
Info by Brian G.​ Pics by Graham K.
Click pics to enlarge.
Brimstone butterfly
Brown Argus butterfly
Faded female Common Blue butterfly
Mating Meadow Brown butterflies
Meadow Brown butterfly
Worn Silver-washed Fritillary butterfly
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Weather window

16/8/2019

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​This week's variable weather gave us a small window of opportunity in which to do our transect on Thursday, and for most of our walk around the sky was virtually clear, providing excellent conditions. Upon starting out in Section 1 (Hither Field) we saw straight away that the field had been mowed, clearing the grass and with it most of the wildflowers. We were relieved to see that some of our nurtured Kidney Vetch, being a low-level plant, had escaped the mower blades so there is still some hope that the patch will have seeded next year's plants.
 
Butterfly numbers are declining by the week but Meadow Browns are still seen in reasonable numbers; the Chalkhill and Common Blue numbers are holding steady despite having a poor season and Brown Argus even showed a slight increase over last week's figure.
 
Here are the details of what we saw:
 
122 
Meadow Brown 
  20
Chalkhill Blue
  17 Common Blue
  15 Brown Argus
    7 Small Heath
    7 Gatekeeper
    6 Small Copper  
    4
Large White
    3 Brimstone
    3 Small White
    2
Dark Green Fritillary
    1 Small/Essex Skipper
    1
Silver-washed Fritillary
    1 Speckled Wood

Summary:  208  butterflies across 14  species.
Click on butterfly names for more info.

Survey on 15-8-19 by Brian G and Graham H.
​submitted to Butterfly Conservation (UKBMS). 
Info and pics by Brian G.​
Picture
Chalkhill Blue
Picture
Silver-washed Fritillary
Picture
Small Copper on Scabious
Picture
Common Blue
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Calm before the storm

9/8/2019

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Yesterday was the last warm fine weather (with intermittent cloud cover) before the forecast summer storm hit overnight. The late season decline in numbers is becoming quite noticeable now. The Marbled Whites and Small/Essex Skippers were absent today; Gatekeepers and Meadow Browns are still around but in fewer numbers and the number of Chalkhills was probably at its peak. The long-predicted horde of Painted Ladies (the butterflies, of course) has still not reached our patch yet but we recorded and photographed one individual in Section 1.
 
Here are the details of what we saw:
 
111
Meadow Brown
  64 Gatekeeper
  35 Chalkhill Blue
  12 Common Blue
    7 Brown Argus
    5 Brimstone
    4 Large White
    2 Small Heath
    2 Dark Green Fritillary
    2 Silver-washed Fritillary
    2 Ringlet
    2 Small Copper
    1 Painted Lady
Picture
Common Blue on Marjoram
Summary: 249 butterflies across 13 species.
Click on butterfly names for more info.

Survey on 8-8-19 by Brian G and Graham H.
​submitted to Butterfly Conservation (UKBMS). 
Info and pics by Brian G.​
Picture
Painted Lady
Picture
Chalkhill Blue
Picture
Dark Green Fritillary
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    The Transectuals

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