Blog Archives

Late season high

31/8/2023

The weather for transect 22 was another mainly sunny and warm day that gave us a very high total count for so late in the butterfly season. The day's total of 212 butterflies from 11 species was held up by the still numerous Meadow Browns, Small Heaths and Brown Argus, whereas the Chalkhill and Common Blues were much reduced. Only a single Purple Hairstreak was seen but was flying too high for a confirmed sighting.

Count details:
111 Meadow Brown
51 Brown Argus
31 Small Heath
6 Speckled Wood
4 Small White
1 Green-veined White
3 Common Blue
2 Small Copper
1 Chalkhill Blue
1 Gatekeeper
1 Red Admiral
Click on butterfly names for more info.

Survey by Graham H, Brian Gardner and Graham K submitted to Butterfly Conservation (UKBMS).
Report by Brian Gardner. Pics by Graham K and Brian Gardner.
Click pics to enlarge.

Red Admiral, Hill Wood Field - BG

Green-veined White, Fames Rough - BG

Speckled Wood, Hill Wood Field - BG

Worn Brown Argus, Fames Rough - GK

Not a Happy Birthday boy: GK removes aerial litter on Barn Field (Section 9 of the transect).

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A first for this year

27/8/2023

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Transect 21 was walked on Friday in sunny and warm weather that brought out the butterflies in numbers that were similar to last week's count.
The counts for Meadow Browns and Brown Argus are each holding up pretty well and there was even an increase in Small Heaths, but Gatekeeper and Common Blue numbers are falling away. Furthermore, the Chalkhill Blues are coming towards the end of what has been a very poor season for them. The Purple Hairstreaks were once again seen flying high in the oaks on Hill Wood Field, except for one individual who flew low enough for us to get a positive identification for our record. Only a few strides on from the Purple Hairstreak sighting we saw what was at first thought to be a Gatekeeper but, on closer inspection, proved to a photogenic Brown Hairstreak, our first of this year.

Count details:
124 Meadow Brown
45 Brown Argus
25 Small Heath
12 Common Blue
7 Speckled Wood
5 Small White
4 Chalkhill Blue
2 Gatekeeper
2 Small Copper
1 Brown Hairstreak
1 Comma
1 Purple Hairstreak
1 Silver-washed Fritillary
Summary:
230 butterflies from 13 species.

Survey by Graham H, Brian Gardner and Graham K submitted to Butterfly Conservation (UKBMS).
Report by Brian Gardner. Pics by Graham K and Brian Gardner.
Click pics to enlarge.

Common Blue, Stagbury - GK

Chalkhill Blue, Stagbury -GK

Brown Argus, Hither Field - GK

Speckled Wood, Harholt - BG

Brown Hairstreak, Hill Wood Field - GK

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Numbers dipping

18/8/2023

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The usual transect team (GH, GK and BG) were joined by former transect regular, Duncan, for Thursday morning's butterfly count. The weather was warm with a fairly strong SW breeze and, after a start with a mix of sun and cloud, the sun broke through quite strongly. Despite the reasonable conditions, we soon noticed that we were seeing fewer butterflies than over the past few weeks. Most noticeable number dips were for the Meadow Browns, Gatekeepers, Common Blues, and Brimstones, while the Brown Argus numbers were slightly up on last week's count. We're now over half way into the Chalkhill Blue season but our sighting of six last week and five for this week it looks like being a poor year for them. The Purple Hairstreaks were difficult to spot but, after looking for them high in the trees, we found the first one at lower level and available for photographing, but the second sighting was true to form and way up in the oak tree amongst the leaves: as was said on the transect, "it's easy to spot - it's next to the acorn!" Well, I couldn't see it.

Count details:
120 Meadow Brown
59 Brown Argus
31 Common Blue
13 Gatekeeper
13 Small Heath
7 Brimstone
5 Chalkhill Blue
4 Small Copper
3 Small White
2 Holly Blue
2 Red Admiral
2 Purple Hairstreak
1 Silver-washed Fritillary
Summary:
262 butterflies from 13 species.

Survey by Brian Gardner, Graham H and Graham K
submitted to Butterfly Conservation (UKBMS).
Report by Brian Gardner. Pics by Graham K and Brian G
Click pics to enlarge.

Female Purple Hairstreak underside -BG

Female Purple Hairstreak upperside - GK

Shy Hummingbird Hawk Moth - GK

Speckled Wood - GK

Meadow Browns mating - GK

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Ideal weather

11/8/2023

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Our regular butterfly counting team of GH, GK and BG were once again joined by Liz North for Transect no. 19 on Wenesday morning. Conditions were ideal for seeing butterflies: sunny, warm with just a slight breeze, and we were not disappointed. We recorded a total of 488 butterflies, the third highest week's count of what is proving to be the best season for several years, and there are still seven weeks before the end of the 2023 counting season – let's hope the weather holds up,

With 278 counted, the Meadow Browns once again provided the highest numbers, as they always do over the high summer days. Gatekeeper numbers dipped slightly to 50 while the second broods of Common Blue and Brown Argus rocketed from single figure over previous weeks to 43 (CBs) and 46(BAs) – both of these figures are the best for several years for these two species. Three weeks later than usual, we saw our first Chalkhill Blues (6) at the Horseshoe Vetch patch on Gt Parsons Field (Section 11) . Once again, Purple Hairstreaks (4) were flying high in the oak and ash trees that front on to Hill Wood Field (section 7).
We saw butterflies on most of the transect's twelve sections but it is interesting to note that the two sections of Fames Rough (sections 3 and 4) were where we saw the greatest numbers. Is this the result of the on-going removal of scrub?

Count details:
278 Meadow Brown
50 Gatekeeper
46 Brown Argus
43 Common Blue
19 Brimstone
9 Peacock
7 Small White
6 Small Heath
6 Chalkhill Blue
4 Small Copper
4 Purple Hairstreak
3 Marbled White
3 Holly Blue
3 Large White
3 Silver-washed Fritillary
2 Comma
2 Speckled Wood
Summary:
488 butterflies from 17 species.
Click on butterfly names for more info.

Survey by Graham H, Graham K, Brian Gardner and Liz North submitted to Butterfly Conservation (UKBMS).
Report by Brian Gardner. Pics by Graham K and Liz North.
Click pics to enlarge.