Transect 14 took place on the morning of Friday 3rd July in ideal butterfly spotting conditions – warm, sunny and with very little wind. It was a very busy session, and fortunately there were four of us (GH, LN, DJ and BG) to process the high number of sightings. 
The day’s total count was 779 butterflies (our 3rd highest ever count) from 22 species (exceeding last week’s record). The strong July sun brought out butterflies in good numbers across all 12 sections of the transect.
 We recorded a surge in the numbers of Meadow Browns and Small/Essex Skippers and a small increase in Marbled Whites. The Gatekeepers’ count also shot up from 1 last week to 57 this week. Purple Hairstreaks also increased from 2 a week ago to 30 – over the previous 10 years we had never reached double figures! On the minus side, the usually numerous  Common Blues are virtually absent so far this year. 
We hadn’t seen any Small Blues for 5 weeks but the sharp-eyed Duncan spotted one approaching and saw it land on Hither Field’s kidney vetch patch. It was a female and we witnessed her settle on the flower heads and lay eggs. That was nice to see and confirmation that this nationally scarce butterfly is continuing to breed on a site where years of habitat creation and kidney vetch planting are paying off.

Count details:
280 Meadow Brown
223 Marbled White
96 Small/Essex Skipper (inc. 17 Small and 4 Essex confirmed identifications)
57 Gatekeeper
30 Purple Hairstreak
20 Small Copper
8 Large Skipper
7 Silver-washed Fritillary
6 Dark Green Fritillary
6 Small Heath
6 Speckled Wood
5 Brimstone
5 Small White
4 Red Admiral
3 Large White
2 Peacock
1 Common Blue
1 Holly Blue
1 Painted Lady
1 Small Blue
Count summary:
779 butterflies from 22 species.
​

The high temperatures of the previous week had slackened off to a much more comfortably sunny 23 degrees, giving GH and BG a pleasant walk around on Monday morning. We’re now at the halfway point of the 26-week transect season and butterfly numbers are approaching their high-summer peak. 
This week’s count of 486 was the highest of this year and will probably be exceeded over the coming few weeks, depending on weather conditions.  It’s still the Marbled Whites and Meadow Browns plus a surge in the numbers of Ringlets that are responsible for the high count, but whereas at this time of year we normally record around 14 species, on this transect we counted an exceptional 18. Furthermore … new arrivals included the season’s first Purple Hairstreaks and a Gatekeeper. In short, our list of butterfly species showed a much wider range than normal.

Count details:
204 Marbled White
161 Meadow Brown
45 Ringlet
33 Small/Essex Skipper
​(including 1 confirmed Small Skipper)
8 Large White
6 Small Heath
4 Small Copper
3 Brimstone
3 Dark Green Fritillary
3 Red Admiral
3 Small White
3 Speckled Wood
2 Comma
2 Painted Lady
2 Purple Hairstreak
2 Silver-washed Fritillary
1 Gatekeeper
1 Holly Blue
Count summary:
486 butterflies from 18 species.