Long Live The Small Tortoiseshell!

My recent sighting of the twenty plumed moth drew a bit of interest on social media, one commentator noting that he's only ever seen one before and not in the North East while another contradicted that there are many records of it in Northumberland.  Well, I'd certainly never seen one before.

During the recent partial heatwave, I've been taking the opportunity to check out some of the local gardens. An interesting find two weeks ago was Birkheads Secret Gardens near Sunniside.

There wasn't much sun on arrival, but I was assured the butterfly garden would have some sightings on offer. I wasn't so sure and thought I'd check out a couple of hoverflies and bees en route.

Common Drone Fly

White-tailed Bumblebee

For the Latin speakers the drone fly is Eristalis tenax according to a local expert.  I'm pretty sure about the white-tailed bumblebee.

For the other hoverfly spotted we're stuck with generalisations.  Apparently it belongs to the Syrphini tribe, otherwise known as common flower flies.

Common Flower Fly

Anyway on reaching the butterfly section, there were indeed a good number to be seen, and I found I was taking the sort of shots I had been hoping to get in my garden:

Red Admiral with Peacocks

Peacocks warming themselves

One noted absentee was small tortoiseshell.  As it hadn't been turning up at home either, I have been reflecting that it used to be far more common and seems to be in decline compared to other members of the Nymphalidae family.  The reasons for its demise are not fully clear but there may be some incidence of parasites and habitat loss.

Of more interest on the day was to learn from the lady in the wee shop that the County Recorder for Durham had spotted a brimstone in the Gardens, considerably further north than its known habitats.  It's not much on the wing just now but another visit later in the year seems obligatory.  

I was also struck by the number of flower meadows on the farm nearby.

Anyway six days later I was at Talkin Tarn for a catch-up with V&A.  We did a little walk but in more sombre weather only two butterflies were spotted, a small white and - you've guessed it - a small tortoiseshell!

Small Tortoiseshell

Another bit of useful learning was to find numerous clumps of devil's bit scabious and we wondered if the marsh fritillaries present elsewhere in Cumbria have discovered its existence.  It's their food plant.

Devil's Bit Scabious

Last Sunday, I was back on the garden trail, initially visiting Whickham Hermitage Garden at Newburn which wasn't too impressive. Flanked by high trees on the South side, it was hard to see that it would get a lot of sunshine.

Although smaller, the Tyne Country Park Sensory Garden at Newburn was more productive, producing all three main whites, the main members of Nymphalidae including comma - and of course a couple of small tortoiseshell.  The only absentee was painted lady.

I again focused briefly on hoverflies and was struck by the pattern on this one:

Drone Fly

This is another drone fly, exact identity uncertain.

My last call was at Bradley Hall Gardens which was the largest and had the biggest variation of flora. 

Butterfly sightings were similar to those at Newburn and with similar numbers, but with four or five small tortoiseshells.

Small Tortoiseshell

... plus I think I may have caught a fleeting view of a holly blue, though I didn't see it long enough to be certain.

Typically of course the small tortoiseshell then started to turn up in my garden after an absence of several weeks during which I had occasionally wondered if the comma had effectively replaced it.

I did a couple of counts for the Big Butterfly Count  Over the two, the highest numbers were for large white and red admiral, followed by comma, peacock, small white and green-veined white - and just one small tortoiseshell.

Nevertheless it is still with us!