A Good Year For Butterflies...

As far as I'm concerned, it's definitely a good year for butterflies.

I've had my eye on the developing nature reserve at Chopwell East Field.  Over the winter I noticed it was being grazed by highland cattle and wondered what the results would be this summer.  I eventually revisited last Tuesday to find another abundant supply of butterflies.

In the more Southern area the initial accent was actually on moths as around seven five-spot (I think) burnet moths were found nectaring on knapweed, with a similar number of shaded broad bars showing up as well.

Five-spot Burnet

Shaded Broadbar

Again the dominant species in terms of numbers were meadow brown (some already very worn) and small skipper but also seen were large white, green-veined white, comma. small copper, and small tortoiseshell.

Comma	Green-veined White
Meadow Brown (worn)	Small Copper
Small Skipper	Small Tortoiseshell

I took a little detour into a promising field the other path and noted similar activity.  But on the way back I stopped to photo what I suspected to be a white-tailed bumblebee when it was chased off by another small butterfly that turned out to be a white letter hairstreak.

White-tailed Bumblebee

White Letter Hairstreak

This was a considerable surprise as I have never heard of a white letter hairstreak being reported there and I do not believe there are any elm trees.  It is however clear that there have been more of them about this year.

To trump it all  I achieved a longstanding ambition the day after when i managed to get a couple of distant snaps of purple hairstreaks in the oaks by one of the viaducts at Hamsterley Mill.  Unfortunately they weren't in great condition.

Purple Hairstreak

Meanwhile the first butterfly has been sighted on the buddleia in the front garden.  It was a red admiral.

Call me a Liar would you?

It's often interesting how nature can make a fool out of you.

I'd hardly finished writing the last post complaining about the lack of butterflies in the garden when they gradually started turning up, first of all a few whites and then one by one the common members of the maligned Nymphalidae family.

Meanwhile I managed a couple of expeditions to catch up on other species.  First was a bike ride to the dunes at Cambois in search of grayling where I did manage to catch up with one rather battered individual almost as soon as I arrived.

Grayling

That however was it - any number of meadow brown, small skipper, burnet moths and after a bit of foraging, a couple of small whites and small tortoiseshells.  I rather thought I'd done better on my last visit, but on checking this was hardly the case.

Right at the end of July, I tried the Hamsterley viaducts for purple hairstreaks and over a two hour period saw eight - a rather sparse result and as ever they were flattering around the oaks and impossible to photograph.

A mission to Bywell Bridge the day after proved abortive as there was no sign of the white-letter hairstreak and to my surprise the elms were already beginning to turn brown.

Then on the 31st - a really hot day - the first small tortoiseshell appeared in the back garden and, perhaps even more exciting, a brimstone moth slept over in the large bedroom.

Brimstone Moth

A couple of days ago was when the Nymphalidae began to appear, as well as both large and small whites.

Small White	Large White
Small Tortoiseshell	Red Admiral
Peacock	Comma

I'm starting to see an awful lot of peacocks when the sun shines, perhaps not unconnected to the fact that a woman down the road in Rowlands Gill has been breeding them. 

Two I haven't seen to date are humming bird hawk moth and holly blue.  I'd like to think things have changed for the better but the weather remains patchy and unreliable.

An extra frisson of excitement was nearly provided what seemed to be an obscure ladybird on my car door handle.  In fact it was a variation of the invasive harlequin ladybird, which apparently can take a variety of different patterns and colours.  It was completely different to the one I once found in the summer house.

Harlequin Ladybird

So that's what I also thought it was this morning when a black ladybird with two red spots turned up while I was trimming the laurel hedge.  Unless of course it was a kidney-spot ladybird...  That was one photo I should have taken but didn't!