The Lincolnshire Bird Club

March - April : none seen until 15 April

1. 15 Apr - Brimstone (male) flew through without settling

2. 20 Apr - Comma : nectaring on Heather

3. 20 Apr - Peacock : nectaring on Grape Hyacinth

4. 21 Apr - Small Tortoiseshell : on Grape Hyacinth/Aubretia

5. 23 Apr - Small White : settled on Ivy leaves
............ - 2 Peacock....Brimstone (male) on Honesty....Small Tortoiseshell

....24 Apr - Peacock fluttering to be let out of garage (recently emerged?)....Small White..

6. 30 Apr - Green-veined White - on Iberis (Candytuft)....Peacock..

Disappointed no Holly Blue or Orange Tip yet.

Freddy

....4 May - Green-veined Whites mating

7. 5 May - Orange Tip (male) on Honesty and Grape Hyacinth alba
........... - 2 Green-veined White
........... - Brimstone (female)
........... - Peacock

Freddy

6 May
5 species today in the continuous sunshine :

8. Holly Blue (male) - on regular patrol along the Hawthorn hedge

9. Large White - frequent visits, usually settling on Honesty

3 Green-veined White - on Honesty, Iberis and Hyacinth

Orange Tip (male) - on/off all day on Honesty and Sunflower leaves

Small White - on Honesty

Freddy

During the cloudy weather over this past fortnight, I've mainly had spp Whites in the garden.
Exceptions were :

Orange Tip (male) - 10th May on Honesty and 16th May on Aubretia
Holly Blue (female) - 16th May on Viburnam leaves

10. Speckled Wood (today) - 21st May - on Mexican Orange Blossom.

Freddy

The Speckled Wood was just a one day visitor. The last 10 days of May saw a male Orange Tip appearing regularly in the garden when the sun shone, plus a female OT showed on two days. Otherwise, a male Holly Blue appeared on/off and spp White were daily.

Hopefully, a Meadow Brown should visit some time in June.

Freddy

Freddy,

I had hoped for a decent show reason being I'm having one of the best shows of Honesty for years but not a peep when I've been in that area. Nothing on the Forget-me-Not or Bluebells also putting on a nice show. My pals are getting far better results than me. One pal has had Holly Blue and Orange Tip this past week and he has no where near as much blooming as me, makes me sick but pleased for him.

One site close to me in other years has had 40+ assorted at any one time, went last week and saw no more that four Things have certainly changed with the weather last couple of years.

In garden moths are few as well, bats are virtually none existent.

Ah well, am out today so hoping to see a few fly-byes.

Hope you keeping well? Am okay ta.

Regards

Max

_________________
GETTING OLD HAS IT'S ADVANTAGES BUT I CAN'T REMEMBER WHAT THEY ARE lol

Hi Max,

Butterfly numbers are certainly down this year due to the weather. Last year , we had that miserable late May and most of June : two years running with such months can't be good news.

Let's hope we get a flaming June and July to make up for it. We need some Painted Ladies and Red Admirals now to liven things up.

Am keeping well, thanks - I entered my ninth decade in March and am still vertical.

Best regards,

Freddy

June certainly failed to live up to its title of 'flaming' - more like a series of damp squibs plus plenty of cold winds.
A male Orange Tip appeared regularly during any sunny spell up to 14 June. A male Speckled Wood visited on/off until 25 June. Otherwise, spp White were regular.

It would be nice to see a few Browns around in July.

Freddy

Freddy,

The only good thing about the lack of whites is my cabbages are looking healthy rather then moth-eaten.

As far as I know never had nowt flying in back or front garden last month, but until i check my list I could be wrong.

All the best

Max

_________________
GETTING OLD HAS IT'S ADVANTAGES BUT I CAN'T REMEMBER WHAT THEY ARE lol

8 species have appeared so far in the garden in the fine July weather, including a couple of new ones. Some Browns duly arrived with 2 of each species being regular since first arrival :

11. 6 Jul - Ringlet

12. 6 Jul - Meadow Brown.

Otherwise, on/off have also been :

Small Tortoiseshell
Comma
Speckled Wood
Large White
Small White
Green-veined White.

The Marjoram is just coming into flower; hopefully, a Gatekeeper or two will arrive by the end of the month, and perhaps a Skipper on the Lavender. Red Admiral and Painted Lady on the Buddleia are possibilities, with Peacock a probability.

Freddy

The sunny weather of the last 10 days or so has resulted in 12 species appearing in the garden. The main nectar sources are Buddleia, Lavender and Marjoram.

15 Jul - Comma... on/off since

15 Jul - Speckled Wood

13. 19 Jul - Small Skipper

14. 24 Jul - Gatekeeper... my first of 2013
plus today (10 species in all) :

pristine Peacock - annual (JulyAugust) emergence has started (1st since early May)
pristine male Brimstone - also start of annual (July/August) emergence (1st since April)
Small Skipper (2 visits)
Meadow Brown x 2
Ringlet x 3
Small Tortoiseshell
Large Whites
Small Whites
Green-veined Whites

Freddy

Within a few days of the arrival of the first Peacock in the garden (24 July), numbers had built up to 10. In addition, Small Tortoiseshells had increased to 4 and Gatekeepers to 2.
A Silver Y moth was seen on Buddleia towards the end of the month.

Freddy

After sighting my first BBH Painted Lady of the year in a local garden yesterday, I was pleased to see one on my own garden Buddleias today (Thu). I have 4 bushes.
As my wife commented this morning, " There are clouds of butterflies on the Buddleias " :

c. 40 Peacocks
c.25 spp Whites
Small Tortoiseshells
plus Silver Ys.

Separately, a male Speckled Wood and a male Holly Blue have recently taken up residence in another part of the garden.

Freddy

I called in to the butterfly garden at c1500 hrs and it was thrumming with
insects including painted lady dozens of peacocks, and a carpenter bee an impressive insect.
regards John.

A mid-month review. 4 new butterflies in the garden so far in August, 2 of them today.

15. 8 Aug - Painted Lady
(12 Aug) - revisit or another

16. 11 Aug - Essex Skipper ( I managed to get a good look at the antennae )

17. 14 Aug - Small Copper (on Marjoram.......eventually)


18. 14 Aug - Red Admiral (on Buddleia.........eventually)

A good day today.......10 species in the bright sunshine :

Red Admiral - on Buddleia
Small Copper - on Marjoram
Meadow Brown - 2
Small Tortoiseshell - 3 (Buddleia)
Peacocks - 25+ (Buddleia)
Speckled Wood male
Holly Blue male - it left patrolling the Hawthorns and visited the Marjoram
3 Spp White - 25+
plus Silver Y Moth - 2

Freddy