Butterfly Yearlist Update

Thought it was about time I got  an update on here. You know the story, I'm either at work or out in the field especially when the weather is good. It's not so good at the moment and I have had a bit of spare time to get some photos together. Still loads of botany trip photos to sort but that's probably going to be something for the autumn now. I've seen lots of other interesting inverts as well which will follow in a later post hopefully in the not too distant future. I'm up to 44 species of butterfly now but starting to panic a bit because the Purple Emperor as been out for a while now and the weather as taken turn for the worse and doesn't look very promising over the next week either. Recent highlights have been seeing three 'lifers' with Chequered Skipper, Mountain Ringlet and Large Heath. I'm hoping to get another chance to see the latter as I didn't get a photo of the single early one that we saw in Cumbria. Seeing my largest ever number of Swallowtails near Hickling Broad and getting some nice flight shots of them and seeing a stunning aberrant Small Tortoiseshell. Also my first 'proper' Glanville Fritillaries on the Isle of Wight. Anyway here's a continuation of my list and lots and lots of photos!

26.   Adonis Blue                       9th May  Ballard Down Dorset

27.   Marsh Fritillary                 21st May  Cotley Hill Wiltshire

28.   Glanville Fritillary           26th May  Bonchurch Isle of Wight

29.   Large Skipper                    26th May  Afton Down Isle of Wight

30.   Meadow Brown                 26th May  Afton Down Isle off Wight

31.  Small Pearl-bordered
       Fritillary                              27th May  Aish Tor Devon

32.   Heath Fritillary                  27th May  Lydford Devon

33.   Chequered Skipper*           2nd June  Glasdrum Wood Argyll

34.   Mountain Ringlet*             9th June  Irton Fell Cumbria

35.   Northern Brown Argus      9th June  Latterbarrow Cumbria

36.   Large Heath*                     9th June  Meathop Moss Cumbria

37.   Ringlet                               13th June  Upton Fen Norfolk

38.   Swallowtail                        13th June  Upton Fen Norfolk

39.   Small Skipper                     13th June  Holme Dunes Norfolk

40.   Black Hairstreak                14th June  Glapthorn Northamptonshire

41.   Marbled White                   16th June  Portland Dorset

42.   Silver-studded Blue           16th June  Portland Dorset

43.   Lulworth Skipper              16th June  Dungy Head Dorset

44.   Large Blue                         18th June  Green Down Somerset.

*  life tick 

Bonchurch Undercliff Isle of Wight where I saw my first ever 'proper' Glanville Fritillary

 

Landslips at Compton Bay another food site for Glanvilles. 

Glanville Fritillary

Large Skipper

Heath Fritillary

There were a couple of nice aberrant Heath Fritillaries at Lydford.

  

This unfortunate Heath Fritillary chose the wrong flower!

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Green Hairstreak 

 Brown Argus

 

 Holly Blue

Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Large Blue 

Not a very good photo but the best I could get; it was so incredibly hot the butterflies were pretty elusive photography wise. 

Red Admiral

A first for me was this Red Admiral Caterpillar.

Lulworth Skipper

Female Silver-studded Blue with beautiful iridescent wings

Female underside.

Male Silver-studded Blue zooming on by!

 

 A beautiful summer's day on Irton Fell Cumbria.

What kind of butterfly would live up here!?

One as hairy as this!

Mountain Ringlet

Northern Brown Argus 

South Shian, Benderloch must be one of the most scenic places I've been butterflying in. It's a great place for...

Marsh Fritillary

Small Heath

Glasdrum Woods

On this sunny and warm afternoon it was teeming with butterflies almost all of which were Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary and Chequered Skipper. I've dreamed of visiting here for years and I wasn't disappointed. Every marsh thistle was jam packed with them. Honestly they were!.. Look! 

Chequered Skipper

Black Hairstreak

Painted Lady

Small Skipper

Small Tortoiseshell

A very striking Small Tortoiseshell aberration where the yellow areas have been replaced with white. There were two of these in a large group of tortoiseshells on some thistles at Upton Fen Norfolk.

Swallowtail egg on Milk Parsley

Swallowtails

Butterfly Yearlisting

This year as well as a 'little bit of botanising' I'm hoping to see and photograph all the British butterfly species, which will include three lifers, possibly more if I'm lucky enough to see any rare migrants. You never know! We've got off to a flying start too with 25 species 'in the bag' by the end of April. Here's a list of them with dates and locations.

1. Comma                                15th March Brockenhurst New Forest

2. Peacock                                15th March Beaulieu New Forest

3. Red Admiral                         15th March Wareham Foreset Dorset

4. Small Tortoisehell                15th March Wareham Forest Dorset

5. Small White                         25th March Dunscombe East Devon

6. Brimstone                             26th March Harpford Common East Devon

7. Green Veined White             28th March Wretton Cut Off Norfolk

8. Speckled Wood                     2nd April Ballard Down Dorset

9. Holly Blue                            2nd April Ballard Down Dorset

10. Small Copper                      2nd April Ballard Down Dorset

11. Orange Tip                          2nd April Ballard Dowm Dorset

12. Green Hairstreak                 11th April Ballard Down Dorset

13. Grizzled Skipper                 11th April Cotley Hill Wiltshire

14. Painted Lady                       11th April Cotley Hill Wiltshire

15. Wall Brown                         18th April Kynance Cove Cornwall

16. Clouded Yellow                   19th April Seaton Cornwall

17. Pearl-bordered Fritillary      19th April Ramshorn Down Devon

18. Large White                         19th April Ramshorn Down Devon

19. Small Blue                            22nd April Bottomcombe Portland Dorset

20. Duke of Burgundy                23rd April Noar Hill Hampshire

21. Dingy Skipper                       23rd April Noar Hill Hampshire

22. Wood White                          26th April Branscombe East Devon

23. Common Blue                       26th April Branscombe East Devon

24. Small Heath                           29th April Wretton Cut Off Norfolk

25. Brown Argus                         29th April Wretton Cut Off Norfolk




I haven't photographed all of them, but here's a few that I have got so far.

 Clouded Yellow

Dingy Skipper 

Duke of Burgundy

 

Small Blue

 

 Green-veined White

Grizzled Skipper

Orange Tip

 

Small Copper

Small White

 Speckled Wood

Wood White