Long-tailed Blue & American Painted Lady new for 2023

 Long-tailed Blue

Long-tailed Blue

Long-tailed Blue

American Painted Lady

American Painted Lady roosting

I managed to add two excellent butterflies to my UK species this summer recording Long-tailed Blue that are now breeding on the south downs in Brighton and secondly an amazing American Painted Lady during my week on the Isle sof Scilly in October.

Butterflies of Oversley Woods

Purple Emperors

Silver-washed Fritillary

Hornet

Coma

With it now being the season of the "Purple Emperor", I've started visiting Oversley Woods every couple of days as there are some stunning butterflies to study & photograph. The circuit is just over 3 miles with a bit of diving around to get a nice image. Lets hope for a decent couple of weeks of weather to enable the Purple Emperor to have a productive season.

Painted Lady giving home dividends

Home working has certainly given me more opportunity to spend some time in the garden. A wander around a couple of times a day to pick a few weeds and see how the plants are growing helps the time pass. I've planted a number of new butterfly friendly plants and also developed a wild flower area. 

The photographed Painted Lady was a super butterfly to see close up. I managed to put my macro lens on to get some nice close ups of this stunning butterfly. 

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary emerge in Wyre Forest

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Common Buzzard

Pied Flycatcher

After plugging around the pits daily, I headed over to the Wyre Forest for a change of scenery. I undertook a solid five mile circuit recording Pied & Spotted Flycatcher, Dipper, Wood Warbler, Redstart & Tree Pipit as highlights.

My main target was the Small Pearl-bordered Fritiallary butterflies that had been reported as just emerging. I needed to complete a couple of laps before the first of two butterflies emerged allowing me to get some pleasing images with my macro lens.

Butterflies & birding on Cleeve Common

 

Dukes of Burgundy

Marsh Fritillary

Small Blue

Male Common Redstart

Cleeve Common is a beautiful place to spend each spring and once again it did not disappoint on this visit. With stunning views over Cheltenham racecourse the chalk hillside provides the perfect habitat for many species. I recorded fifteen species of butterfly including Duke of Burgundy, Marsh Fritillary, huge numbers of Small Blue. The only one I couldn't find was Adonis Blue which had only been reported for the first time the previous day. Bird wise I recorded a number of Redstart, Tree Pipt & Red Kite.

Early butterflies of 2022

It's been a cold spring for butterflies however it's good to see species emerge in recent weeks. Below are my records to date. 

1)Brimstone                 18-Mar      SPGP

2)Peacock                 23-Mar Feckenham

3)Holly Blue                 23-Mar Feckenham

4)Small Tortoiseshell         26-Mar Feckenham

5)Coma                         26-Mar Grafton Wood

6)Orange-tip                 09-Apr Feckenham

7)Red Admiral                 09-Apr Brent Hill

8)Speckled Wood         09-Apr Brent Hill

9)Small White                 14-Apr SPGP

10)Green-veined White      15-Apr Ripple Pits

11)Large White                 25-Apr Wyre Forest

12)Pearl-bordered Fritillary 25-Apr Wyre Forest

13)Green Hairstreak         25-Apr Hartlebury