15 Monday Apr 2024
No, I haven’t been on a whirlwind trip to Scandinavia, more’s the pity. I’ve just read that the Holly blue (Celastrina argiolus) is not only native to Britain but can also be found throughout the Palearctic, and is the national butterfly of Finland. Well done the Finns for recognising the beauty of this gorgeous creature. And well done this particular Holly blue for sitting still for a few minutes yesterday so I could grab a few quick photos.
12 Friday Apr 2024
I’d just got home from walking a circuit of Cardiff Bay when a local birder and butterflier sent me a message to say there were some nice butterflies to be seen in a nearby park so out I went again for a look-see. He was right! Though I didn’t see the Green-veined white he had spotted, I did see the beauty shown below, my first Large white butterfly (Pieris brassicae) for the year, and my first two Holly blues, though neither paused long enough for a photo.
09 Tuesday Apr 2024
Posted in insects
A few days ago I found this new beetle sitting on the wall of some local houses. It’s a member of the Hydrophilidae family of water scavenger beetles, though this is actually one of Sphaeridium species, which are dung beetles. The UK Beetles website reports that ‘four [of these species] occur in the UK and three are common and widespread, they are medium sized, 4-7.5 mm. oval and distinctively coloured, they live in wet dung and both adults and larvae are predatory’, and on Wikipedia I discovered that the larvae of these little beetles predate the larvae of flies that breed in dung. The particularly odd thing is the urban location where I found this beetle, as they’re usually found near cattle. Perhaps it had inadvertently hitched a ride in someone’s car or on someone’s dog.
07 Sunday Apr 2024
Posted in flowers, insects, wildflowers
Tags
British butterflies, British wildflowers, butterfly, dandelion, dandelion flowers, insects on dandelions, Small white, Small white butterfly
I missed celebrating National Dandelion Day earlier this week so today’s wildflower post focuses on the wonder that is the Dandelion and the many insects that rely on its early source of nutrition. This little group of photos also includes my first Small white butterfly of the year, found on Friday.
03 Wednesday Apr 2024
Tags
Aglais urticae, British butterflies, butterfly, butterfly population decline, Small tortoiseshell
It’s a sad and depressing coincidence that on the very day I’m writing this blog about seeing my first Small tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) of the year, on 1 April, the Guardian newspaper has published an article reporting on a sharp decline in sightings of this species in 2023, and a population decline of 82% over the last 47 years. Commenting on the survey data of all the UK’s butterfly species, gleaned from over 3000 sites across the country, ‘Dr Richard Fox, the head of science at the charity Butterfly Conservation, said: “Butterfly numbers fluctuate naturally from year to year, largely due to the weather, but the long-term trends of UK butterflies are mainly driven by human activity, including habitat damage and destruction, pesticide use, pollution and climate change”.’ I feel privileged to have seen this beautiful Small tortoiseshell but also saddened by the possibility that future generations may not be so privileged.
01 Monday Apr 2024
On Saturday, in sheltered spots out of the cool wind, it was tshirt weather for the first time this year, and, as well as my pale arms, the butterflies were also out in the sunshine. My first two Speckled woods, butterfly species number five for 2024, were, typically, having a scrap over territory when I first spotted them. Luckily, they soon settled down on separate bushes so I was able to get a few decent photos of them.
29 Friday Mar 2024
The few Brimstones I’ve seen so far this year – just three before today – have been buttery yellow males and have raced past at the speed of light, spreading their pheromones and patrolling their chosen area in the hope of finding themselves a female. Though determining their colour can sometimes be tricky without the other gender for comparison, I think today’s Brimstone, with its paler, more greenish-lemon colour, was a female. She was certainly hungry, happy to linger and make the most of the lush Dandelions.
26 Tuesday Mar 2024
Living up to its name, I found this Early bumblebee (Bombus pratorum) last Friday alternating between sitting on newly laid woodchip mulch and the adjacent stone wall, basking in the short-lived spring sunshine (we’re now back to grey rainy days). As the Bumblebee Conservation website reports, this bumble is ‘One of the “Big 7” widespread and abundant species, found in a wide range of habitats across the UK’, and is ‘a spring specialist’. If you’re not sure which bumblebee species you’ve seen, the Bumblebee Conservation website also has an excellent online guide that shows clear images of each species’ queens and workers, males and females, as appropriate.
25 Monday Mar 2024
Various commitments last Friday meant I didn’t get out for my walk until the afternoon but, in retrospect, that was probably a good thing as the air had warmed and, in the gaps between the huge clouds rolling across the sky, the sun felt very spring-like.
The happy result was a seven-butterfly day, with four Commas, two Peacocks, and a single male Brimstone that was zipping around a local park at the speed of light, as they do when waiting for the first females to emerge. Fortunately, one of the Peacocks was more interested in feeding from the Three-cornered leeks, so I managed to get a few nice photos.
20 Wednesday Mar 2024
As well as the lovely Comma, Monday’s walk also produced my first bee-fly sightings for 2024. We only have Dark-edged bee-flies (Bombylius major) in my area and these were all males, as they usually emerge before the females. It’s so heartening to see these wonderful little signs of Spring.
earthstar 
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