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~ a celebration of nature

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Tag Archives: butterfly

Beautiful butterflies, 2022

28 Wednesday Dec 2022

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

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British butterflies, butterfly

For a variety of reasons, I wasn’t able to venture far from home for my butterfly viewing opportunities this year. As a consequence, the number of species I saw was small, just 30. Of those, 26 species were seen within walking distance of home, which, even after seven and a half years here in Wales, I still find amazing. In my native New Zealand, you would usually only see two species so easily (the introduced White and the self-introduced Monarch), though this does depend, of course, on where you live. The other four species on my list were seen up the valleys, at Aberbargoed, Grayling on the coal spoil tip, and Small heath, Marsh fritillary and Small pearl-bordered fritillary in the Aberbargoed Grasslands National Nature Reserve. Only 29 species are shown in my video, as I didn’t manage to get close enough to the Purple hairstreaks I saw for viable photographs. I am hoping / intending / planning to see more species in 2023, and compiling this video has made me impatient for the return of my beloved, beautiful butterflies.

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My last butterfly

24 Saturday Dec 2022

Posted by sconzani in insects

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British butterfly, butterfly, Red Admiral

Looking at the weather forecast for the next week, I think I can confidently say I’ve seen my final butterfly for 2022. It was on 6 December, a surprisingly warm day in the winter sunshine, when was this slightly battered-looking Red admiral emerged from its over-winter hiding place. I am SO looking forward to the return of the butterflies in 2023, and I’m planning to see a few more of the British species I’ve not yet seen, which will be exciting.

221224 red admiral

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Movement, 1

27 Thursday Oct 2022

Posted by sconzani in insects

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blurry photo, butterfly, Red Admiral, sense of movement

Shots like this usually go straight into the recycle bin but something stopped me deleting this one. Yes, it’s blurry, the ivy is out of focus, but I really like the sense of movement as the butterfly, a Red admiral, began to fly to another flower. What do you think? Save or delete?

221026 movement red admiral

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Feed up, fly south

13 Thursday Oct 2022

Posted by sconzani in autumn, insects

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British butterflies, butterfly, butterfly migration, ivy flowers, Red Admiral, Red admirals feeding on Ivy

It’s not only the birds that head south in the autumn. During a walk along the coastal path earlier this week, I noticed several Red admirals getting ready to migrate.

221013 red admiral (1)

Ivy flowers are essential for them at this time of year when they need to take on as many nutrients as possible before they take the big plunge and fly off over the cliffs, a feat that never ceases to amaze.

221013 red admiral (2)

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Green-veined whites

27 Tuesday Sep 2022

Posted by sconzani in insects

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British butterflies, butterfly, Green-veined butterfly, Pieris napi, white butterflies

I don’t know what it’s like where you are but there seem to be gazillions of Small white butterflies around here at the moment, which is why, when I noticed a single Green-veined white butterfly, it stood out like a sore thumb. And then it occurred to me that I hadn’t really covered the various whites much on the blog this butterfly season. So, before all the butterflies fade away for the year, I am going to remedy that, and I will start by showcasing the Green-veined whites (Pieris napi), which are so much easier to identify precisely because of their ‘green veins’, which, the UK Butterflies website reminds me, are not actually green at all but rather ‘an illusion created by a subtle combination of yellow and black scales’. And here they are …

220927 green-veined white

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A surprise Holly blue

15 Thursday Sep 2022

Posted by sconzani in insects

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British butterflies, butterfly, Holly blue, late Holly blue

Well, this was a surprise sighting during today’s walk! Holly blue butterflies have two broods each year (very occasionally three in the right conditions) but even with a second brood, the adults have usually disappeared by the beginning of September. This female did look quite faded and a bit bird-pecked but she was still flying strongly. Butterflies continuously amaze me!

220915 holly blue

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A blue blessing

26 Friday Aug 2022

Posted by sconzani in insects

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blue butterfly, British butterflies, butterfly, Holly blue, second brood Holly blue

This Holly blue was a lovely unexpected surprise during this morning’s meander around Cosmeston. Holly blues do have two broods each year but this is quite late in the season to see adults of the second brood. A blue blessing!

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Three days in a row

15 Monday Aug 2022

Posted by sconzani in insects

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British butterflies, butterfly, Clouded yellow, migrant butterfly

I couldn’t believe my luck (and wondered whether I should’ve bought a lottery ticket) but, after the first lucky day (Brown argus) and a second lucky day (the Silver-washed fritillary), the very next day my luck was in again. I’d seen Clouded yellow butterflies already in 2022 (one on 16 June; two – probably the first one and a friend – on 17 June; one – probably one of the previous two – on 20 June; all in the same general area) but hadn’t been able to get any reasonable photos. With the new camera, and a slightly more co-operative subject – it stopped a few times to feed, this time I managed to fire off several quick shots. This is the best of them.

220815 clouded yellow

p.s. I wrote this blog a few days ago and, since then, we’ve had an amazing influx of Clouded yellows, with five noted yesterday at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, so here’s another of these beauties.

220815 clouded yellow (2)

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Second lucky day

12 Friday Aug 2022

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

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British butterflies, butterfly, Silver-washed fritillary

My first lucky day happened when I took the new camera for its first outing, and not only produced the Robin photo I posted yesterday but also the Brown argus I blogged about on Wednesday. The very next day I was, if anything, even more lucky, as I found this superb, if rather faded Silver-washed fritillary in a local woodland. Long time followers might remember I found a male Silver-washed frit (A golden surprise) last July, which was in the same woodland. This latest butterfly was quite a distance from last year’s find spot but that may just be because the scarcity of food sources had forced it to fly a little further than usual. This year’s butterfly is a female so I’m hoping she had found/can find a male and laid/will lay some eggs.

220812 silver-washed fritillary

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Finally, Brown argus

10 Wednesday Aug 2022

Posted by sconzani in insects

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Aricia agestis, British butterflies, Brown argus, butterfly

The Brown argus butterfly (Aricia agestis) usually has two broods each year, the first adults flying during May and June, the second brood appearing in late July and fading away in late September. Somehow, I missed the first brood this year so, for the last couple of weeks, I’ve been systematically checking the spots of every female Common blue (at a glance, they look quite similar to Brown argus – see my July 2018 blog Flying on the wings of confusion for tips on how to differentiate the two species). Finally, last Friday, this beautiful Brown argus flitted into my field of vision. I didn’t quite do a happy dance but there was a not-too-loud ‘Whoop’!

220810 brown argus

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About me

sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

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