Red Admiral, Vanessa atalanta

Last June on a lovely sunny day I noticed a Red Admiral, Vanessa atalanta, flying around our hen run, landing on some young nettles, Urtica dioica, that I had previously cut down. Once it had gone I had a look at one particular nettle plant that it had been showing a great interest in and found an egg. Thinking that it wouldn’t have a chance of survival I picked the nettle and put it in some water in the house.

The egg was laid on the 25^th June and four days later I noticed that it had hatched. The caterpillar was a clear green colour with a black head and it remained in the smallest leaves at the top of the nettle, where it weaved a small silk shelter.

On 1^st July I noticed that the caterpillar had changed into the second instar and was now dark with small spines. It was now about 4mm long.

After that it was very difficult to see the caterpillar as it made itself a beautiful tent by nibbling through the nettle stem causing the top to flop over. It then wove the serrated edges of a leaf together to create a little chamber to live inside. It clearly ventured out at night and ate other leaves and on occasion would build itself a new tent.

On 23^rd July I noticed that it had woven itself a little silk pad and had started to hang from it in a J-shape in preparation for forming a chrysalis.

On 25^th July it had shed its skin and was now a chrysalis.

It remained like that until I noticed the colour of its wings became apparent through the chrysalis. It remained like this for a couple of days and then, despite it being in my study on the 10^th August it emerged into a beautiful butterfly while I wasn’t looking!

It was fantastic watching it go through the whole process from egg to adult butterfly. It was particularly thrilling watching it fly off once its wings had fully expanded and dried out. There were a lot of Red Admirals on our Buddleias later in the year and it would be nice to think that they were descended from this particular butterfly.

Back in June on the same day that I saw the Red Admiral laying and egg I also spotted a Painted Lady laying an egg on some Woodland Groundsel , Senecio sylvaticus. It was similar to the Red Admiral egg, but had more ribs. Sadly we had really heavy rain the following day and the egg was washed away. It would have been great to have reared it alongside the Red Admiral.

Painted Lady, Vanessa cardui

Back in 2016 I posted about the Painted Lady and wondered if 2016 would turn out to be a Painted Lady year. As it turns out, it wasn't a bad year, but it was nothing compared with 2019.

At the start of June I received reports of Painted Ladies being seen flying in from the coast and once inland they continued to fly westwards. This seemed very exciting, but it was nothing compared to the second wave of arrivals.

Towards the end of July a second, much bigger, wave arrived. An almost continuous stream of butterflies were seen flying westwards from the coast. By the end of the year I had received records of 5,395 Painted Ladies, but that must have been a fraction of the number that were actually here.

There are 15 Painted Ladies in this picture!

To give you an idea I normally receive records of somewhere between 25 to 100 Painted Ladies and the best year before this I received records of 176, so in 2019 we saw 30 times more Painted Ladies than we had ever seen.

These butterflies spend the winter in north Africa and then over three or four generations make their way north to Scotland or Scandinavia. I speculated where ours had flown in from and I imagine it was probably the Netherlands or Denmark. That means that they had flown non-stop over the North Sea for over 600 kilometres. I believe that they can fly up to 150 miles a day, which means that they had been flying for four days and nights. I find this quite remarkable. Although we usually only see butterflies flying when the sun is shining, these butterflies had clearly been flying in the dark.

I remember once experiencing a mass arrival of Red Admirals along the coast on a cold, misty day and thinking that it was remarkable that they were flying on a day like that. However, I guess they have no choice once they have set off over the sea but to continue no matter what the weather.

It used to be thought that the adults perished in the UK, unable to survive the cold winter. However, in 2009 sensitive radar picked them up flying south in enormous numbers. These butterflies were heading back to where their great grandparents set off from earlier in the year.

More recent research has been able to trace where a butterfly has spent its life as a caterpillar by identifying the ratio of Hydrogen isotopes found in the butterfly's wings. This has proved that Painted Ladies found in Europe in early spring have originated from Sub-Sahara Africa. So, they have not only crossed the Mediterranean Sea, but also the Sahara Desert. The round trip, through several generations, is about 12,000 kilometres.

Some of my pictures show quite worn Painted Ladies, but, having flown so far, I think they deserve to be photographed just as much as a pristine example. They are my heroes of the insect world!

East Lothian Butterflies 2019 Part 1

There was a very clear correlation between the weather and number of butterflies seen in East Lothian in 2019. After a reasonably mild winter there was an unseasonably warm week at the end of February with temperatures reaching 16 degrees. Then it was cold again until the end of March. At the end of April we experienced an even warmer week with temperatures of 26 degrees. However, we still experienced a few hard frosts in May. The remainder of the year was quite reasonable, but it was interspersed with very heavy rain showers. The butterfly season ended abruptly at the end of October when the weather turned cool and wet.

Other than a couple of hardy Peacocks that appeared in January, the warm week in February brought out a flurry of species. We had seen seven species before the end of February, which must be a record for East Lothian. Things then went very quiet until the third week in March when the butterfly season truly started. Most species did very well in 2019, probably as a result of the very good weather in 2018 allowing the early stages of the butterflies to survive in good numbers. However, from July through to September there were occasional very heavy periods of rain which had a dramatic impact on butterfly numbers.

Despite having fewer people recording butterflies than the last few years we had a record 20,598 butterflies recorded in 2019 (16,875 in 2018). This was helped considerably by the enormous number of Painted Ladies that arrived on our shores in June and July, but even without them we had almost as many butterflies as in 2018.

Peacock, Aglais io

The first butterfly recorded in East Lothian in 2019 was a Peacock seen at Aberlady Local Nature Reserve on 11th January. A second Peacock was seen at Levenhall Links three days later. Peacocks have been recorded in increasingly high numbers over the last seven years, with 2019 being the best year yet. Numbers peaked in mid August, but then dropped very quickly again to single figures by the start of September.

Small Tortoiseshell, Aglais urticae

The Small Tortoiseshells waited until the warm week in February to show, with the first record being on the 17^th. They have been declining in numbers over the last few years. However, 2019 saw a bit of a revival in numbers when the new generation emerged towards the end of July. As usual, they quickly disappeared with many of them heading into hibernation surprisingly early in the season.

Comma, Polygonia c-album

The number of records of Commas has gradually been increasing since they were first recorded in East Lothian in 2001. However, they declined significantly 2016 presumably as a result of the lousy summer. Since then they have been picking up and in 2019 the recovery continued. The first Comma was seen on 25th February and, like the Small Tortoiseshell, their number peaked for a week at the end of August and then very quickly they disappeared. It will be interesting to see how many return next spring after their hibernation.

Painted Lady, Vanessa cardui

The big story of 2019 was the arrival on our shores of an enormous number of Painted Ladies. These came in two waves. The first at the beginning of June when we were amazed at the number of Painted Ladies being seen. But that was nothing compared with the number that arrived at the end of July when they were seen in their hundreds. Some of these would have been the young of the previous arrivals, but most of them were seen flying in from the sea. They were also noted flying in a very

definite westerly direction and records were received from all over Scotland including the Outer Hebrides.

I was interested to learn that Painted Ladies had done similarly well in the USA in 2019. So, on both sides of the Atlantic conditions must have been just right throughout the lives of four or five generations of butterflies.

I received records of 5395 Painted Ladies in 2019, a big difference from an average of about 80 over the last six years.

Speckled Wood, Pararge aegeria

The exceptionally mild week in February also brought about a remarkably early record for the Speckled Wood. In fact two were seen on February 26th basking in the sun on the coast at Prestonpans. There was another record on 22nd March. We normally wouldn't expect to see a Speckled Wood here until the middle of April, which is when we started to see them again in 2019. I can only imagine that the three early records were individuals that had benefited from the long summer of 2018 and had formed chrysalises late in the autumn.

The spring populations appeared in higher numbers than in previous years and I was expecting to see bumper numbers later in the summer. However, the heavy rains that we experienced appeared to knock Speckled Woods quite hard.

There were fewer Speckled Woods recorded in 2019 than in the previous year, but they are still doing well in East Lothian.

Small White, Pieris rapae

After such a great year for Small Whites in 2018 I was expecting to see great things in 2019. And it was a good year, but just not as good a year as last year! In 2018 we had records of almost 3500 Small Whites, but in 2019 we recorded 950. However, this is still good when compared with the average for the previous five years of about 360.

The first Small White seen in 2019 was on the 27th February. A good five or six weeks earlier than we would normally expect. The rest of the season was much as expected with a summer population about five times as great as the spring population.

Red Admiral, Vanessa atalanta

The first Red Admiral record of 2019 was on 27th February. This was most likely an individual that had survived the mild winter. There were a few more records in March and April, but it was the first week of June when they started to arrive on our coasts, about three days ahead of the first wave of Painted Ladies. There was another spike in numbers at the end of August, which could have been the next generation. Red Admirals continued to be seen in good numbers until the end of October.

Orange Tip, Anthocharis cardamines

Orange Tips did very well again in 2019. This was probably a result of the great year they had in 2018. They were fortunate that their flight period was before the heavy showers started, so the weather was kind to them.

The first Orange Tip of 2019 was seen on 31st March, about a week earlier than normal.

Green-veined White, Pieris napi

The first Green-veined White was also seen on 31st March. The spring population was a lot larger than average, with the summer generation just being a little more than normal.

Large White, Pieris brassicae

The Large White has never been as numerous as the Small White or Green-veined White. 2019 was a fairly average year for them, which is a little surprising considering how well they did in 2018. The first record was on 11th April and they were recorded through to the 28th September.

I'll continue with the rest of the butterflies seen in 2019 in my next post.

East Lothian Butterflies 2017 - Part 2

Following on from my previous post here are the remaining species recorded in East Lothian in 2017.

Green Hairstreak, Callophrys rubi

The Green Hairstreak is probably very much under-recorded in East Lothian. There are old records from the Lammermuir Hills, but they have not been seen in those sites for many years. They have, however, been discovered in other areas of the Lammermuirs and in woodlands on the East Lothian side. They require blaeberries as food plants for the caterpillars, and everywhere we have found them is within a few feet of conifer trees. Numbers appeared to be down in 2016, but it is difficult to tell how they are doing without more specific monitoring.

Painted Lady, Vanessa cardui

Painted Lady numbers are very variable year on year, depending on many factors on their long migration from Africa to the UK. We don't ever see enormous numbers of them in East Lothian. The first record for East Lothian was on 5th May and it looks as though there was a better than average arrival of Painted Ladies. They didn't go on to produce a large second brood, presumably as a result of the summer weather.

Small Heath, Coenonympha pamphilus

The Small Heath confuses me a little! In the south of the UK there are two generations a year and up here we are supposed to get just one generation. However, I have noticed a big difference between sites in East Lothian. They are rarely seen beyond the end of June in John Muir Country Park, yet in other sites are seen through until the end of August. In 2017 the first record was on 6th May. They started off doing well, but their numbers were lower later in the season. We have been getting later records each year, but in 2017 we had a remarkably late record of one being seen on 20th October. I can only imagine this was from a second brood.

Common Blue, Polyommatus icarus

The Common Blue was seen in slightly lower numbers than normal in 2017, with sightings being lower than average towards the end of the season. The first Common Blue was recorded on 31st May and they had a fairly normal year with numbers just a bit down on the average.

Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary, Clossiana selene

The Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary is a very rare butterfly in East Lothian, only being recorded in a couple of places in the Lammermuir Hills and at John Muir Country Park. This year I only received one record on 7th June from John Muir Country Park.

Ringlet, Aphantpopus hyperantus

Ringlets did reasonably well in 2017. The first record received was on 14th June and their numbers built up quickly to a maximum, three weeks later and then back down to zero in the next five weeks.

Northern Brown Argus, Aricia artaxerxes

The Northern Brown Argus only occurs in a few small colonies in East Lothian. There is one very well established colony in the Lammermuirs, a very small and precarious colony on a golf course near Dunbar and possibly another couple of inaccessible sites where they occur. They tend not to travel far from their food plant, Rockrose, and therefore don't have much likelihood of spreading in East Lothian. The first record in 2017 was on 17th June and because we receive so few records it is difficult to assess how well they are doing.

Large Skipper, Thymelicus sylvestris

It was very pleasing to receive two records of Large Skippers in 2017. In 2014 we received our first record on the coast just inside East Lothian. We had expected them to continue along the coast, as many other species have, but despite many people searching there were no sightings in 2015 or 2016. Then on 17th June 2017 someone spotted them in two locations in the foothills of the Lammermuir Hills. They had caught us all off guard and sneaked west! I am sure there will be plenty of us out checking appropriate sites along the Lammermuirs in 2018!

Meadow Brown, Maniola jurtina

The Meadow Brown is normally the most numerous butterfly in East Lothian, but this year it was knocked back into four place. The first record we received was on 19th of June and this coincided with the start of the horrible rainy weather. It is interesting to see that numbers picked up to almost normal levels in August once the rain had stopped!

Small Skipper, Thymelicus sylvestris

The Small Skipper was first recorded in East Lothian in 2011 and since then it has been increasing in number and spreading across the county. This butterfly was first spotted at Aberlady bay, then in Saltoun Wood, other sites along the coast, Gifford, Linn Dean and Haddington to mention just a few. It would be interesting to know it manages to get to all these sites. Does it fly large distances, or is it that we just haven't noticed it in places between these sites?

Grayling, Hypparchia semele

The Grayling is only regularly seen in two or three sites in East Lothian. Unfortunately, one of those sites, Blindwells, is due to be developed and public access is being restricted. They are normally seen between mid-June to the end of August. The first record I received in 2017 was on 24th June and numbers seemed low this year.

Dark Green Fritillary, Argynnis aglaja

The first record in 2017 of a Dark Green Fritillary was on 1st July. Sadly, because their emergence was during the rainy weather 2017 was their worst year of the last five years. Numbers of ad hoc and transect records were both less than half what would normally be expected.

Sadly, 2017 was the first year that I haven't received a record for a Holly Blue since 2009. There was a colony around the Newhailes and Brunstane area, which sadly seems to have died out and each year I have received one or two records from around the Gullane/North Berwick area. I live in hope that there is a little colony hidden away somewhere in that area.

I am very grateful to all of those who have contributed butterfly records. It shouldn't be too long before we are seeing butterflies again in 2018!

Small Blue, Cupido minimus

Things have been rather hectic for me this last year, or so, and I haven't been looking after my blog as I should! I have still been out and about looking for butterflies, so I have some stories to tell. I am also hoping to start a new page on my blog about my father's house in the Scottish Borders that we inherited last year. We hope to move there in a year's time, but have a few changes we wish to make, as well as great plans for the place.

So, to get me started again here are some pictures of Small Blues, Cupido minimus, that I took back in June on my annual trip down to Burnmouth on the Scottish Borders coast.

They are our smallest UK butterfly. They lay their eggs on Kidney Vetch, but don't occur up here in East Lothian, even though Kidney Vetch grows here.

While we were there we also found a few Large Skippers, Ochlodes sylvanus, a butterfly that has recently moved up to East Lothian, although I haven't seen any here this year.

We saw a few other butterflies while we were there. This rather worn Painted Lady, Vanessa cardui, has probably flown in from Europe and was enjoying a rest.

It was pleasing to see the coastal slopes were in better condition than when we visited last year. Then there had been weeks of easterly winds, which seemed to have dried out the vegetation, including the all important Kidney Vetch. This year it was growing nicely, so hopefully the Small Blues will benefit and be around in good numbers when I visit again next year.

East Lothian Butterflies 2016 (1)

The weather in 2016 was very similar to the previous year. I hope this isn't going to become the norm! The winter of 2015/16 was reasonably mild again, with only one dusting of snow. We had very heavy rain in February causing localised flooding, but the rest of the year was reasonably dry. Sadly, it was also quite cool and cloudy with below average sunshine.

One unusual aspect of the weather in 2016 was the number of easterly winds we had and this seemed to bring cloud with it.

We had very local torrential rain in June which washed away the caterpillars I had been nurturing in my garden. I suspect it may have had a similar impact across much of East Lothian impacting on the butterfly numbers later in the year.

Despite this I still received almost as many butterfly records this year as I did last year. The combined efforts of everyone recording butterflies has built up a very good picture of what is going on in East Lothian.

Red Admiral, Vanessa atalanta

The first butterfly seen in East Lothian in 2016 was a Red Admiral on 3 February and interestingly the last record I received of a butterfly flying was also a Red Admiral on 16 November. In between they were regularly seen with numbers peaking in August. The early sightings over the last few years would indicate that Red Admirals have been able to survive the last few mild winters we have had.

Peacock, Aglais io

The first record in 2016 was on 13 March and Peacocks were regularly seen until early June. Although the numbers in the summer months were lower than we normally see, they continued to be seen flying until 4 November.

Small Tortoiseshell, Aglais urticae

Small Tortoiseshells were seen regularly from 14 March until the middle of July as expected, but when we would normally expect to see an increase in numbers in late summer and autumn, numbers were disappointingly low. This corresponds with the national story and I can only imagine that the cool summer weather caused a lot of caterpillars to perish. I notice that the records where more than one Tortoiseshell was recorded were all on the coast. We are finding a few Small Tortoiseshells hibernating in the usual sites, although fewer than normal, but hopefully enough to boost the population again this year.

Green-veined White, Pieris napi

The first record was on 14^th April and they were seen through to the 27^th September. The spring brood were as numerous as normal, but they weren’t seen in anything like the normal numbers during the summer generation. However, when I check the numbers recorded on the transect the summer numbers were better.

Speckled Wood, Pararge aegeria

Speckled Woods continued to do well in East Lothian in 2016. The first record I received was on 19 April and they were very regularly recorded with no apparent break between the three generations until 31 October. The peak numbers appeared in August, which is different from previous years, when the numbers were highest in September. The Speckled Wood has spread west and south, meaning that it is now found in most suitable habitats in East Lothian.

Comma, Polygonia c-album

Commas were first seen on 19 April in three different locations! There were only 19 records for the whole year, which is considerably down on 2014 and 2015. This is a butterfly that had been building up in numbers since it first was recorded here about 15 years ago, but it certainly didn't seem to do well in 2016.

Orange Tip, Anthocharis cardamines

The first Orange Tip was recorded on 19 April and they were seen in good numbers through to 26 June. Being an early species, they were unaffected by the poor summer weather, but let’s hope that there isn’t an impact on the 2017 population.

Small White, Pieris rapae

The first Small White was recorded on 19 April. It was interesting that I received more Small White records in 2016 than in previous years, but with smaller numbers in each record. There was a fairly clear division between the first generation – April to mid-June and the second generation from mid-July to 23 September.

Large White, Pieris brassicae

The first Large Whites were recorded on a transect in early April. They were recorded until 10 September in better numbers than normal. I can't imagine why they did so well in 2016. I remember them laying eggs very late in 2015 and I didn't think the caterpillars stood a chance of surviving the early frosts. It seems they can!

Painted Lady, Vanessa cardui

2016 was a “Painted Lady year”. These remarkable butterflies arrived here in early May and were recorded in good numbers right through to 4^th November. Thereafter they hopefully made it back to Africa, from where their great grandparents would have set out back in March.

Small Copper, Lycaena phlaeas

The first record of a Small Copper was on 6 May and they were recorded very regularly until 13 September. Nationally, the Small Copper didn’t do well last year, but in East Lothian they seemed to buck the trend a bit. The second generation of the year wasn't as numerous as the spring generation. We never see great numbers of them, but in 2016 I received more records than in previous years.

Green Hairstreak, Callophrys rubi

The first Green Hairstreak record was on 19 May and they were seen through to 6 June in three different areas of woodland north of the Lammermuir Hills. They haven't previously been recorded at two of these sites. Interestingly there were no records from the more remote and difficult to reach areas of the Lammermuirs, possibly because no one made the effort to search those areas.

I will continue with the rest of the butterflies seen in East Lothian in 2016 in my next post.