Suffolk Butterflies and Moths

As well as looking at the birds in Suffolk last week, I also managed to spot a few butterflies and moths. Most of the species seen were at the RSPB Minsmere reserve. Over the course of the week I managed to spot 19 species of butterfly and 3 moths.

The butterflies included many of the commoner species, namely Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Gatekeeper, Common Blue, Small Copper, Ringlet, Speckled Wood, Green-veined White, Small Heath, Small, Large and Essex Skipper (a new species for me) and Comma as well as a few more unfamiliar ones such as Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Grayling, Purple Hairstreak, (2 basking in the sunshine from Bittern Hide), White Admiral and Silver-washed Fritillary. More information about all these species can be found on the Butterfly Conservation's website here. Here are a few pictures.

Essex Skipper

White Admiral

I didn't take my moth trap with me, so the moths I saw were three day-flying varieties; 6-spot Burnet, Rosy Tabby (Endotricha flammealis, seen at Dunwich Heath) and a mint moth called  Pyrausta aurata or Small Purple and Gold. More information about these species can be found on the UK Moths website here.

6-spot Burnet

Small Purple and Gold

Rosy Tabby

Silver-studded Blue

Last week I posted a blog about a brilliant site in South Yorkshire where I had been lucky enough to see Dark Green Fritillary and Marbled White butterflies (see here). I went back to this site again this weekend to see if I could catch up with another species, one that I'd missed last week; the Silver-studded Blue (see Butterfly Conservation's website here for details about this species), and this time I got lucky!

Underwing

Upperwing

I managed to see this male butterfly. Unfortunately the photos aren't very sharp, but you can hopefully see the tick black borer of the upperwing, which helps separate it from the Common Blue Butterfly (see here).

As well as this new species, I also saw at least 10-15 Dark Green Fritillaries and 20+ Marbled Whites; including several mating pairs, 1 Small Tortoiseshell, Small Heath, 20+ Ringlets, Meadow Brown and a skipper species, most likely Large.

Lovely butterflies

The other day I was going through Twitter when I came across a picture of a Silver-studded Blue butterfly. This is a species I've not seen before, and the individual in question was reported at being in Lindrick Dale, near Worksop. After a few "tweets" I had found out the site and so, with half decent weather, I decided to have a drive over to see if I could see the species for myself. Unfortunately, I drew a blank, but whilst there, I did manage to spot another couple of very nice butterfly species that I've never seen  near home.

The first species was the Dark Green Fritillary. I've seen this species once before in Cornwall, but on this walk I managed to see about half a dozen individuals. More information about this species can be found on Butterfly Conservation's website here.

Dark Green Fritillary

 

 The second species was the Marbled White. I only saw 2 individuals, but I did manage to get some nice shots. Again, more info here.

Marbled White (upperwing)

 

Marbled White (underwing)

Other species spotted during the walk were: Small Tortoiseshell (1), Small Heath (1) and Ringlet (20+).

As I said at the start of this post, I drew a blank with the SS Blues, so I'll pop back again, and hopefully add some pictures of this species next time.

New garden moth, first butterflies of 2014 and Year List update

With temperatures rising (19 degrees today!) I decided to put my moth trap out last night, for the first time in 2014. It was on all night (7pm to 5am), and only caught 2 moths of the same species, but, at least it was a new species- Hebrew Character.

Hebrew Character

 

2 Hebrew Characters

 

This species is a common moth, which flies between March and April, so hopefully I should see a few more over the coming months. More details here. Many thanks to the people on Ispot, who identified it for me.

 

When the sun came out today I managed to see my first butterflies of the year as well. First up was a Small Tortoiseshell basking on the side of the house. The next two species; Peacock and Comma, were both seen as I walked around Yorkshire Sculpture Park this afternoon. Click here to find out more information about these species.  Last up, 1 new bird for the year was a singing Chiffchaff in the afternoon sunshine.

Year List update:

113 - Chiffchaff

Moth List update:
3 - Hebrew Character