Butterfly Update

 Over the last week or two I've been out and about looking for a few new summer butterflies.

The first were seen at Barbrook Pools (formerly Barbrook Reservoir) last Sunday, when the 2 Small Coppers, Large Skippers and Narrow-bordered 5-spot Burnet moths were present. Whilst there, I was also able to confirm breeding for Tufted Duck (female and 8 ducklings) and Lapwing (1 adult and 3 chicks).

Narrow-bordered 5-spot Burnet

Tufted Duck 

The next butterflies seen were at Lindrick Dale, yesterday. Overall, numbers were well down on previous years (possibly due to the very warm spring?), with just 4 Dark Green Fritillaries, 6 Marbled Whites, 4 Gatekeepers, 1 Ringlet and about half a dozen Small Skippers seen. 1 other species, Silver-washed Fritillary, was also seen flying around the woods, on the walk through.

Lindrick Dale- 29th June 2024

 This afternoon, I had a drive across to Lindrick Dale, near Worksop, to try my luck with the butterflies. It was 20 degrees, and pretty overcast when I arrived, but I got lucky and saw 5 new species for the year. 

The first species, and the most common (c.20), was the Marbled White. Also present were: Ringlet (c.10), Meadow Brown (c15), Large Skipper (1) and Dark Green Fritillary (c.5). Unfortunately, no Silver-studded Blues were seen (too early, too overcast?)

Marbled White

Ringlet

Dark Green Fritillary

Large Skipper

Lindrick Dale - 2nd July 2023

 On Sunday, I went across to Lindrick Dale to see if there were any butterflies. It was 18 degrees, overcast and quite windy, but I did still mange to see a few of the regulars.

The first butterflies seen were Marbled Whites, with c.20 in total. Dark Green Fritillaries were also about, but only 4 were flying. Other species seen were: Small Heath (1), Ringlets (4), 6-spot Burnet (1) and Meadow Browns (c.10). Unfortunately, no Silver-studded Blues were seen.

Marbled White

Dark Green Fritillary

Two species of orchid were also seen: Pyramidal and Common Spotted.

Lindrick Dale - 2nd July 2022

On Saturday, Jayne and I had our annual trip to Lindrick Dale, near Worksop. It was about 20 degrees, with quite a lot of  cloud cover and also quite windy, but, we still managed to spot the butterflies we'd gone to see, and two species for us there as well!!

First up, the "usual suspects", namely Dark Green Fritillary (c.10), Marbled White (c.5), Silver-studded Blue (just 2, one male and one female), Meadow Brown (c.5), Ringlet (3) and Gatekeeper (1).

Dark Green Fritillary

The two new species were a single 6-spot Burnet, and, most surprising, a pair of mating Silver-washed Fritillaries!!

Silver-washed Fritillaries

In addition to the butterflies, Jayne also noticed this gall on a rose plant, that turns out to be a Robin's Pincushion, also known as a bedeguar gall. This is created by the gall wasp, Diplolepis rosae, that lays an egg in the rose's bud in spring. The larvae then develop inside the gall, before emerging as adults, next spring to begin the cycle again.

Robin's Pincushion

Butterfly and Dragonfly Update - July 2021

I've been out and about quite alot recently, and have managed to see some lovely butterflies. 

First up, is my annual trip to Lindrick Common. I went here on 1st July. The flowers weren't very far on, but I still managed to see Dark Green Fritillary, Marbled White and Silver-studded Blue.

Dark Green Fritillary

Marbled White

Silver-studded Blue

On 10th July, Jayne and I visited the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, where we had great views of Large Skipper and Black-tailed Skimmer. 

Last Saturday (17th) we travelled down to Cotgrave Forest in Nottinghamshire, where we had fantastic views of Purple Emperor butterflies. We also saw Small Skipper, Ringlets and a single Silver-washed Fritillary. 

Purple Emperor

Silver-washed Fritillary

On our last trip, to the Wellington Monument on 20th, we saw a male Golden-ringed Dragonfly, and a minimum of 4 Purple Hairstreaks!

Golden-ringed Dragonfly

Purple Hairstreak

Lindrick Common - 20th June 2020

This spring has seen a lot of warm, dry weather and above average temperatures. As a result, butterflies seem to have been emerging earlier than usual, so I decided to go to Lindrick Common a couple of weeks earlier myself.

When I arrived, it was obvious that they vegetation hadn't kept pace with the butterflies and there were only a few flowering plants. The butterflies, however, were all present in good numbers, with 10+ Marbled Whites, 15+ Dark Green Fritillaries and at least 15 Silver-studded Blues (all but one being male). The temperature was around 20 degrees, so the Whites and Fritillaries were all pretty active. The blues, on the other hand, were the most confiding I've ever known, and posed, beautifully, with open wings.

Marbled White

Dark Green Fritillary (underwing)

Dark Green Fritillary 

Silver-studded Blue

Other species seen whilst there included my first Ringlets of the year, along with several Meadow Browns, 1 Large Skipper, and, best of all, a day-flying moth called a Burnet Companion, which was a lifer!

Burnet Companion

Three species of orchid were out, namely Bee (1), Pyramidal (c.15) and Common Spotted (c.10).

Summer Butterflies - 29th June 2019

We haven't yet had a great deal of decent sunny weather this summer, so, with the sun out, and a very decent temperature of 25 degrees today, I thought it was time to head over to Lindrick Dale near Worksop, to have a look at  the butterflies there.

I arrived at about 10am and straight away saw good numbers of Marbled White (15+), Dark Green Fritillary (c.20) and Silver-studded Blue (10+ males, no females).

Marbled White

Dark Green Fritillary

Dark Green Fritillary (underwing)

Silver-studded Blue (male upperwing)

Silver-studded Blue (male underwing)

Other butterflies seen were: Small Heath (2), Ringlet (10+), Meadow Brown (c.10), Large Skipper (1 male), Painted Lady (1 - my first record here) and a day flying moth, the Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet moth.

Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet Moth

Flowers seen were: Bladder Campion and 3 types of orchid: Bee (3), Common Spotted and Pyramidal.

Silver-studded Blue

For the last few years Jayne and I have visited a super site in Carlton in Lindrick, Nottinghamshire, to see some lovely butterflies; Marbled White, Dark Green Fritillary and Silver-studded Blue. We've always managed to see the first two species, but the third one has been a little trickier!! Thankfully, this year we managed to drop lucky, seeing at least 1 female and 1 male.

Silver-studded Blue (male)

Silver-studded Blue (female underwing)

Silver-studded Blue (female upperside)

Dark Green Fritillary

Marbled White

Other butterfly species seen were: Comma (1), Red Admiral (1), Ringlet (10+) and a small skipper species (either Small or Essex; 1 of which was reported by another visitor).

Marbled White, Ringlet and Meadow Brown

Lindrick Butterflies

For the last two years, I've visited a lovely site called Lindrick Dale, near Worksop, to see two special butterfly species; Dark Green Fritillary and Marbled White. Yesterday I was back there for my first visit of 2016. Both butterflies were present in decent numbers, along with a few other species.

The fritillaries, about 15 in total, put on a great show, flying around and landing on the thistles. I've taken many photos before, so yesterday, I decided to try a few different ones, including these "head on" shots.

Dark Green Fritillary

The same was true with Marbled Whites (15+)  and the Ringlets (20+). Here's a shot of these species sharing a thistle.

Marbled White and Ringlet

As well as these butterflies, I also had singles of Small Skipper, Common Blue (a female), and about 15 Meadow Browns.

Meadow Brown and White-tailed Bumblebee

Flowers seen today were: Pyramidal Orchid, Common Spotted Orchid and Bladder Campion.

Bladder Campion

Return to Lindrick Dale

Last year I discovered a really great butterfly site that held 3 species that are very uncommon in this area, namely Dark Green Fritillary, Marbled White and Silver-studded Blue. I visited a couple of times and managed to catch up with all three species (click on the label Lindrick Dale below to see these posts). Last weekend (28th June) I had another visit and managed to see the first two species.

Last year I managed to get some really nice shots of the upperwing of the Dark Green Fritillary, so this year I was really keen to try and get some photos of the green underwing. Here are my efforts.

Dark Green Fritillary

The other species, Marbled White, was also present, but in quite small numbers, (fewer than 6 were seen). I got a nice photo of a pristine male.

Marbled White

As well as the key species, there were also a couple of Large Skippers, one Small Heath and dozens of Ringlets present. 

Ringlet

Finally, there were some nice flowers present too. Here are pictures of Pyramidal, Common Spotted and Bee Orchid.

Pyramidal Orchid

Common Spotted Orchid (I think)

Bee Orchid

Now I need to get back to try and find the Silver-studded Blues!