Butterfly watch

[Hacienda71]

Saw a red admiral today and what looked rather like a mayfly but that would be a bit odd given we are in March.....

 

[rich p]

Would you Adam and Eve it! On my ride today I saw an orange tip and a peacock.

 

[rich p]

I also saw lesser celandine, wood anemone, primrose, cardamine pratensis, bluebell, daffodil, blue and white violets and lungwort.

 

[rich p]

Saw a red admiral today and what looked rather like a mayfly but that would be a bit odd given we are in March.....

Hmmm, a hummingbird hawkmoth?

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

Have you seen any this year yet?

I've had red admiral, comma, small white and cabbage white.

Any brimstones, peacocks, orange tips around?

There is NO SUCH THING as a 'Cabbage White'. It would have been either a Large White, Small White, a Green Veined White, a female Orange Tip or another of the 'Whites'.

Gerrit right people!

Now, what was it?

Hmmm, a hummingbird hawkmoth?

This early in the season??


I have only seen one Tortoise Shell so far.

 

[rich p]

There is NO SUCH THING as a 'Cabbage White'. It would have been either a Large White, Small White, a Green Veined White, a female Orange Tip or another of the 'Whites'.

Gerrit right people!

Now, what was it?



This early in the season??


I have only seen one Tortoise Shell so far.

Pieris brassica but I didn't want to dazzle you!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pieris_brassicae

I don't know much about moths in truth.

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

Pieris brassica but I didn't want to dazzle you!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pieris_brassicae

I don't know much about moths in truth.

Ah ok, like the small White only the wingtips are blacker, making it easy to identify at a glance.

I will need to look the Hummingbird Hawkmoth up to see when it flies, but a Hummer is quite big (relatively) and people sometimes mistake them as real Hummingbirds.

I doubt it could be realistically mistaken for a Mayfly. When you see a Hummer, you KNOW about it, and I don't mean in a bad way.

It is also a summer migrant from Europe, so if you see one, chances are it has come from Mainland Europe, hence why I'm wondering about this early in the season.

 

[rich p]

The only things so far have been two Red Admirals and a Swallowtail. I haven't seen a Swallowtail for a couple of years and they used to be very common here.

I love swallowtails but only see them abroad.
Scarce or the ordinary one, Uncle?

 

[rich p]

Just the normal ones. In the UK when I was a kid and mad on butterflies and moths I'd occasionally see them in the Lincolnshire fens. I've never seen a live scarce swallowtail.

I was told by an RSPB bloke on holiday in S France that, curiously, the scarce ones are more common than the normal kind. I've seen many of both down that way.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

...the scarce ones are more common than the normal kind...

 

[rich p]

Don't worry your pretty little head over it 3BM!

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

Wicken Fen is the place to see Swallowtails apparently.



Oh, and there is NO WAY you could mistake a Hummingbird Hawkmoth for a Mayfly!

Hummingbird Hawkmoths are big noisy things for a start.

 

[booze and cake]

.......Thread dredge, I couldn't see any more recent butterfly threads (mods please merge if there are), and surprised we've not seen this continue, so lets try a reboot.

I've just returned from a long weekend in Wales and managed to get a few nice butterfly pics in my Mum's garden yesterday. These common UK ones are about the extent of my UK butterfly knowledge, and I recognise hardly any moths, so it would be good to see others posted and identified here.
Painted Lady

Red Admiral

Small Tortoiseshell

Peacock

 

[PK99]

I would not know one butterfly or moth from another but have put in a new Herb Bed near the house and am seeing a wide range of both butterflies and moths.

Two moths have appeared in abundance over the past two years - Box Tree Moth and Clothes Moth. I gave up the battle against the Box Bugger and ripped out 10's of meters of box hedging and around a dozen Balls and Pyramids. The battle against Clothes Moth is in full swing, the little beggars get everywhere!

 

[Accy cyclist]

Yes,i've seen quite a few this summer. Maybe a bit weird but if they come close to me I always say hello to them.