As the weather finally starts to settle down it looks like the over – wintering Red Admirals have decided that in any sunshine it is worth taking to the wing in their desire to get sustenance from early flowering plants such as mahonia and heather and indeed this was the case during the last week here in Derbyshire. There were 4 sightings of the Red Admiral during this period with individuals seen at Glapwell (David Elliott), at Oakwood (Maggie Golson), at Creswell Crags ( Richard Hand) and finally on the 25th of February 2022 outside Allestree Hall ( Bill Grange & Felicity Jackson). Interestingly the total Red Admirals seen in the County during the first 2 months of 2022 amounts to 13 individuals – the highest ever, with the previous highest for January and February being 10 in 2019. It was not too long ago when the appearance of the Red Admiral in this part of the UK was a rarity in the winter months and it was until 2007 that their appearance became more regular during this time of the year. Then on a Sunny 27th of February 2022 a few other species were seen including a Brimstone in the Darley garden of Alf Bousie together with a couple of Small Tortoiseshells one at Willington (Tony Bates) an another at Chesterfield ( Guy Badham)
March is a busy month for organising the transect rotas and hopefully most of the volunteers from last year will have received their invitation to help again this year – if not, then please contact your local Organiser and express your interest to them in helping again.
