Not the best start to March 2022 with no sightings for the first time in a week this year so it looks like Spring could be another late version. There were a few late February 2022 records with sightings of Small Tortoiseshells from Glossop (Jean & Colin Ashcroft), Buxworth (Vicki Leng) and Nether Heage (Tim Brooks). Also there were late sightings of a Comma at Wirksworth (Dave Armitt) together with a Peacock high up on Withens Moor (Dave Mallon) so overall the month of February 2022 was a big disappointment especially when compared to February 2021. The figures for the individual species for February 2022 were as follows (2021 in brackets) :- Small Tortoiseshell – 7 (57); Peacock – 3 (24); Brimstone – 2 (14); Comma – 2 (3); Red Admiral – 5 (1) so an overall total of 19 butterflies for February 2022 compares with 99 butterflies for February 2021.Reason for this demise is probably as a result of both the wet and windy month of February 2022 together with the poor weather in 2021 whereby fewer of the nymphalidae species emerged in the Autumn and thus consequently fewer numbers managed to hibernate through the winter of 2021/2022. Let’s hope that from now on there will be an increase in both warm and sunny days during the remainder of March 2022.

Update no 9 as at the 7th of March 2022