After a week of decent sunny weather and now the arrival of the Spring Equinox, it was inevitable that my Inbox would be busy with emails containing your excellent sightings for which I am very pleased to receive!
With a total of 378 butterflies seen in 6 species during this period (including a massive 106 in Linton by Chris Leverington) it is fair to say that the winter hibernators have well and truly emerged from their slumber to delight us all after a long winter! This week’s sightings include :-
Brimstone :- 80 butterflies noted from 50 localities including 8 at Linton on the 19th of March 2022 (Chris Leverington) and 7 at Markham Vale on the 18th of March 2022 ( Mark Radford)
Small Tortoiseshell :- 178 butterflies noted at 60 locations including 21 at Linton on the 19th of March 2022 (Chris Leverington) and 15 at Loundsley Green, Chesterfield on the 18th of March 2022 (Andrew Woodhouse)
Peacock :- 28 butterflies noted at 14 locations including 9 at Linton on the 19th of March 2022 (Chris Leverington)
Comma :- 86 butterflies noted at 30 locations including 12 at Mayfield Grove, Long Eaton on the 15th of March 2022 (Marion Bryce) and 11 at Linton on the 18th of March 2022 (Chris Leverington)
Red Admiral :- Just 3 sightings of this species recently with 2 on the Blackwell Trail at Hilcote on the 18th of March 2022 (Ian Wilson) and another in Bradford Dale on the 15th of March 2022 (Ian Wilson)
Small White :- Just 3 records of this species during the last 7 days with sightings from Fenny Bentley (Derek Brownlee), at Morley Church (John & Sylvia Green) and at Linton (Chris Leverington)
With the High Pressure likely to persist over the UK for the next week, hopefully the first sightings of the following species might be expected within the County :- Large White; Green Veined White; Orange Tip; Holly Blue and possibly the Speckled Wood.
At the moment there have been a couple of sightings of the Orange Underwing moth in the County with records from The Forge site, Ironville (Sally Fisher) and at West Hallam Ash Tip (Ken Orpe) – this day flying moth is usually associated with birch woodland but it can be confused with an early Small Copper when in flight.