Despite a dry and sometimes sunny week, the persistent N E wind has managed to keep many butterflies out of sight and indeed some sites have struggled to get to double figures during Week 10 of the transect season. But typical of this year so far, other sites have exceeded over 100 butterflies seen this last week – also it is obvious that emergences of some recent species have been very hit and miss with the Dark Green Fritillary and Meadow Brown being typical examples, with only 1 sighting of the Dark Green Fritillary seen recently on the 2nd of June 2023 at Wakebridge near Crich ( Fred & Gill Dyson) and just 8 records of the Meadow Brown at Cunningdale on the 5th of June 2023 (Sheila Stubbs & Rachel Purchase), Tideswell Dale on the 3rd of June 2023 (Adam Saunders) and at Bolsover Pit on the 4th of June 2023 (Paul Townsend) at Toyota Meadows on the 7th of June 2023 (Brian & Jean Hallam), at Longstone Edge on the same day (Andrew Woodhouse) and also at Poolsbrook North and Markham Pit North on the 8th of June 2023 ( Mark Radford) together with one in Belper on the same day (Nigel Davidson)
According to the Met Office, the 1st of June sees the start of Summer and with it sees the start of the flight period of the summer skippers which can pose problems with their I D. Already sightings of the Large Skipper have been reported in Derbyshire from 20 localities with the first sighting on the 18th of May 2023 at Staunton Harold Reservoir (Lesley & Phil Gretton) and the maximum seen at one site to date being 6 in Salterwood, Street Lane on the 4th of June 2023 (Jane Rogers). However, there was a surprise for Tom Cockburn on the 3rd of June 2023 when he saw a Small Skipper at Drakelow NR, the earliest date for 2022 being the 9th of June.
Some recorders struggle to I D the summer skippers in the field so the following information and attached photos should help those volunteers – the Large Skipper has hooked antennae and has a chequered pattern on both sides of its wings and the males have a prominent black sex brand line on the upper wings – it also likes to bask on the foliage of shrubs such as bramble where it awaits to intercept a passing female! The Small Skipper sexes are plain golden brown with clubbed antennae which are orange on the underside of the tip (compared to the Essex Skipper which have glossy black tips on the undersides). The male Small Skipper has a long curved sex brand line on the upper wings whereas the male Essex Skipper has a short straight sex brand line on the upper wings. Also both the Small and the Essex Skippers are usually seen on grass stems or the tops of flowers such as knapweed which gives the recorder a chance to check out the colour of the underside of the tips of their antennae.
Another surprise sighting this last week was that of a Silver Washed Fritillary seen at one of its Derbyshire stronghold sites – Hilton NR on the 3rd of June 2023 (Dominic Dean) – this being 3 weeks earlier than last year! The site where the species breeds is quite sheltered in the woodland part of the NR so the butterfly must have missed the worst of both last year’s heat and this year’s cold N E winds. Meanwhile in the Peak District, the Wall Brown continues to maintain its status with a further 84 individuals noted at 24 sites with 14 no seen on the eastern side of Cressbrook Dale on the 3rd of June 2023 (Rod & Brenda Dunn – see the attached photo of the habitat there), 12 no noted on Longstone Edge on the 7th of June 2023 (Andrew Woodhouse) and 10 no seen in Cunningdale on the 5th of June 2023 (Sheila Stubbs & Rachel Purchase). Interesting sightings from the northern part of its range include 3 no seen on the moors south of Glossop on the 3rd of June 2023 (Tom Aspinall) and an individual noted on the bank of the Peak Forest Canal at Furness Vale on the 2nd of June 2023 (Jane Woodhead).
Due to the prevailing N E wind recently, there have been only a few sightings of the migrant Painted Lady butterfly with records received from Calver Quarry (Larry Harfoot), Pleasley Pit (Paul Townsend), Sutton on the Hill (Wayne Cooper), Denby Village (Jane Rogers) and Seale Wood, Overseal (Dot & Barry Morson). Interestingly on the 5th of June 2023 Neil Jones saw 2 Humming Bird Hawk moths flying around Butcher Lawn Pond at Barlborough whilst he was fishing there.
With the promise of a change in the direction of the wind, it looks like we could be heading for a mini heatwave soon (here in Derby a heatwave means 3 consecutive days of 26c and/or above) so, despite the fact that we are currently in the ‘June Gap’’ it could be that butterfly populations might start to rise including the arrival of the Ringlet and possibly even the White Letter Hairstreak!
