Well the cold weather front that passed over us on the night of the 13th/14th of October left us with a strong N W wind which is ideal to help migrant butterflies such as the Painted Lady and the Red Admiral to make their great escape from the grip of our winter here in the UK.
Recent observations of the Red Admiral on the East/North East Coast by a number of Derbyshire Recorders begs the question – why there? Well an email to and a response from Nick Bowles of Butterfly Conservation (who also writes in British Wildlife) gave me some idea as to what has happened. Vast numbers of the species seen by Roger Martin from Alnwick, Holy Island and Bamburgh in Northumbria to Whitby and Bridlington in Yorkshire (John Hall) is probably as a result of the good year for the species in Scandinavia so instead of them heading across water down the North Sea towards France, they veered off to mainland UK so as to take real advantage of the fuel stations (aka ivy plants) available to them so that we have had the pleasure of witnessing good numbers of the species during the last few weeks. This will probably allow even more the chance to over-winter here in Derbyshire as in addition to the above observations, large numbers were seen on the 12th of October 2023 by James Minchin flying south over the moors near Crowden ( 600m above sea level) together with the odd Painted Lady. This latter species will certainly try and get out of the UK so as to get as far south as Equatorial Africa to spend their winters in a far warmer place than Derbyshire!
Nevertheless, this week’s sightings of 8 butterfly species in the County enables the butterfly season to rumble on :- Namely:-
Red Admiral :- Sightings of 80 individuals from 44 sites up to and including the 19th of October 2023 with the highest counts of 10 no from Barrow Hill on the 15th of October 2023 (Paul Townsend) and 8 no on the 17th of October 2023 at Creswell Crags (Andrew Woodhouse)
Comma :- Seen at 8 sites across the County, mainly singletons, although 2 no were noted at Glapwell on the 14th of October 2023 (David Elliott) and 3 no were seen in Milldale on the 15th of October 2023 (Derek Brownlee) with the latest sighting on the 18th of October 2023 in Water Cum Jolly Dale (Ian & Joy White) – I bet it isn’t Jolly in the Dale today though!
Small Tortoiseshell :- Just a couple of outdoor sightings this week with 1 no seen at Great Longstone (Chris Thirtle) and another seen at Newbold (Andrew Woodhouse) – both on the 16th of October 2023. This species can often be seen hibernating inside houses and other man made buildings, including Churches, and Alan Hobson reports one in his Barlow house on the 17th of October 2023 – this individual butterfly certainly must have known that Storm Babet was on the way to us!
Brimstone :- In contrast to the previous butterfly species, a late female Brimstone was seen flying on the 17th of October 2023 in the Hartshorne garden of John Schofield when there was a hazy sun with light winds and a temperature of 17c – the lull before the Storm!
Speckled Wood :- Sightings of 6 individuals at 5 locations this week with 1 seen in Big Wood Allestree on the 14th of October 2023,
(Steve & Andrea Plant), 1 no seen in Monsal Dale on the same day (Chris Thirtle), another noted on the 17th of October 2023 at Sheepwash, Carsington Water (Steve & Andrea Plant), 2 no seen in Milldale on the 15th of October 2023 (Derek Brownlee) and finally I no seen on the 18th of October 2023 in Water Cum Jolly Dale (Ian & Joy White)
Small White :- A couple of late sightings of this species this week – one at Barrow Hill on the 15th of October 2023 (Paul Townsend) together with another noted on the 17th of October 2023 in the Grassmoor garden of Brian Cuttell.
Green Veined White :- Just one late sighting of this species on the 14th of October 2023 by Chris Perry in Abbey Floods, Darley Abbey – I bet the site is living up to its name today.!
A late Painted Lady was seen on a buddleia bush in the Staveley garden of Sid Morris on the 15th of October 2023 – let’s hope that the butterfly has now got sufficient fuel on board for the long journey south before Storm Babet arrived here in the UK. Even more surprising was the sighting of 2 Humming Bird Hawk moths in the County this week – one on the 14th of October 2023 in the village of Youlgrave (Ian Weatherley) when it was still raining together with another noted on the 16th of October 2023 in Willington village (Chris Burnett) which was seen on flowering ivy plants. There is a chance that these 2 moths could stay with us here in Derbyshire over the winter – another example of Climate Change.
It is pleasing to report that the Sallows for the Purple Emperor project is being well received with many Organisations and local Companies prepared to plant Sallow Whips this Autumn in a bid to get this iconic butterfly species to both appear and breed in the County – it can take up to 5 years before the trees are suitable enough for the butterfly to use them so it is a long term project which is a Joint Venture between Butterfly Conservation East Midlands and South Derbyshire District Council. As well as this project, there is also a free tree scheme run by South Derbyshire District Council for residents who live in that part of the County or Organisations that have an address in South Derbyshire – see the attached leaflet for details.
Finally, with a months’ worth of rain likely to fall in the Region during the current 24 hours, please take care and hopefully avoid being flooded in your home and/or business – how our local butterflies will cope is unsure but only your records will confirm the situation.
