Hello Everyone, After the departure of Storm Army, it has become dry and cloudy but with some sunny breaks – the best days so far this month being the 6th of October 2025 when the temperature here in Derby reached 20c and the 11th of October 2025 when the temperature reached 17c in some parts of the County . This enabled 5 butterfly species to appear on the wing that day at the Private Nature Reserve in Belper that belongs to Nigel Davidson with sightings of the following species Wall Brown (1 no), Small Copper (1 no), Small Tortoiseshell ( 2 no), Red Admiral ( 2 no) and Speckled Wood (4 no) An additional 8 butterfly species have been noted so far this month in the County including the following:-
Brimstone :- A late individual was noted flying in Furness Vale on the 11th of October 2025 (Patrick Anderson)
Large White :- 10 individuals have been seen flying in the County so far this month with the latest noted in the Allestree garden of Pat & Ken Orpe on the 11th of October 2025.
Small White :- A total of 8 individuals have been noted in the County so far this month with the latest on the 12th of October 2025 in Bonsall ( Dave & Sue Evans)
Green Veined White :- A very late one noted on the 6th of October 2025 at Carsington Water, via Birdtrack.
Peacock :- Noted at 8 sites in the County with individuals noted on the 12th of October 2025 in the Buxton area (Steve Orridge) and in the Goyt Valley (Les Gradwell)
Comma :- A sunny 12th of October in the north west of the County produced sightings of this species in Buxton (Jon Mortin), also at Lightwood above Buxton (Steve Orridge) and in Furness Vale (Patrick Anderson)
Painted Lady :- A few very late stragglers have been seen this month, up to the 6th of October 2025, with sightings from Hartshorne
(John Schofield), Erewash NR, Ironville (Stephen Bacon), Cromford Wharf (Alan Kitchen) and at Elvaston Country Park (Mike Tong)
In addition to the Wall Brown mentioned above that was seen in Belper, there have been three further sightings of third brood individuals seen in the County with records from Holloway on the 6th of October 2025 (Alison Pritchard) , at Hundall on the 11th of October 2025 (Judy Heap) and at Ashover Fabrick on the 12th of October 2025 (Rachel Walker).The migrant Humming Bird Hawk moth is still evident in the County with recent sightings from gardens in Tideswell on verbena (5th of October 2025 – Esther Weir) and in Chaddesden on Bowles Mauve wallflower ( 8th of October 2025 – Lyndon Copley)
The annual autumnal trip through the Monsal Dale tunnels (Headstone; Cressbrook and Litton) by Sid Morris on the 6th of October 2025 revealed the following insects in hibernation ;- 19 Peacocks, 2 Red Admirals, 27 Tissue moths and 5 Herald moths
As a result of this year’s fine weather, Sid was expecting to see many more insects in hibernation…possibly the continuing mild conditions means that many insects are still on the wing…only your sightings will prove this theory…good luck
Finally, in 30 years of being the County Butterfly Recorder for B C in Derbyshire, I thought that the appearance of Iris ( aka the Purple Emperor) in 2024 was the highlight but yesterday the sighting of a mint Green Hairstreak was totally unexpected – the latest ever sighting for the species in the County (previous record was the 31st of July (2007)) Les Gradwell was walking in the Goyt Valley when he saw and photographed the species (see attached) – emails sent by me to other experienced volunteers in the area was met by an equally surprised response and Nick Bowles of B C and British Wildlife tells me that the species is presumed single brooded right across Europe but a sub species in Turkey is double brooded! Nick and Derek Whiteley tell me that another Green Hairstreak was seen on the 9th of October 2025 in Essex where Dave Chandler of B C covers and who remarked recently that the Thames Estuary has a Continental type climate… now that must be proof of Climate Change!
