Letchmire Pastures, Allerton Bywater

On our first trip to Letchmire Pastures Local Nature Reserve a wetland and grassland site on a former coal area, we spotted a few firsts of the year, including our first dragonfly sighting. I have to admit that I'm out of practice but we think this is a female Four Spotted Chaser, broad tail,black tip & spots on wings. Below the same dragonfly a little closer.

In a South facing sloped patch of grassland I spotted my first Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus) of the year (3 males), not such great pics so this one's just for reference.

And my first Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas) of the year.

We also heard our first Cuckoo of the year and saw it briefly perched on a telegraph wire before it flew off into the woodland. Its shape was familiar to me as a result of having viewed cuckoo photos on blog postings, so thank you to everybody who has shared their cuckoo photos recently, its a great way to learn about unfamiliar species. Other bird sightings included Partridge, Lapwing, Jay, Swallow, Cormorant.

Allotment Female Orange Tip

Down on the allotment, I saw the first female Orange Tip of the year nectaring on the flowers of Comfrey and Chive. All of the Orange Tips I've seen so far this year have been male so this little lady was a welcome visitor. It provided a pleasant break from removing bindweed amongst the fruit bushes. 

The males have bold orange patches on the tip of each forewing, whereas the orange colour is lacking in the female which have similar upperwing markings to a Small White. Both male and female have the delicately mottled green and white pattern on the underwing.  

I also glimpsed a male Brimstone zipping around the hawthorn border but it shot off as quick as it appeared, well before I could grab the camera.

Lunchtime stroll

At lunchtime, in the scorching sunshine, I ventured out beyond the campus, via Queens Wood and across the land adjoining West Park playing fields. On the way I saw Great Spotted Woodpecker, Goldfinch, Long Tail Tit, Jay, Robin, Chiffchaff, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Wood Pigeon, Magpie, Blue Tit, Wren. The view above is  from the top of the hill with the university sports pitches behind me, looking across to West Park. Its a nice open area of uncut grasses, cow parsley with occasional patches of buttercup and bluebells bordered by an assortment of native deciduous trees.

This is the view at the base of the hill, looking towards Spen Lane, West Park Centre is just visible far right, Norman Towers is visible between the trees, left of centre. The grassland is full of buttercups, dandelions and red clover pictured in more detail below. Strangely I spotted only one butterfly in this area today, a Small Tortoiseshell.

Here's the Small Tortoiseshell nectaring on a buttercup. I had a little more luck on the walk back spotting a Holly Blue, two male Orange Tip, and two whites on the wing at a distance. Its a nice patch and one I'll try to visit more regularly.

Small White in Kirkstall Abbey Walled Garden

During an early evening stroll down to Kirsktall Abbey walled garden I spotted this Small White (Pieris rapae) land on a. Phlomis (fruticosa?) Jerusalem Sage. I think its a slightly worn male The downy grey leaves provide perfect camouflage for the butterfly at rest. Had I not seen it on the wing I doubt I would have spotted it. 

The flowerheads are in place but the majority of the deep yellow flowers, arranged in whorls, are just starting to emerge.

I returned twenty minutes later to find it had barely moved.

Kirkstall Hill sightings

Wandering past the Cricketers flats and onto Kirkstall Hill I noticed this Speckled Wood busying itself between Hawthorn and Dandelions, the damage to the left hindwing confirmed that its the same butterfly in the two shots.

And then out of the corner of my eye I spotted this Holly Blue, it was gone in a flash but I just managed a quick shot. I checked the young Holly shrub for eggs in case it was a depositing female but couldn't see anything.  First actual Holly Blue of the year for me!

There were 4 Small Tortoiseshell on the wing, this the only one at rest for long enough to get a photo, I watched it move from one Dandelion to another for 5 minutes before it disappeared.

 

Here's the view up the Aire valley.

Adel Churchyard Orange Tip

At St John the Baptist Churchyard in Adel we spotted two male Orange Tip (Anthocharis cardamines) on the go, occasionally resting to nectar on the purple flowers of Honesty (Lunaria rediviva). Whilst watching one at rest, the second male flashed into view at the top of the frame. This is the nearest Ive got to photographing an Orange Tip this year.

The colours of the Churchyard are constantly changing, Crocuses provided the first colour of the year, then Daffodils were suceeded by Bluebells, Forget-me-nots, Wild Garlic, and irregular patches of purple flowering Honesty standing above about the surrounding vegetation on tall thin stems. 

Here you can see the green seed pods beginning to form where the flowers have fallen, these will develop into the translucent round papery seedheads commonly found in flower arrangements.

There are usually a lot more Orange Tips around in Adel Churchyard at this time of year, a result of the poor weather I'm guessing. 

This Treecreeper picked its way up and around the tree trunk in front of the church, also spotted, Robin, Wren, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tail Tit, Chaffinch, Nuthatch, Blackbird, Magpie, Crow, Mistle Thrush, Wood Pigeon. 

Speckled Wood in Queens Wood

At lunchtime I left the office for a woodland wander through Queens Wood which is on the doorstep of the university campus. Whilst enjoying the bluebell views I caught sight of what I thought was a bee amongst the foliage (at the centreof the shot), but turned out to be my first  Speckled Wood of the year, yay!

Here's the area where I spotted them, a recently cleared West facing sunny spot in the woodland, it did catch my eye as a good location for potential butterflies, I love it when that happens. 

The clearance work is part of the University's ongoing woodland management programme, extensive thinning  has been carried out to get rid of diseased and non natives with some replanting to encourage the growth of native species. Felled wood has been retained and in some cases the tops of trees have been removed but left standing for woodpeckers. I heard a couple of Great Spotted Woodpecker and Chiffchaff, and saw Wren, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tail Tit, Magpie, Crow, Robin, Goldfinch, Wood Pigeon & Grey Squirrel.  

Butterfly behaviour - Peacocks and pushchairs

At Nan Whin's Wood in Tong I saw this discerning Peacock butterfly alight onto a piece of litter. On reading the page entitled 'Argos guide to Pushchairs' which advises on purchasing the perfect pushchair for your little one, it was at this point I realised that there's so much I've yet to learn about butterfly behaviour.....

Surely there's some word play around the theme of Argos/Argus, but it evades me, answers on a postcard please.

Headingley Station Allotment Butterflies

A few more hours on the allotment today brought out more butterflies with two new species making an appearance thanks to the glorious sunshine. This Comma spent a bit of time on the Gooseberries (not a great pic, but needs must), and a male Orange Tip passed through briefly. The single Small White that's been around for the last two days was joined by another, and two Small Tortoiseshells visited a variety of spots around the allotment, a Peacock made an appearance later in the afternoon.

I've started a butterfly sightings list for 2012 with the aim that it'll encourage me to be a little more organised about recording my sightings for the year. Thanks to a week off work I've made a good start so far.

Visit to Askham Bog, York

Lovely weather in Leeds again today, so we spent a couple of hours on the allotment this morning and heard our first Kirkstall Chiffchaff in the direction of St Stephens Churchyard. Allotment butterflies Small White x 1, Small Tortoiseshell x1 and Peacock x1.

After lunch we decided on a trip to Askham Bog Nature Reserve, York. Peacocks (4) were sunning themselves on the boardwalk

Flying in and out of the vegetation flanking the boardwalk we noticed this Comma which came to rest on Andrea's leg for half a minute or so. I spotted a male Brimstone on the wing at distance and a single Orange Tip flitting through vegetation (which made the first sightings page on the Butterflly Conservation Yorkshire website - yay!)

During our walk around the reserve there was a lot of rustling in the undergrowth mostly heard but not seen until I spotted this mouse. We heard a couple of Chiffchaffs and were pleased to spot one in the treetops above us, a Great Spotted Woodpecker appeared briefly and there were Wrens and Robins aplenty.

On the path leading fromthe reserve, a bank of Lesser Celandine 

Otley Chevin

We spent a  few hours on the allotment this morning where we spotted a Small White & Small Tortoiseshell, Wren, Robin, Mistle Thrush, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Blackbird, Long Tailed Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit.

In the afternoon we drove up to Otley Chevin and walked through the bilberry patch where we saw Green Hairstreaks towards the end of April last year. As expected, the bilberry which is the local foodplant of these butterfly are still a couple of weeks away from flowering, & I didn't manage to find any pupa.  We were pleased to see a couple of Peacock and a mating pair of Small Tortoiseshell and heard our first Chiffchaff of 2012. In the woodland we saw Treecreeper, Nuthatch, Long Tail Tit, Great Tit, Blackbird, Chaffinch, Robin. 

Here's how the bilberry and heather slope looks at present, and here's a link to last year's post about Green Hairstreaks on Otley Chevin dated 27 April.

More information about Green Hairstreak

UK Butterflies

Butterfly Conservation

Adel churchyard sightings

On a visit to St John the Baptist Churchyard in Adel I spotted a pair of Jays sunning themselves. The first one basking on the ground made little effort to rouse itself until disturbed by visitors heading in its direction at which it hopped into the holly tree above while the other moved into dappled shade on a nearby headstone.

After last weeks first butterfly sighting of the year at Rodley, I saw two more Small Tortoiseshells in the churchyard and watched a couple of Peacocks spiral up into the sky, despite my best efforts to track them down I managed to find one only for a brief moment pointing the camera in its direction before it disappeared again.

Jersey sightings - more butterflies

A few more butterfly sightings from our trip to Jersey, Wall Brown, Grayling, Gatekeeper, Small Skipper and Common Blue.