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Welcome to Daves Moth and
Butterfly World - Weekly Report - March 2009 |
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Welcome to Dave McCormick's Moth and Butterfly World. Here is our weekly reports on what I have seen every week when I have been out and about. This report is for March 2009. March 2009 Weather Average for March 2009 in UK Temperatures were mostly between 0.5C and 1.5C above the 1971-2000 normal. This was partly due to some warmer-than-average day-time temperatures, particularly in central and eastern areas. Rainfall was close to or
below the seasonal average almost everywhere, with only
around 50% of the seasonal average in parts of north-east
England, the Midlands and Wales. Report 16-20th: The weather sure has been getting warmer here. Spring is defiantly here and so are the first butterflies. I have not yet seen any, but my dad saw the first Small Tortoiseshell of the year (No Photograph) Here are a few things I have seen this week:
23-28th: I was sick this week and never got to be out to see anything, oh well. 29-31th: Saw a few things. First swallow of the year on 30th and one little Egret at Strangford Lough. Also saw a Small Tortoiseshell at Mountstewart on 31/03/2009 (Map Reference: J556699):
April 2009 8th: Went out on a walk as it was a nice warm, but windy day. Rained slightly, but when it was warm I saw about 4 Small Tortoiseshell, there was more there probably, but I did not look at the whole area I was in. These photos were taken at map Reference: J56100
I found this Small Tortoiseshell about a few hundred yards back from where I found the one above at a place that used to house pigs many years ago:
A close up of the Tortoiseshell, which was hard to photograph, would not sit still:
Been a while since last update here, seen a few things in the past two weeks 9th-26th: Seen numerous things, at first mostly Small Tortoiseshell. Then Green Veined white, Water carpet moths and Speckled wood. Plus the first sighting in Mountstewart of Holly Blues this year. Also seen first load of barn swallows. 16th: Went to Castle Espie (Click link to see its website) and saw a few Green Veined white (around 4)
21st: Saw 3 Small Tortoiseshell, 1 Peacock (Inachis io) and a Diamond-Back Moth, only got a photo of Diamond-Back moth in Mountstewart (J557701).
It was a very warm afternoon, but it began to rain. I looked for Orange-Tip butterflies but only found their food plant, Cuckooflower:
25th: Warmest day I have seen so far this year. Seen numerous things. A Buzzard, two Green veined Whites, and a speckled wood male in Mountstewart:
I noticed that when I went close to this male with my camera, it pushed up its abdomen, like it was refusing to mate. I have heard this happen to someone else trying to photograph a different butterfly, but never noticed this myself until I saw this one. Click the image to see a bigger photo.
This was the only good photo I got of a speckled wood male, it seemed to be sensitive to the camera shutter noise. It flew off and I never saw it again, or any more.
Found a buzzard flying in the air around where I was. I have always loved birds of prey. Click the image above to see a larger image. Page last edited: 05/07/2009 23:40 (c) David McCormick 2009 |
