My 2023 Butterfly Season Gets Underway

 A few sunny days in February always brings an expectation of butterfly sightings for the enthusiast and I saw my first butterfly of the year earlier this week. More often than not in the last decade or so, that butterfly has been a Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta).

Unlike the four common hibernators in Britain (Brimstone, Comma, Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell) the Red Admiral does not enter true hibernation. It has evolved as a continually breeding species (together with the Clouded Yellow and Painted Lady). It is predominantly a migrant to the UK but in recent decades it has been able to over-winter in southern England in varying numbers as a result of our warming climate.

The Red Admiral can pass the winter in any of its life cycle stages but as an adult butterfly, as long as it has access to nectar and a safe roost, it can survive very well. Places like Ashdown Forest in East Sussex provide plenty of insulating layers of dead bracken for roosting and there is always plenty of gorse in flower throughout the year to provide nectar.

Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) (female)

Hairy Curtain Crust (Stereum hirsutum)

This species of fungus is very variable in colour and form. Their fruiting bodies either lay flat on the wood substrate or they form a bracket. I came across this small group in a rather upright form.

Back in the Woods

The last couple of weeks have been fairly dry which has allowed me to get some jobs done in the wood.

 The main task is to get some bonfires lit before the birds start to use them for nesting. I stack plenty of brash piles for Blackbirds, Robins and Wrens to use but the heaps of rhododendron waste must go.

I haven't seen any butterflies yet but I have seen my first moth of the year. Judging by its colouring and size, I think it was probably a Dotted Border (Agriopis marginaria) that I disturbed from the undergrowth a couple of days ago but I lost sight of it before I could see where it settled.

During the last week I have spotted a Common Toad and also an interesting fungus.

Common Toad (Bufo bufo)

Green Elf-cup (Chlorociboria aeruginascens)

A recent sunset over the distant South Downs