3 more species have been seen for the
first time in
2010 in Northern Ireland this month to add to the total of 10 species
recorded
up to the end of April.
When in Co. Fermanagh (the most
westerly county in
Northern Ireland and the only one to have Dingy Skipper) on Monday 10th
May 2010
I stopped at 2 known roadside colonies of Dingy Skipper, at both of
which it was
seen in 2009. There were at least 3, possibly 4, Dingy Skippers in fine
condition at Kinarla near Enniskillen (the 4th one may have been a
Burnet
Companion moth though no definite ones were seen at the site today
though they
do occur regularly there); one Dingy Skipper seen closely had plenty of
white
and may have been a female. This was despite only a brief period of
sunshine, a
cool NW wind (though there is some shelter given by the steep south
facing bank)
and a temperature measured with a fairly accurate digital thermometer
varying
between 10 and 12 deg. C. At Bowara, a few miles away, the sun was
rather warmer
and there is better shelter here, so butterflies were quite active
during the
short period of my visit around lunchtime, and about 6-8 Dingy Skippers
were
seen, with 1 or 2 dark specimens seen closely porobably being males;
there were
probably about 8 Burnet Companion moths, which look fairly similar but
have
orange hindwings.
The 2 other firsts for 2010 were Small
Heath, of
which John Lyons saw 5 at Castlerock Dunes, North Londonderry, on 8th
May, a
surprsingly early date, although recorded on 29th April 2003 and 2nd May
2007,
also in the North Londonderry area I believe.
Finally there is a picture of a fresh
looking Red
Admiral at http://nibirds.blogspot.com/p/
Other species seen in Co. Fermanagh
today
were:
BUTTERFLIES
Real's Wood White (Leptidea reali): 2
at Kinarla,
at least 2 including a male and a female identified at Bowara, and a
male in a
disused limestone quarry in Belmore Forest near Boho, some miles west of
Enniskillen.
Green-veined White: 5 on a roadside at
Brughas near
Enniskillen. 4-6 at Bowara, 3-4 in quarry in Belmore Forest, 1 at
Samsonagh
between Enniskillen and Boho; c. 8 at Tonyvarnog near Derrylin, and 2 on
a bog
at Aghnahinch c. 1 mile south of Newtonbutler, A few others were noted
on
roadsides when driving,
Orange-tip: 1 male on a roadside at
Brughas near
Enniskillen, male and female at Bowara, male at Samsonagh, 2 males (1
rather
small) and a female in quarry at Belmore Forest, 2 males at Tonyvarnog
near
Derrylin, and a female in garden at Aghalane south of Derrrylin.
Additionally 5
egsg were found on Ladys Smock (one creamy-white, indicating it was less
than 2
days old, and 4 orange) and 10 (3 creamy white, 7 orange) on Ladys Smock
at
Aghalane. However, probably dozens if not hundreds of eggs could have
been found
as Ladys Smock flower was extremely abundant in many fields in the
localities I
passed through today.
Peacock: 1 in fair condition in a
disused limestone
quarry in Belmore Forest near Boho, some miles west of Enniskillen.
Speckled Wood; 2 or 3 at Bowara and
also among
birch scrub on a bog at Aghnahinch about 1 mile south of
Newtownbutler.
A search was made for Holly Blue at a
promising
looking site where Hollies were frequent, at Tonyvarnog near Derrylin,
without
sucess, although the weather here was cool and at times dull (as was the
day
generally in Fermanagh, though it ended bright in late afternoon, at
least in
the Newtonbutler area); a search for Green Hairstreaks on the bog at
Aghnahinch
near Newtownbutler also proved negative; the weather was bright but it
was
around 5.30 pm - 6 pm and may have been too cool (there was virtually no
nectar
sources here apart from 2 small gorse bushes).
MOTHS
Burnet Companon: 1 possible at Kinarla
and c. 8 at
Bowara as given above under Dingy Skipper.
Common Heath: About 5 on a hathery bog
at
Aghnahinch about 1 mile south of Newtownbutler.
A bonus was finding a (dead) Pine
Marten on the
roadside near Enniskillen and seeing a live Buzzard on the bog near
Newtownbutler, the latter generally much rarer in Fermanagh than other
counties
in Northern Ireland. This is thought to be due to the lack of rabbits
(the
Buzzard's main prey) which prefer lighter often sandy soil to the often
heavy
damp clay soils of Fermanagh, although Fermanagh is not lacking in
woodland.
Interestingly to show how cool it was, http://www.met.rdg.ac.uk/~
Tonight is clear and cold and ground
and possibly
even air frost will probably occur somewhere in Northern Ireland by
morning.
No records of Small Copper (apart from a
probable
record at Portadown, Co. Armagh, in late April) or Wall Brown have been
made so
far in 2010 although both have been seen in April in the Republic of
Ireland;
see http://www.butterflyireland.
Thanks to Ian Rippey for this update
Moths on the Wing
Pine Beauty Panolis flammea
Flight Period: March to May
Thanks to Ian Rippey for this update
Moths on the Wing
Pine Beauty Panolis flammea
Flight Period: March to May
