Williamson's Weekly Nature Notes May 27 2009

But due to the cool spring we have not seen many butterflies yet. Out of hibernation appeared quite a horde of peacock butterflies, but there has been precious little besides.

There were a few commas, though I had to rely on a photograph from last autumn as the cold spring winds soon finished this lovely orange insect off. The comma was feeding on blackberry juice.

First of the season's speckled woods came out of their chrysalis cases in the ground by mid April this year. Not many, but they always give a cheerful start to the season, fluttering gracefully down the woodland glades often in dense shade, well camouflaged from predators by those speckled wings which always remind me of fallow deer.

This butterfly was originally called "The Enfield Eye" in that curious old book Papilionum Britanniae. The early 18th century entomologist Petiver was the first person to describe the insect when he saw it near Enfield. Then it became The Wood Argus.

Finally by 1766 old Moses Harris had decided on the present name. It is found right across Europe to Asia but goodness knows what they call it there. The caterpillars feed on grass leaves and there could be three separate broods in the season.

Another butterfly which has done quite well this spring is the diminutive grizzled skipper. I recorded almost a dozen on my weekly five mile transect when I monitor populations of all butterflies.

These tiny butterflies are so easy to miss, because they look almost like bluebottles as they whizz about over the downland turf. That is where you find them because the caterpillars have to feed on wild strawberry leaves.

The insect looks a bit like a pint-sized speckled wood. I took this picture of one in my garden a few years ago sitting on pansies. It was just getting a little drink of nectar I think and hung about for an hour before shooting off to find strawberry leaves.

One of my favourites of all the butterflies, small though it is and not particularly colourful. I am hoping to see 40 different species of butterflies this season. If it really is to be a hot summer that will make the target much easier.