The Dee and Thereabouts

Tag: butterflies

  • Butterfly blues

     (Thursday 3rd July, 2025)

    Harlequin ladybird

    Down to the garden after work – I noticed a Harlequin ladybird on the brown bin lid as I went by. This one was a pale yellow with black spots, though what it was doing on the bin lid I have no idea. Jackdaws and Crows predominated today and both corvids were very voluble in their own raucous ways.

    My resident Robin appeared,

        hopping along the ridge of the fence to see what was to be seen, and three Goldfinch seemed to be tree-hopping, twittering as they did so.

        I watched excitedly as a large, yellow butterfly fluttered around the Buddleia at the far end of the garden, and then flew towards me before disappearing over the hedge. This was the first Brimstone I had seen for a couple of years. In fact, this was my first ever sighting of a male Brimstone, having only ever seen one Brimstone previously, which was the lime-green female. (The female was at the entrance to the path that edges the golf club, which is about half a mile away, although further away in time) I am so pleased to have seen one again. I’m not very knowledgeable about butterflies, but I believe the Brimstone is very scarce here in North Wales.

        It was certainly a day for butterflies: besides the Brimstone, there were a few solo, Green-veined whites, and a pair of Large whites twisting around each other as they flew over me to the other side of the hedge. And there was a Holly blue climbing up and down the ivy of the hedge, not unlike a bee in its rather haphazard flight. And I’m sure I saw a male Common blue. Certainly, it was a lot brighter blue than the  mauve-blue shade I associate with the Holly blue, but I was puzzled as this Common blue was flying up and along the high hedge – apparently it’s generally the Holly blue that flies high while other blue butterflies fly low. Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to photograph it so it will have to remain a ‘maybe’.

  • Purple and Scarlet

    (Tuesday 17th June, 2025)

        My brother and I went to RSPB Burton Mere today, on the Wirral Peninsula. From the huge reception window, looking out to the Scrape, we saw lots of Avocets with their young and perhaps even more Black-headed gulls. Closer towards us, in the relative quiet of the inlet, we saw a Tufted duck watching its brood with its distinctive yellow eyes.

        As we passed the feeder at the beginning of the trail, we saw Coal tits taking food away to dine in secret, which seems to be their habit. There was a single Northern shoveller at the Mere, and a pair of Mallards further beyond it, half-concealed by overhanging foliage. We disturbed a Grey heron, which flew away from the treetops in its ungainly manner: the branch on which it was resting must have been sturdy!

        At the reed hide we saw a Great white egret, elegantly patrolling the waters. There were a couple of keen photographers that had set up here, and I’m sure that they were rewarded with some great shots. As we continued along the trail, a Spoonbill flew over us carrying what looked like a long twig in its beak, which we guessed might be nesting material. It was flying in the direction of the Mere.

        At Marsh Covert were Coots, Moorhens, Canada geese, Lapwings, Redshanks and one Little egret probing the edge of the pool. At Border Hide, amongst the species already mentioned, we saw a small group of Black-tailed godwits, a huge colony of Knots, many of which had their lovely red-orange breeding plumage, Jackdaws, Crows, and Magpies. A first for me was seeing some Teal – there were just the three – and I must admit I felt quite chuffed!

        Although we visited Burton Mere primarily to see birds, there are other non-avian attractions to pique your interest. There were Common blue damselflies and White-tailed bumblebees, and we saw three Small whites, a Red admiral, and a courting couple of Gatekeepers. Most impressive, though, was the Scarlet tiger moth, wings unfurled to regenerate in the sun, which my eagle-eyed brother spotted.

    Scarlet tiger moth

    The moth is diurnal and quite exotic looking and, on returning to the visitor centre later, we saw that somebody else had reported seeing it: yes, the Scarlet tiger moth was listed on the whiteboard alongside all the birds, so my brother was very pleased!

        Amongst the flora were several Spotted orchids and some other orchids with dark purple flowers, which I confess I didn’t recognise. While there are obviously much more plants than recorded here, there were Buttercups, Daisies, Tufted vetch, Red dead-nettle, Teasel, Hogweed, Hedge parsley, Herb robert, Red clover, Red campion, and Bulrushes. (Apparently the Bulrush is properly known as Great reedmace, which is something I have recently learned. But I know what I mean!)

        We had a quick look from Bunker Hide, which offers a different perspective of the Scrape. It was actually the picnic area further on that we enjoyed: this offers a wide, open vista and a male Stonechat obligingly flew across in front of us and perched atop a small tree. House martins or Sand martins circled at speed, but to be frank I wish that occasionally these birds would slow down, not least so that I could actually identify them!

        As ever, a rewarding place to visit.