With such an abysmal year for butterflies in many parts of the Highlands how refreshing it was to see a chart a “ A Guide to Garden Butterflies” in one of the national newspapers. There were 18 butterflies illustrated plus two moths. The moths were the silver Y moth and the six-spot burnet. Both these moths are among the few day flying moths and, interestingly, the silver Y moth also flies at night and, intriguingly is also a migrant moth. I am still not quite sure why two moths would feature in a chart of butterflies but perhaps I missed this somewhere. As is often the case with national charts or information on butterflies only certain of the butterflies occur in the Highlands. Of the 18 illustrated some do not occur in the Highlands such as the marbled white, the gatekeeper, the large skipper, holly blue and the brimstone. As for the others, the comma is about to invade the Highlands as it is spreading from the south. The ringlet is a recent coloniser but is found in more places each year. It is possible it has always here but overlooked. Interestingly I found a brown butterfly along a roadside verge near Inverness last week and I can only think it was a ringlet. However, it will have to go down as a square bracket, in other words not proven!
The selection of butterflies on the chart was interesting and the first one was one of my favourites, the small copper. It is only about 34 mm across the wings and yet the colour is so vivid and the chart does not really do the coppery colour, some books describe it as gold, colour justice. We are fortunate in the Highlands in that for some unexplained reason there is more gold and less black on the wings and this shows in the photograph I took, shown here. The butterfly was on a roadside verge and was difficult to stalk with the camera but the time involved was worth the effort. Many years ago I was involved in the re-introduction of the other copper, the large copper. It was the Dutch race brought into Woodwalton Fen in what was then Huntingdonshire. There was also a most memorable incident with the small copper, as some years ago at Ardnamurchan, west of Fort William, I found one of the rare colour variations. There in a woodland glade was the form of the small copper called “alba” because, as the name suggests, it is a type of albino with no gold colouring. It was flying in a woodland glade along with several other normal coloured small coppers and looked most odd.
As for the other butterflies on the chart they included some of those that are migrants to us each year such as the painted lady, the red admiral and, what most people forget, the large white. The “browns” are presented by the ringlet, gatekeeper and the meadow brown. One of the best and most accurate of the butterflies on the chart was the speckled wood which is unusual in that the adults can be seen flying anytime from late February to early November. It is an intriguing butterfly as there are distinct colour variations in various parts of the UK. The Scottish population, that seem to be still spreading in the Highlands, has larger wings and the under surfaces often have a hint of purple around the outer edges. Looking at the chart again I think the authors could not have done better in their selection and for a change they did include the Highlands.
With such an abysmal year for butterflies in many parts of the Highlands how refreshing it was to see a chart a “ A Guide to Garden Butterflies” in one of the national newspapers. There were 18 butterflies illustrated plus two moths. The moths were the silver Y moth and the six-spot burnet. Both these moths are among the few day flying moths and, interestingly, the silver Y moth also flies at night and, intriguingly is also a migrant moth. I am still not quite sure why two moths would feature in a chart of butterflies but perhaps I missed this somewhere. As is often the case with national charts or information on butterflies only certain of the butterflies occur in the Highlands. Of the 18 illustrated some do not occur in the Highlands such as the marbled white, the gatekeeper, the large skipper, holly blue and the brimstone. As for the others, the comma is about to invade the Highlands as it is spreading from the south. The ringlet is a recent coloniser but is found in more places each year. It is possible it has always here but overlooked. Interestingly I found a brown butterfly along a roadside verge near Inverness last week and I can only think it was a ringlet. However, it will have to go down as a square bracket, in other words not proven!
The selection of butterflies on the chart was interesting and the first one was one of my favourites, the small copper. It is only about 34 mm across the wings and yet the colour is so vivid and the chart does not really do the coppery colour, some books describe it as gold, colour justice. We are fortunate in the Highlands in that for some unexplained reason there is more gold and less black on the wings and this shows in the photograph I took, shown here. The butterfly was on a roadside verge and was difficult to stalk with the camera but the time involved was worth the effort. Many years ago I was involved in the re-introduction of the other copper, the large copper. It was the Dutch race brought into Woodwalton Fen in what was then Huntingdonshire. There was also a most memorable incident with the small copper, as some years ago at Ardnamurchan, west of Fort William, I found one of the rare colour variations. There in a woodland glade was the form of the small copper called “alba” because, as the name suggests, it is a type of albino with no gold colouring. It was flying in a woodland glade along with several other normal coloured small coppers and looked most odd.
As for the other butterflies on the chart they included some of those that are migrants to us each year such as the painted lady, the red admiral and, what most people forget, the large white. The “browns” are presented by the ringlet, gatekeeper and the meadow brown. One of the best and most accurate of the butterflies on the chart was the speckled wood which is unusual in that the adults can be seen flying anytime from late February to early November. It is an intriguing butterfly as there are distinct colour variations in various parts of the UK. The Scottish population, that seem to be still spreading in the Highlands, has larger wings and the under surfaces often have a hint of purple around the outer edges. Looking at the chart again I think the authors could not have done better in their selection and for a change they did include the Highlands.
With such an abysmal year for butterflies in many parts of the Highlands how refreshing it was to see a chart a “ A Guide to Garden Butterflies” in one of the national newspapers. There were 18 butterflies illustrated plus two moths. The moths were the silver Y moth and the six-spot burnet. Both these moths are among the few day flying moths and, interestingly, the silver Y moth also flies at night and, intriguingly is also a migrant moth. I am still not quite sure why two moths would feature in a chart of butterflies but perhaps I missed this somewhere. As is often the case with national charts or information on butterflies only certain of the butterflies occur in the Highlands. Of the 18 illustrated some do not occur in the Highlands such as the marbled white, the gatekeeper, the large skipper, holly blue and the brimstone. As for the others, the comma is about to invade the Highlands as it is spreading from the south. The ringlet is a recent coloniser but is found in more places each year. It is possible it has always here but overlooked. Interestingly I found a brown butterfly along a roadside verge near Inverness last week and I can only think it was a ringlet. However, it will have to go down as a square bracket, in other words not proven!
The selection of butterflies on the chart was interesting and the first one was one of my favourites, the small copper. It is only about 34 mm across the wings and yet the colour is so vivid and the chart does not really do the coppery colour, some books describe it as gold, colour justice. We are fortunate in the Highlands in that for some unexplained reason there is more gold and less black on the wings and this shows in the photograph I took, shown here. The butterfly was on a roadside verge and was difficult to stalk with the camera but the time involved was worth the effort. Many years ago I was involved in the re-introduction of the other copper, the large copper. It was the Dutch race brought into Woodwalton Fen in what was then Huntingdonshire. There was also a most memorable incident with the small copper, as some years ago at Ardnamurchan, west of Fort William, I found one of the rare colour variations. There in a woodland glade was the form of the small copper called “alba” because, as the name suggests, it is a type of albino with no gold colouring. It was flying in a woodland glade along with several other normal coloured small coppers and looked most odd.
As for the other butterflies on the chart they included some of those that are migrants to us each year such as the painted lady, the red admiral and, what most people forget, the large white. The “browns” are presented by the ringlet, gatekeeper and the meadow brown. One of the best and most accurate of the butterflies on the chart was the speckled wood which is unusual in that the adults can be seen flying anytime from late February to early November. It is an intriguing butterfly as there are distinct colour variations in various parts of the UK. The Scottish population, that seem to be still spreading in the Highlands, has larger wings and the under surfaces often have a hint of purple around the outer edges. Looking at the chart again I think the authors could not have done better in their selection and for a change they did include the Highlands.