butterflies in a May Hill garden

We live high on May Hill and have a small garden which is bordered by a hay meadow on one side and large hedges and spinneys leading into Newent Woods on the other. Since October 1998 we have recorded all butterflies seen within the garden. We record the species seen each month, noting the first date of sighting in that month. This note summarises our observations for the 20 years from the date of the millennium, January 1^st 2000 to the end of 2019..

The number of months that each species has been recorded during this period is as follows:

Speckled Wood	116
Red Admiral	99
Large White	91
Holly Blue	89
Green-Veined White	89
Brimstone	78
Peacock	64
Small White	62
Meadow Brown	62
Comma	60
Gatekeeper	49
Small Tortoiseshell	43
Ringlet	40
Orange Tip	37
Large Skipper	23
Silver-Washed Fritillary	20
Small Copper	13
Painted Lady	12
Common Blue	8
Wood White	7
Little Skipper	6
Clouded Yellow	5
White Admiral	5
Marbled White	4
Green Hairstreak	1
Grizzled Skipper	1
Dark Green Fritillary	1
Purple Hairstreak	1

No butterflies were seen in any January and there were half a dozen sightings during the 20 years of overwintering Red Admiral in February, November and December which meant we saw butterflies in 158 of the 240 months during the two decades. As might be expected, the largest number of species was recorded in July and August. The average number of species observed in each month are as follows:

March 1.8 April 4.9 May 6.6 June 7.5 July 13.0 August 11.6 September 6.7 October 2.1

The variation between years for some species was significant. It is interesting to investigate what has changed in the last decade since the last report was written. First, as shown above, the garden list increased by five species, but most were once-off chance visitors – only the marbled white was seen more often, occurring in 2012, 2014 and 20108. The records of some species, however, changed significantly from one decade to the next.

The winners

Holly Blue

This species had poor years in 2000, 2003 and 2011 – in 2000 it was only seen in May. Since 2011, however, it has been seen regularly from April until August.

Silver-washed Fritillary

Possibly the most notable change we have observed. This charismatic species was first seen on 26 July 2008 and then during August when it fed on Buddliea in the garden. It has been seen in the garden every summer since then !

Large Skipper

The species was first observed in the garden on 12 June 2004 and was present until August. It was not seen in 2007 or 2009, but has been observed every year since.

The losers

Painted Lady

This migrant was recorded five years in the first decade, including a bumper year in 2003 when it was seen throughout the summer, but it was recorded in only two years in the following decade.

Wood White

A wanderer from Newent Woods recorded in five summers in the first decade, but only two in the following decade. The most recent sighting was 12 June 2018 when with horror we watched it being eaten by a dunnock !

Mixed Fortunes

Small Tortoiseshell

Up until 2003 this species was seen in three or four months of the year from March to October. From 2004 to 2008 it was only observed in one month of the year – either July or August. Sightings fluctuated throughout the following decade, with good years in 2014 and 2018.