Red Admiral? Geese?

[Slarti]

Just a quick one before I shut down for the night.

This morning, at about 05:30 my sleep was disturbed by a skein of geese honking overhead. Aren't they a bit early in the year?


This afternoon as I was clearing a honey bee out of my car ( ) I caught a flash of read out of the corner of my eys and on turning saw what looked somewhat like a Red Admiral fluttering from leaf to leaf of the beech hedge. Would if have been a Red Admiral, or something else?
I haven't seen one for certain since moving away from Mansfield, 50 years ago.

Slarti

[Breelander]

Would if have been a Red Admiral, or something else?
I haven't seen one for certain since moving away from Mansfield, 50 years ago.

I've been seeing the occasional Red Admiral in my garden for a couple of weeks now (Home Counties). This afternoon I saw a pair apparently in 'mating flight' (well, one was certainly chasing after the other). Can't remember when I last saw so many.
http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/species. ... s=atalanta

[midnightcatprowl]

This morning, at about 05:30 my sleep was disturbed by a skein of geese honking overhead. Aren't they a bit early in the year?

They are probably just moving from one lake/riverbank what have you to another. Certainly in Bedfordshire geese are frequently on the move and very often in the middle of the night but Bedfordshire has many bodies of water owing to the creation of lakes when clay and gravel workings were abandoned.

Red Admirals, yes there has been an explosion of them here in the last week or so. I was feeling disappointed that my buddleia was in bloom but there didn't seem to be much enjoying it and then suddenly Red Admirals and other butterflies were all over it. Apparently it is a particularly good year for butterflies.

[Breelander]

Red Admirals, yes there has been an explosion of them here in the last week or so...

From the link I gave earlier...

(the)...resident population is considered to only be a small fraction of the population seen in the British Isles, which gets topped up every year with migrants arriving in May and June that originate in central Europe.

...the recent weather patterns may have been just right for an influx of 'migrants'.

[Slarti]

This morning, at about 05:30 my sleep was disturbed by a skein of geese honking overhead. Aren't they a bit early in the year?

They are probably just moving from one lake/riverbank what have you to another. Certainly in Bedfordshire geese are frequently on the move and very often in the middle of the night but Bedfordshire has many bodies of water owing to the creation of lakes when clay and gravel workings were abandoned.

It wasn't so much the time of morning, which is normal for them, but the fact that there usually aren't any at all round here until the winter migrants arrive, mainly at Abberton Reservoir which is not far away.

Red Admirals, yes there has been an explosion of them here in the last week or so. I was feeling disappointed that my buddleia was in bloom but there didn't seem to be much enjoying it and then suddenly Red Admirals and other butterflies were all over it. Apparently it is a particularly good year for butterflies.

If it was a Red Admiral I am delighted, but am a bit surprised that it was interested in beech leaves. There are no blooms in that part of the garden at all.

Slarti

[sg31]

I used to sail across to France on occasion. You don't move very fast in a yacht so there's time to notice things like the number of insects heading for England. I never realised that bees make the crossing but they do in some number. I didn't think they would be able to fly large distances without resting. Some assistance from the wind obviously but still going strong mid channel 40 miles from the nearest land

I've no idea why they do it, I assumed they were homebodies and stuck close to their hive collecting nectar from the surrounding area. Obviously not.

[ReformedCharacter]

I used to sail across to France on occasion. You don't move very fast in a yacht so there's time to notice things like the number of insects heading for England. I never realised that bees make the crossing but they do in some number. I didn't think they would be able to fly large distances without resting. Some assistance from the wind obviously but still going strong mid channel 40 miles from the nearest land

I've no idea why they do it, I assumed they were homebodies and stuck close to their hive collecting nectar from the surrounding area. Obviously not.

I have doubts whether these were honeybees. The average distance flown whilst foraging is usually a few hundred yards with distances of several miles not uncommon. The maximum distance flown is usually given at about 6 miles or thereabouts (each way). Furthermore bees are usually loath to fly far over bodies of water as noted by bee keepers who keep bees close to large rivers and lakes.

RC

[sg31]

I'm not a bee expert so I've no idea of which type of bee but they appeared to be bees of some sort. The occasional one would land on board so it was possible to get a closer look. The wind conditions varied from moderate to strong so I doubt they had been blown out to sea by accident.

There were bees seen on a number of crossings not just on one occasion. It was something I had never considered likely which made it interesting.

I've also seen butterflies mid channel on occasion although not as often. I don't know if they make deliberate crossings or just got blown off course.

[ReformedCharacter]

I'm not a bee expert so I've no idea of which type of bee but they appeared to be bees of some sort. The occasional one would land on board so it was possible to get a closer look. The wind conditions varied from moderate to strong so I doubt they had been blown out to sea by accident.

There were bees seen on a number of crossings not just on one occasion. It was something I had never considered likely which made it interesting.

I've also seen butterflies mid channel on occasion although not as often. I don't know if they make deliberate crossings or just got blown off course.

Some butterflies definitely migrate long distances, the Monarch apparently manages 2500 miles which seems pretty incredible.

According to UK Butterflies:

http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/species. ... s=atalanta

Most Red Admirals that appear in the UK originate in Central Europe.

RC