Somerset Butterfly Recorder

Received the first report for this year that Large Blue have started to emerge at SWT Green Down reserve. @BCSomerset @SomersetWT

The sunny weather yesterday brought the first reports of Green Hairstreak and Grizzled Skipper in Somerset this year. You can keep up to date with this year's butterfly first sightings in the Somerset and Bristol area at butterfly-conservation.org/in-your-area/s… @BCSomerset

Clearly today was THE day for Brimstone butterflies to be roused from their winter dormancy. So far I've seen 9 different reports of Brimstone seen today in Somerset.

@janepursey Lovely pictures of Small Copper and Brown Argus

The field next to me hasn’t been cut, it was buzzing this afternoon with butterflies & bees, mainly small coppers, 1st sighting for me this yr, & common blues the odd peacock & lots of meadow browns #butterflies @BCSomerset @savebutterflies @SomButterflyRec

@janepursey Hi Jane, that looks like a Silver-washed Fritillary

A dark green fritillary, and a Holly blue I think, both in the garden this morning, talking about butterflies to somebody yesterday I said I hadn’t seen a fritillary and only one Holly blue and they both turned up today 😊@BCNowSomerset @savebutterflies #butterflies

@janepursey No problem. Large Tortoiseshells would have been very exciting!

@SomButterflyRec Ah yes, I looked it up as well - sorry 😊

4 marbled whites, a couple of large tortoiseshell and one red admiral in the field 2 commas in the garden this afternoon @BCSomerset @SomButterflyRec #butterflies

Marbled White now starting to emerge in Somerset - with multiple sightings reported at Collard Hill this week. Please don't confuse these with any other type of butterfly with black vein markings. @BCSomerset Library picture

@AlasdairGordon1 @beauty_cornwall @NE_DCIoS @CwallWildlife @NatureUK @Cornwall_BC @savebutterflies @ukbutterflies @_Entomophily @Buzz_dont_tweet @Team4Nature @NorthCornwallNT Hi Alasdair. That looks like a Large Skipper.

.@beauty_cornwall @NE_DCIoS @CwallWildlife @NatureUK @Cornwall_BC @savebutterflies @ukbutterflies @_Entomophily @Buzz_dont_tweet @Team4Nature @NorthCornwallNT Small skipper butterfly spotted on #TheRumps on Thursday afternoon. #Butterfly #Butterflies #Cornwall

@BCSomerset @JohnHansford67 As far as I'm aware it's the first report of Ringlet in Somerset this year. Please can you submit the record. Thank you.

@JohnHansford67 That may be the first this year @SomButterflyRec

Ringlet, my first of the Year, Coleford, now lost to view @BCSomerset

☀️ Enjoyable afternoon observing the first Large Blue's of the year at Collard Hill plus sighting of lovely female Common Blue. @BCSomerset @savebutterflies @Britnatureguide @ukbutterflies @andy33082645

@BritishMoths @nickwall865 Thank you.

@nickwall865 @SomButterflyRec That is a Privet Hawk-moth.

The first Meadow Brown of the year are now starting to emerge in Somerset. Reports of one observed last Friday and more seen today. @BCSomerset

The warm sunny weather continues to bring reports of exciting butterfly sightings in Somerset. The first Large Blue are starting to emerge with a few seen on the wing today at Green Down NR @BCSomerset @SomersetWT

Large Skipper now starting to emerge. Large Skipper are the first of the 'golden skippers' to emerge in Somerset and are usually a few weeks ahead of Small Skipper.

Wow! Another unexpected appearance of Marsh Fritillary in Somerset.

First Heath Frittilary of the year Haddon Hill Exmoor

@martinswarren @BC_Dorset Somewhere in a lecture theatre in 2123: “And so, my fellow esteemed members of the Lepidoptera Historical Society, this is the momentous Tweet from 100 years ago today that ushered in the introduction of the universally adopted Warren’s butterfly buttercup measurement scale.”

@WildlifePhelps Always a possibility when a rare species makes an unexpected reappearance.

@SomButterflyRec Likely to be a release? I have seen others on Twitter from around the country discovering similar suspected releases over the past week or so.

Wow! Marsh Fritillary are very rare in Somerset. It's been over a decade since we last received any record of them at this site. Well spotted and a lovely picture too.