Ringlet Butterfies

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 At this time of the year we await the explosion of ringlet butterflies. These fairly non descriptive butterflies are unmistakeable close up because of the characteristic ring pattern off their wings from which they get their name.


In flight ringlets are a sooty brown colour and often fly (as they did today ) with meadow brown butterflies. ringlets fly just above the vegetation and are often abundant on cloudy days when other butterflies aren't in flight. These butterflies are common on damp and undisturbed grassland. The females eject their eggs from a perch on a grass stalk and the eggs stick to the grasses. Within two to three weeks the eggs turn into caterpillars which are nocturnal. The larvae have about 4 moults before they pupate. When I do the butterfly count on the nearby nature reserve it is normal in most years that ringlets are the most numerous butterfly - but the peak in numbers only lasts three or four weeks.

Diary
I had camera traps out where I last saw the young stoats  but they seem to have moved on. I had a clip of a young fox in the bog meadow. 12 species of moth in the moth trap including a rather splendid buff ermine moth and a grey dagger moth.






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