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Butterflies vs Mammals 2017 (1 Viewer)

dantheman

Bah humbug
Started this once before, but never completed.

Idea is to split into non-targeted (ie seen whilst out and about birding or doing other stuff), and possibly targeted (I've hardly ever targeted anything from either group, so that might not happen).

Which do you reckon will win for non-targeted then? A mate had one opinion, I had another last time I attempted it!

Seen a few of each so far this year (more on one group of course - it is winter still), will post up later what has been seen ...
 
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Started this once before, but never completed.

Idea is to split into non-targeted (ie seen whilst out and about birding or doing other stuff), and possibly targeted (I've hardly ever targeted anything from either group, so that might not happen).

Which do you reckon will win for non-targeted then? A mate had one opinion, I had another last time I attempted it!

Seen a few of each so far this year (more on one group of course - it is winter still), will post up later what has been seen ...

It depends a bit on what birding you have planned, but offhand I'd say non-targeted winner would be butterflies. They are uniformly diurnal, fairly obvious, don't take much evasive action and I assume you are reasonably familiar with the UK species.

Mammals by contrast include a lot of nocturnal species (casual identification of passing bats is for the most part very difficult!) many of which deliberately avoid humans or make excellent use of cover and/or are small and fast. And then there are cetaceans...

Good luck. I shall watch your progress with interest :t:

John
 
In the Baltics, the answer is easy - butterflies, whether targeted or casual. In dedicated years, I managed 50 mammal species in a year vs 109 butterflies (this latter though the result of a lot of effort).


So far this year, mammals are in the lead ...not difficult, butterflies are on zero :) Hope my butterfly season will start sometime this month ...
 
Interesting, that's exactly what my friend thought ... !

I guess it will come down to circumstances and what birding I actually do - if like previous years likely to be pretty sedentary and may barely leave Cornwall (less butteflies, but also less mammals).

At the moment, mammals are well in the lead -

1) Fox
2) Rabbit
3) Field Vole
4) Wood Mouse
5) Pygmy Shrew
6) Minke Whale
7) Common Dolphin
8) Harbour Porpoise
9) Grey Seal
10) Brown Rat
11) Grey Squirrel

With Butterflies -

1) Red Admiral - (Malpas, nr Truro 24th Feb)

2) Small Tortoiseshell - (Truro 24th Feb)

Will post up more details in due course (especially of new additions). Bats are an interesting one - in the past would always have just counted Pipistrelle, but can I still do that? (Do have one of those £7 bat detectors somewhere if it still works).
 
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Not been keeping up. +2 for butterflies -

Peacock floating around in the brief half hour of sunshine on the 9th March ...

Speckled Wood in Falmouth 25th March whilst out doing some gardening, and another 2 Peacocks up at Stithians Res. Nice in the sunshine!

+1 for mammals

Got down to the seawatching haunt of Pendennis Point in Falmouth. Almost as with the Minke Whale (that was first sweep) within the first minute espied some ridiculously narrow upright dorsal fins cutting through the water through the scope; Risso's Dolphins! Saw the pale whitish front end of one through the water as they moved quickly past in the company of up to 10 Common Dolphins (2 leaping clear of the water).

A bit distant unfortunately and manged to lose them all soon after, but excellent nonetheless!
 
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Another mammal today - a Stoat running across the road in the lanes as I was driving back from some work party thing at Stithians. Probably a car tick. At first thought it was going to be a Grey Squirrel bounding across the road, but it wasn't. Pulled up to catch another glimpse of it down a side-road.

Another Speckled Wood today, different location (home), nice.

So, 3 months down, 9 to go and we have -

Mammals

12) Risso's Dolphin
13) Stoat

Butterflies

3) Peacock
4) Specked Wood
 
No new mammals, indeed not many mammals apart from a couple of young Grey Seals off the north coast and bunnies the last week or two. A few more butterflies however ...

Butterflies

5) Comma 7th Apr Treverva
6) Green-veined White 10th Apr Stithians WeBS count
7) Orange-tip 11th Apr alongside the A30 near Cambourne

Probable Large White too today, and a few repeats, but not many. Not a butterfly but a probable Hummingbird Hawkmoth in Falmouth a few days back.
 
... and not long heard that a (the?) Humpbacked Whale was seen off the east side of the Lizard today.

And I was on the north coast today.

But probably wouldn't have seen it when/if it did go past anyway ... !
 
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