Vanessa at night - no 3

Wed Jan 30 11:42:29 EST 2002

I have seen a few of the original journals kept by the old lighthouse 
keepers (in early 1900s) here in the U.S.  At first I was surprised to see 
how well versed they were in bird identification until I was told that it 
was part of their job description to provide bird collision data (with the 
lighthouses) to the ornithologists of the old Biological Service 
(predecessor of FWS).

The reports of broad winged insects, such as butterflies and dragonflies, 
after a storm usually raises the question....were they swept up into the 
upper thermals and carried away for long distances.  Or possibly relocated 
by by the gales and air currents into the upper atmosphere and then forced 
to glide/fly to a landmass in order to survive.  And so it seems that 
additional data becomes necessary when trying to prove obligate, directional 
migration.

Rudy
--------------------------------------
>From: "Grkovich, Alex" <agrkovich at tmpeng.com>
>Reply-To: agrkovich at tmpeng.com
>To: "'ngd at ceh.ac.uk'" <ngd at ceh.ac.uk>, Leps-l at lists.yale.edu
>Subject: RE: Vanessa at night - no 3
>Date: Tue, 29 Jan 2002 16:57:18 -0500
>
>A friend (and Lepidopterist colleague) of mine here in Massachusetts told 
>me
>awhile back that he collected a Compton Tortoiseshell (N. vau-album) at his
>back porch light on an evening in November a few years ago. He initially
>thought it was an Underwing Moth, only to realize what it actually was 
>after
>he had brought the specimen inside to his kitchen.
>
>Alex
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From:	Nick Greatorex-Davies [SMTP:ngd at ceh.ac.uk]
> > Sent:	Tuesday, January 29, 2002 9:46 AM
> > To:	Leps-l at lists.yale.edu
> > Subject:	Re: Vanessa at night - no 3
> >
> > Hi all,
> >
> > A third installment - yet more on butterflies flying at night. This time
> > thanks to Ian Rippey of Northern Ireland who dug this out for me:
> >
> > D.J. Sullivan (Jan 1946). Remarkable Migration of Butterflies at Night 
>and
> > During a gale in Co. Donegal, Irish Naturalists Journal, Volume 8, page
> > 397.
> >
> > "A remarkable feature of the night of 10th October [presumably Wednesday
> > 10th October 1945 - Ian Rippey] was a migratory movement of Painted Lady
> > and Red Admiral butterflies, in company with Snipe, Redshank, Curlew and
> > Golden Plover. This in a gale of wind and rain - force 7. It had been 
>wet
> > all day with heavy showers from the S.W. At nightfall, the wind went 
>N.W.
> > to N.E. force 7, and the sky literally opened. This continued throughout
> > the night. When I came on watch at 10 pm one could hear the birds 
>calling
> > as they flew around the lighthouse. None struck. We identified them by
> > their cries. The other keeper (D. Cahill) told me that an odd moth was
> > striking the lantern glass. I kept an eye out for them, hoping that they
> > would be Silver Y moths, as we had observed one of these the previous 
>day.
> > I only saw one moth - a large straw coloured specimen which I was unable
> > to identify. Then at 11 pm. the butterflies commenced to arrive. On such 
>a
> > terrible night, I could hardly believ!
> > e my eyes. They came in ones and twos, Red Admirals being the more
> > plentiful. The following day Red Admirals were everywhere, but no 
>Painted
> > Ladies. On opening the oil store door, I found seven of the former
> > fluttering about the window. Returning later there were five more. 
>To-day,
> > Sunday 14th, Red Admirals continue to be numerous."
> >
> > D.J. SULLIVAN (Principal Keeper), Arranmore Lighthouse, Burton Port, Co.
> > Donegal. 14-10-1945.
> >
> >
> > The following comments from Ian Rippey put the location in some
> > geographical context and point out that 1945 was a good year for 
>migrants:
> >
> > "Aranmore lighthouse is or was probably around B6418 [Grid ref.] on
> > Aranmore Island (20+ square kilometres, altitude c. 750 feet), West
> > Donegal. I cannot find a lighthouse on the modern 1:50000 map but a 
>place
> > called "Lighthouse Lot" is shown near the western end at this Grid
> > Reference. NE winds would be blowing to some extent from the mainland 
>and
> > hence could bring butterflies from the nearby coast over the island. The
> > eastern end of the island is only about 2 miles from the mainland, 
>though
> > there are 3 substantial though much smaller islands in between; the area
> > around "Lighthouse Lot" is about 4-5 miles west of the mainland.  
>However
> > it is closest to the mainland due east, whereas in a NE direction the
> > mainland is rather further away. A glance at Irish Ordnance Survey 
>1:50000
> > Discovery Series Map No. 1 (Donegal) will show this better than I can
> > describe."
> >
> > "1945 was known to be a very good year for many migrants, including
> > several normally very rare species such as Bath Whites (650), Pale 
>Clouded
> > Yellows (318) Queen of Spain Fritillary (37) and Long-tailed Blue (31),
> > the latter having its best ever year along with Convolvulus Hawk (505) 
>and
> > Red Admiral (24,000) in the period from 1850-1955 in Britain (or British
> > Isles) in C.B. Williams book on Butterfly Migration. 6224 Painted Ladies
> > were recorded, a good total but less than the 30,000 in 1948."
> >
> > I hope this continues to be of interest.
> >
> > Kind regards
> > Nick
> >
> > *************************************************************
> > Mr J Nick Greatorex-Davies
> > (Butterfly Monitoring Scheme co-ordinator)
> > NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
> > (Formerly the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology (ITE))
> > Monks Wood
> > Abbots Ripton
> > Huntingdon
> > Cambridgeshire PE28 2LS  UK
> >
> > Tel: (+44) (0) 1487 773 381
> > Fax: (+44) (0) 1487 773 467
> > E-mail: ngd at ceh.ac.uk
> > Web site: http://bms.ceh.ac.uk
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
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