Surrey sightings 2022

This page, edited by Ken Owen, is for first/notable sightings. Please email @email with date, species, number, site, grid ref, your name and any comment.

For general records, please use iRecord website or iRecord Butterflies app
More details are on our Recording Page

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Also see: National 1st sightings & Archive 2015+

Red Admirals remained regular performers into the last week of November with previous sightings recorded at Puttenham Common (13th), Rotherhithe (16th), Richmond Park (18th),  and Leigh, Surbiton and Buckland (all on 20th). Full details on i-record

With mild weather continuing into November, warm sunshine continued to produce sightings of Red Admiral, for example, on Wimbledon Common and South Godstone (both on 4th), and Morden Hall, Guildford and Chessington, (all three on the 9th). As ever, turn to i-record for specific details

Exceptionally warm weather and sunshine past the middle of the month continued to produce daily sightings of Red Admiral and Speckled Wood into the last week of October.  On the warmest day (29th) there were also Small White noted in Battersea Park, on Mitcham Common, and at Molesey Reservoirs. For full records please check iRecord

Several days of fine weather at the start of October ensured there were sightings of several species. For example, there were 11 Small White  reported flying on the 11th and Speckled Wood were seen on a daily basis through to the 12th, with Red Admirals being almost as frequent. For full records please check iRecord

Silver-spotted Skipper completes the regular list of Surrey species for 2022, the earliest ever. Also included this year are Large Tortoiseshell, Marsh Fritillary and Duke of Burgundy. With Glanville Fritillary and Black Hairstreak, that makes 46 species so far.

Jun 22, Bookham Commons: 100+ White Admirals, along with 4 Purple Emperors, at least one female, around the "master tree", TQ123567.

Jun 20, Richmond Park: 214 Purple Hairstreaks around TQ195735 in first of a series of evening surveys. Sarah Elliott, Christopher Hedley et al.

Long days of sunshine in the week beginning 20th March with correspondingly warm temperatures brought increasing sightings of Speckled Wood, Holly Blue, Small White and Orange-tip to complement the Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Comma and Red Admiral frequently seen

With temperatures reaching the low teens on 10th March, there were sightings of Red Admiral, Peacock, Brimstone, Comma and Small Tortoiseshell across the whole of the Surrey and South West London area

February saw widespread sightings of Red Admirals in between the storms: Painshill and Winterfold (1st), North Holmwood (2nd), Haslemere, West Ewell and Tooting Bec (5th), Lingfield (7th), Winkworth (9th), Chiddingfold and Morden (11th), Houndown, Bookham and Wimbledon Common (25th), Wisley, Lightwater and Bookham (27th).

Peacocks were again seen at Godalming (11th), BWC Lingfield (17th), and Worplesdon (22nd) and there were further appearances of Brimstone at Selsdon Wood (7th), Coulsdon (23rd) and Sutton (27th). For detailed records, please refer to iRecord.

Red Admirals continued to be seen on warmer sunny days during January, for example: Hindhead and Sanderstead (14th), Windlesham (20th), Esher and London SE1 (29th); Peacocks were also noted at Juniper Hall and Ashtead (29th), Burgh Heath and Tadworth (30th), and Ash Vale (31st).

The record warmth of the last days of December continued into 2022