The current weather patterns appear to be similar to what happened in March/April 2021 with a few days of warmth and sun in March followed by a cold April (last year there were 18 days with frost in Derby and this April there have already been 6 frosts) – consequently butterfly sightings have been at a premium in week 2 of the transect season, despite an increase in the temperature during the last few days. Counts of double figures on transects have come from Toyota Meadows (13 butterflies – Brian & Jean Hallam), Belper Parks (12 butterflies – Adrian & Rebecca Rochford), Toyota Pond ( 11 butterflies – Brian & Jean Hallam), Poolsbrook Country Park (11 butterflies – Sid Morris) and in Coombsdale ( 10 butterflies – Andrew Woodhouse).

There was however a couple of sightings of the Painted Lady butterfly in the County since the start of the southerly airflow with an individual seen at Bolsover on the 10th of April 2022 (Paul Townsend & Norman Jones) and another at Biggin by Hulland on the 11th of April 2022 (Janet Grindy) but no more sightings since then. Pleasingly the Holly Blue has started to appear at a few more sites in the County recently with records from Littleover (Dave Oulsnam), Barlborough (Neil & Lorraine Jones), Hollinhill (Jim Russell), Darley Dale (Rod Dunn) with a maximum of 5 seen on the 11th of April 2022 in the village of Draycott (Roger Martin). Just a few more recent sightings of the Speckled Wood with records from Hilton Gravel Pits (Marion Bryce), Poolsbrook Country Park (Sid Morris), the National Stone Centre in Wirksworth (India Milward) and at Belper Parks (Adrian & Rebecca Rochford).

Recently UKBMS issued the early results from the 2021 season which proved to be the worst since 2017 and 33rd out of 46 years since the project started back in 1976 ( I’m proud to say that I have completed 40 years during that time doing my transects!), despite them receiving 476,000 records from 2,900 sites across the UK during 2021. The following information gives you a feel for the changes in the Regions butterfly species during that time :-

Losers :- Wall Brown (- 87%); Small Tortoiseshell ( – 79%) ; White Letter Hairstreak (-78%) and Small Skipper (-73%)

Winners :- Ringlet (+ 335%); Red Admiral (+279%); Dark Green Fritillary (+279%); Silver Washed Fritillary (+278%); the Comma (+185%); and in recent years the Purple Emperor (+136%) – not quite in Derbyshire but only a question of time!

Finally I have just completed a comparison of the transect data for Derbyshire covering 2020 and 2021 with some very interesting

Information being forthcoming. Despite the poor weather of 2021, 20 species increased in their abundance whilst 12 species decreased in abundance, with the Meadow Brown being the most common butterfly on transects.  The Ringlet had the biggest increase in numbers over 2020 followed by the Gatekeeper and surprisingly the Small Skipper – the biggest decreases in numbers over 2020 were the Small White followed by the Small Tortoiseshell and the Large White.

So fingers crossed for a period of sun and sustained heat so as to help our butterflies recover somewhat.

Update no 15 as at the 15th of April 2022 - including Painted Lady sightings in the County