Hello Everyone,
A few butterflies have been tempted out of hibernation in the County during the last week with the temperature remaining slightly above normal, although sunshine was at a premium during this period, until the 5th of February 2023. Winter time is ideal for carrying out habitat creation and also site maintenance and both Mark Radford and Sid Morris and their volunteer team have spent time recently on the vast Markham Pit site doing just that, especially for the Dingy Skipper butterfly (see attached photo), and on the 3rd of February 2023 they were rewarded with sightings of both the Brimstone and Peacock. Then on a sunny Sunday lunchtime on the 5th of February 2023, Bill Grange saw a Red Admiral sunning itself in his Allestree garden and Bryan & Kate Barnacle saw a Peacock in their Froggatt garden as well.. Meanwhile on a recent visit to the tunnels at Calke Park by Max & Christine Maughan they noted 55 Herald moths but just 1 Peacock in hibernation there.
Last week Butterfly Conservation released a Report on the State of UK Butterflies in 2022 and as expected it does not make for good reading with 80% of the UK’s butterflies in decline although both management of sites and habitat creation is crucial for any recovery to be experienced. You can look at the Report by clicking on the following link:-
https://butterfly-conservation.org/state-of-uk-butterflies-2022
The species that have declined the most in England during the period 1976 – 2021 are thankfully still on the Derbyshire list :-
Wall Brown (minus 88% in abundance and minus 87% in distribution), Small Tortoiseshell (minus 79% in abundance) and the White Letter Hairstreak (minus 78% in abundance) so it is vitally important that we carry on with conservation and monitoring of these and every butterfly species. The latest transect data for Derbyshire in 2022 shows that the Wall Brown increased by 18% when compared to the transects walked in the County during 2021 but the White Letter Hairstreak declined by 9% during this time and the Small Tortoiseshell declined by a massive 51% (similar to the Peacock) What is interesting looking at the 2022 Derbyshire transect data is that the Spring species (Orange Tip, Dingy Skipper, Green Hairstreak and Holly Blue) all did very well before the first heatwave in June 2022, whereas the single brooded summer species did poor, especially the Skippers (Small, Essex and the Large) and the summer Hairstreaks (Purple and White Letter) as they bore the brunt of the intense heat with certain larval foodplants such as nettles wilting and dying in the heat – these would have contained the nests of the caterpillars of the Small Tortoiseshell and the Peacock of course. The butterfly species that prefer shade or dappled sunlight fared better with increases for the Speckled Wood, Silver Washed Fritillary, Red Admiral and even the Comma, all of which in essence are woodland or semi woodland species, although they can also be seen in gardens of course.
Also attached is a summary of the total butterfly records for 2021 for the 3 Counties in the Region – Derbyshire, Notts and Leics. It will be seen that species wise, both Notts and Leics have the Purple Emperor present in the 2 Counties whereas Derbyshire has the monopoly for the Wall Brown although the species is present in low numbers on the high ground in Charnwood and Bardon Hill in Leics but it has not been seen in Notts since 2020..
Mark Sherwood has kindly sent me a link to a new initiative by Derby City Council for green roofs on bus shelters in the City :-
https://www.derby.gov.uk/news/2022/may/derby-bee-bus-stops/
The only problem that Pat and I have got with the project is that where we live in Derby there are no bus shelters or indeed a local bus service despite an aging population – let’s hope that this green project is extended to the antics of mower man who cuts both grass verges and open public spaces regularly to create a billiard (or snooker) table finish must to the detriment of the local species of pollinators.
I didn’t realise how many steam buffs read my Updates – thanks for your kind comments and just to finish off the steam weekend on the Severn Valley Line I have attached a photo of Tornado that was seen on shed at Bridgnorth at the same time!
