Hello Everyone,
After a spell of bitter arctic weather during the last week with big snowfalls across the Peak District and severe frosts at night, it is hardly surprising that there have been no outdoor sightings of butterflies recently, let alone any this month yet. It is less than one week before the sun crosses the equator at the Spring Equinox, which is the 20th of March 2023, so the transect training on the 19th of March 2023 in Allestree is very apt as it will help volunteers to be ready for the start of the new survey season which is on Saturday the 1st of April 2023.
Transect Walking to survey our butterflies was started back in 1976 by Ernie Pollard of the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology at Monks Wood, Cambridgeshire Since then, the popularity of carrying out these butterfly surveys has been very intense with over 2500 sites being monitored across the UK in 2020, and here in the East Midlands we currently have in excess of 500 volunteers carrying out butterfly transects which involves visiting a site once a week between 1st April and 30th September and following a set route. Sometimes the collection of data is carried out by just 1 individual volunteer per site, but usually there is a rota of up to 4 volunteers who share the responsibility for this important work. If you would like to get involved then please contact me and I will put you in touch with your local co-ordinator – at the moment there are vacancies for additional volunteers at the following Derbyshire sites :-
Peak District :- Longstone Edge; Chee Dale; Coombs Dale; Millers Dale Quarry, Bradbury’s Bank, Dovedale.
N E Derbyshire :- Brook Park, Shirebrook; Poulter Country Park; Markham Vale complex
If you would like to know about the latest information regarding the butterfly trends across the UK in 2022 then why not register on line for the National Recorders Meeting in Birmingham on the 25th of March 2023 :- details of this free event can be obtained at :-
https://butterfly-conservation.org/butterflies/uk-butterfly-recorders-meeting
At the moment the East Midlands Branch of Butterfly Conservation leads the way in the number of transects being carried out across the UK, so why not join this committed team of individuals and contribute to the data whilst getting some exercise in the countryside. Results over the years can be summarised in terms of the number of species that have been recorded at each site :-
have a look at the attached documents – the total number of species per site (26 and over) are shown, with both Clough Wood and Lathkill Dale NNR being at the top with 29 butterfly species each. The total number of Wall Brown butterflies seen on transects in 2022 amounted to 354 individuals with Longstone Edge on top with 77 number followed by Hoe Grange Quarry NR with 39 number
The only recent sighting of a butterfly outdoors that I have received has come from the other side of the world in New Zealand where David Hatfield’s brother lives on a farm on the North Island where he photographed a Honshu White Admiral (see attached) – it is not too dissimilar to our very own White Admiral which relies on honeysuckle and is found naturally just to the south of Derbyshire in Warwickshire and Worcestershire – will climate change mean that this species will move north – only your sightings will confirm this!
