After the poor performances of most of our local butterflies last year, a cold and sometimes stormy April this year is the last thing that both butterflies and recorders want in 2023.We might have climate change but there is little evidence of climate warming in the first 3 months of this year (unless you live in Malaga!) as here in the UK it has been the coldest start of a year since 1986, with a dry February followed by a wet March, and with late April frosts to contend with, it is hardly surprising that our butterflies are really thin on the ground (or rather in flight).
However, looking at the Derbyshire sites on UKBMS, it appears that most of the volunteers have managed to input the April 2023 data for their sites with relative ease which is great! Just as a reminder, I have attached a copy of my notes to help you – one of the problems being ‘unidentified butterflies’ which (rightly so) do not have a category on UKBMS. Also any sightings beyond the transect width and put under Notes on the recording sheet (including those seen on adjacent butterfly banks where applicable) should ideally be put on to a Casual Record Sheet (example attached) and then this document should be emailed to me at the end of the season. Finally please include everyone in your Group (including myself) on to your Record Sheet distribution as in previous years including creating and submitting a record sheet for a zero count, which has happened all too frequently this April. In fact during Week 4 there have been a total of 24 sites with a zero count and many other sites were not even walked due to the temperature not reaching the minimum required for a transect of 10c.
However, a surprise pleasant day of sunshine on the 25th of April 2023 allowed many volunteers to scramble and get out to their transect sites in order to get a reasonable count done in week 4, despite the temperature only just making double figures. Interesting sightings received for mainly that day include :-
Green Hairstreak :- Finally appeared in the dales with 4 noted in Milldale on the 25th of April 2023 (Derek Brownlee).
Holly Blue :- Pleasingly a few more of this species have been seen recently with sightings from Hartshorne (John Scholey), Draycott Village (Roger Martin), Barlborough (Neil & Lorraine Jones), Hollin Hill (Jim Russell), Belper (Nigel Davidson) and just over the border in South Yorkshire at Brincliffe (Janine Morris).
Speckled Wood :- Sightings from 17 sites in the County this week including 3 seen at Pleasley Pit (Willy Lane), Norbriggs Flash and Markham Pit South (both Sid Morris), Coton Park, Linton (Alistair & Lenore Tilley) and Hartshorne Wood (Andy Large) together with a singleton in the Peak District at Tideswell Dale (Nicki Witham)
However on a positive note during this cold snap Linda Cooper has been feeding the birds and managed to get a Robin to take mealworms out of her hand (see the attached photo) and Rod Dunn has confined his lawn mower to the garden shed to allow his Darley Dale lawn to flower and flourish, and he has been delighted with the results as he is now able to see cowslips, primroses and cuckoo flower as well as the expected daisies and dandelions.(and even some butterflies!) (see the attached recent photo)
With no new species to report this week, we can only hope that a change of month will also see a change of weather – a decent forecast suggests this for week 5 of the transect season – so things can only get better!
