Whilst the temperature has risen during the last week, the promised wall to wall sunshine never really materialised so consequently the conditions were not ideal for transect walking in Week 5 – indeed volunteers at some 6 sites still failed to record a single butterfly on their transect, whereas 47 number in 7 species were seen on the 3rd of May 2023 at Manor Farm, Long Eaton (Brenda & Mick Meakin) and 46 number in 8 species were seen on the same day at Pleasley Pit (David Elliott).. Despite this,  after a warm and sunny Saturday the 1st of May 2023, there was enough heat to enable a Wall Brown to emerge on surprisingly Big Moor where Peter Kidd noted a male basking on a rock there. This was followed by a sunny days on Wednesday the 3rd of May 2023, when Phil Gilbert saw a fresh Dingy Skipper on Longstone Edge, and Thursday the 4th of May 2023 when Patrick Anderson saw a fresh Small Copper at Mousley Bottom, New Mills, but that was about the size of the fine weather for Week 5 of the transect season.

Other new species seen recently include :-

Common Blue – A fresh male was seen basking on the ground at Goseley Cutting, Woodville by Ruth Frudd on the 29th of April 2023.

Painted Lady :- Earlier in April there were a couple of sightings of this species in the Region with an individual noted at Craft Wood, Wessington (Fiona Easom) and another seen at Southwell, Notts (Amanda Hender) both on the 8th of April 2023.

Other sightings of interest during the last week include :-

Orange Tip :- This species is quite common across the County now with sightings from many sites with counts of around two dozen coming from Markham Pit South (Mark Radford), Manor Farm, Long Eaton (Brenda & Mick Meakin), Lathkill Dale ( Aline Roberts) and on the Haddon Hall Estate (Steve & Lin Orridge).

Holly Blue :- Becoming reasonably widespread with sightings at 43 locations mainly in the South of the County but also including records from the Peak District at Bradwell (Sally Pereira),Tideswell Dale (Adam Saunders), Mapleton (Wendy Astill) and Hoe Grange Quarry (John & Sylvia Green) with the highest count of 7 coming from the Manor Farm, Long Eaton (Brenda & Mick Meakin) on the 3rd of May 2023

Green Hairstreak :- Sightings all from the Peak District with up to a max of 6 seen in the Goyt Valley (Les Gradwell), Curbar Edge (Jane Taylor) in Deep Dale, Sheldon (Steve & Lin Orridge & Sally Pereira), in Chee Dale on the 2nd of May 2023 (Ian & Joy White), White Edge (Paul Townsend), Baslow Edge (Rod Dunn), Lathkill Dale (Aline Roberts), Longstone Edge (Phil Gilbert), and Bottom Moor Wood, Matlock (Mike & Jane Steel) with a maximum count of 21 on the 3rd of May 2023 at Whaley Moor (Angie Seymour).

Speckled Wood :- Sightings of this species have come from 45 locations in the County with the highest count of 17 coming from the WCBS survey undertaken at Pleasley Pit on the 3rd of May 2023 (David Elliott).

Red Admiral :- This species is the scarcest of the hibernators/over – wintering butterflies at the moment with just 1 recent sighting from Tideswell Dale (Adam Saunders) on the 3rd of May 2023

Humming Bird Hawk Moth – Leslie Freeborn of Ripley noted one of this migrant moth feeding on begonia plants in his garden on the 3rd of May 2023 – this could well have been brought up from Europe on this week’s southerly winds.

Small Tortoiseshell :- Probably one of the highest counts of this species came on the 29th of April 2023 when Dave Evans saw 15 of them taking nectar from dandelions near a public footpath in Heage where Dave also saw 10 Peacocks there as well.

This brings me on to the project that is being organised by Plantlife for this month :

‘It is now time for No Mow May which encourages all garden owners in the UK to leave the mower alone during May and allow the long grasses and wildflowers to thrive at a time when they are of huge benefit to pollinators. Since the 1970s, we have lost almost 97% of our wildflower meadows, depriving insects such as bees and butterflies of vital food. These habitats also help to tackle pollution and lock away carbon below ground, and so can offer huge gains for nature and the climate. By rewilding all of our gardens through the month of May, we can provide a significant boost to our pollinators and other garden visitors. You can read more about the campaign at plantlife.org.uk, where you can also let them know that you’re joining the campaign and download some free posters and resources’.

Finally, there is some  exciting news from Hoe Grange Quarry where John & Sylvia Green saw the first ever reptile on site there on Saturday the 1st of May 2023 – a slow worm was seen underneath one of the metal sheets that we put down some 7 years ago!

So the next time that you visit Hoe Grange Quarry, please check under those metal sheets and let me know what you find.