After 6 days of intense heat last week, Week 24 of the transect season was back to normal weather wise with a drenching of rain and temperatures in the low 20’sC. This dramatic change in the weather has obviously had an effect on butterfly numbers although 23 species have been seen during the last week – the Wall Brown looks to be coming to the end of its second brood despite sightings up to and including the 15th of September 2023 when Derek Brownlee saw 2 in Minninglow Quarry, whilst on the 11th of September 2023 Jim Russell saw an individual at Creswell village, not too far from the border with Notts – so yes the species is certainly moving east from the Peak Fringe colonies and slightly less so in the southerly direction as the attached map (Provisional (2) distribution) shows for 2023. Both number wise and tetrad wise, the overall situation is similar to 2021 when 800 butterflies were noted in 122 tetrads, whereas so far this year there have been at least 802 butterflies seen at 131 tetrads with the movement away from the Peak Fringe being as noted above. Meanwhile in Essex, Dave Chandler of B C Essex informs me that a third brood of the Wall Brown has just appeared in the Benfleet area of the County so it could well be that a third ‘kamikaze’ brood will appear here either later in the month, or into early October 2023 – only your sightings will confirm this of course.
This last week has seen a continuation in the sightings of large gatherings of the Speckled Wood butterfly with a total of 25 sites having counts in double figures with the highest counts coming from Pleasley Pit (34 no – Willy Lane), Tideswell Dale (33 no – Esther Weir) and Sunart Fields, Whaley Bridge ( 29 no – Helen Perry & Sheila Smith)
Other recent sightings of interest include :-
Brimstone :- Just 8 singletons of this species noted with the last coming on the 13th of September 2023 at Willington NR where Jean McMahon saw 2 individuals.
Red Admiral :- Interestingly numbers held up during the recent heat wave – probably because the species often arrives here in numbers from the nearby Continent and is used to higher temperatures which would explain why Liz Wheeldon managed to get a photo of a Red Admiral flying south on Monday the 4th of September 2023 whilst she was walking on High Wheeldon just as a weather front approached from the west (see photo) – in the distance is Chrome Hill so that is definitely Wall Brown country!!
The highest counts of the Red Admiral came on the 13th of September 2023 when Peter Ham saw 16 individuals on flowering ivy plants at Creswell Crags together with 30 no seen on ripe plums in the Shirland garden of Nikki Mahadevan on the 15th September 2023 and a further 22 no seen on ivy and late flowering buddleias in Weston Upon Trent village (Roger Martin) on the same day.
Peacock :- This species was almost absent during the recent hot spell of weather which just shows that UK butterflies cannot stand the heat above 23c (other than Whites which reflect the heat of course) Recent sightings of just 26 individuals up to and including the 15th of September 2023 have come from only 16 sites across the County including 5 no on Grin Low, Buxton on the 7th of September 2023 (Ian & Joy White).
Comma :- New brood individuals are increasingly being seen either on ripe blackberries or flowering ivy plants with sightings of 89 no individuals at 46 locations across the County with the highest counts of 6 coming from Drakelow NR on the 11th of September 2023 (Andy Large) and 5 no coming from Seale Wood, Overseal (John Schofield) and Wyver Lane, Belper (Alan Walker & Dave Evans) both on the 13th of September 2023, and 5 on the 15th of September 2023 at Coton Park ( Graham Atkins & Carol Charles)
Small Tortoiseshell :- Yet again this species appears to be in trouble – only 21 individual butterflies have been seen recently from 16 locations up to the 15th of September 2023 with just 3 no seen at both South Wingfield (Eric Easom) and on the transect at Ashbourne (Tim Thomas). It is vitally important that the spraying and strimming of nettles ceases as it will take time for this once common butterfly species to recover, especially after the hot weather of July 2022
Dark Green Fritillary :- Just 1 sighting of this iconic Peak District butterfly when an individual was seen on the transect in Chee Dale on the 13th of September 2023 (Sue Mitchell)
Silver Washed Fritillary :- No records received this week for this species in the County.
Holly Blue :- It looks the flight period of the second brood of this small busy pale blue butterfly has now come to an end with just 9 individuals seen at 7 locations this week with the latest sighting being on the 15th of September 2023 in Tideswell Dale (Esther Weir) and on the same day at High Peak Junction on the Cromford Canal (Dave & Sue Evans)
Common Blue :- A reasonable number of this species have been noted this week in Derbyshire with 100 individuals noted at 30 sites across the County up to and including the 15th of September 2023, with counts in double figures coming from Doe Lea ( 10 no – Martin Smith), Markham Vale South (10 no – Sid Morris) and Hoe Grange Quarry (12 no – John & Sylvia Green)
Small Copper :- Still on the wing at 22 sites up to and including the 15th of September 2023 with a total of 55 individuals seen, of which almost half were noted in Woo Dale on the 10th of September 2023 (Ian & Joy White)
Brown Argus Migrating :- Only 2 individuals seen this week with sightings at Drakelow NR on the 11th of September 2023 (Andy Large) and at Markham Vale North on the 9th of September 2023 (Sid Morris).
Brown Argus Peak District :- Noted this week in Woo Dale (Ian & Joy White), Longstone Edge ( Andrew Woodhouse) and also in Coombs Dale (Jay Amin) where Andrew Woodhouse also saw 3 individuals there on the 15th of September 2023
Small Heath :- Seen at 12 sites, mainly in the Peak District with 3 noted in Hay Dale on the 13th of September 2023 (Ian & Joy White) whilst Sue Mitchell saw one in Chee Dale on the same day.
Latest sightings received from a number of species including:-
Small Skipper :- Noted in Hoe Grange Quarry on the 8th of September (Irene Smith) and again there on the 9th of September 2023
(John & Sylvia Green)
Green Veined White :- Latest sightings were on the 15th of September 2023 at both Shiningford, Carsington Water (Saskia Tallis) and at Poolsbrook Country Park (Abby Bruce)
Purple Hairstreak :- A late individual was noted on oak at the North end of Chatsworth Park on the 9th of September 2023 ( Derek Whiteley)
Gatekeeper :- A surprising total of 15 individuals were noted at 7 sites in the County recently with the latest seen on the 15th of September 2023 at both Rose End Meadows and the National Stone Centre, Wirksworth (both Andy Wilkes) and at High Peak Junction on the Cromford Canal (Dave & Sue Evans)
Meadow Brown :- Noted at 6 sites recently up to and including the 15th of September 2023 when 6 no were seen at Poolsbrook Country Park (Abby Bruce)
Pleasingly there have been some migrant butterflies and moths recorded in the County recently with a Clouded Yellow noted on the 15th of September 2023 at Crich Carr ( Phil & Brenda Shore) – this being only the 5th record for the species in Derbyshire this year.
In addition there have been 5 sightings of the Painted Lady this week with the latest on the 15th of September 2023 in Shelton Lock
(Jean & Harry McMahon), whilst there have been 5 sightings of the Humming Bird Hawk moth recently with the latest being on the 13th of September 2023 in Kedleston Park (Kevin Morris).
Finally the results of this year’s Big Butterfly Count have been announced by Butterfly Conservation and the results came be seen at the following link:-
Despite the poor weather during the period of the survey, it is surprising to note an increase in the overall numbers of butterflies seen with the Red Admiral having top spot – this is probably due to the additional migrant butterflies of this species arriving from the near Continent and we are still seeing good numbers here in Derbyshire. What was noticeable during the recent heatwave was that the Red Admiral was not phased out by the hot temperatures – maybe that it is because the species is used to these warm temperatures whereas our UK butterflies (such as the Peacock) are not – hence the lack of Peacock sightings recently?
With rain forecast for most days during the remainder of September 2023 it will be somewhat of a challenge to get Weeks 25 & 26 of the transect season completed during any dry and sunny spells – good luck to all you intrepid Derbyshire volunteers!
