Hello Everyone, According to the Met Office, we are now in Autumn so I beg the question – whatever happened to the Summer of 2024? Well based on my basic weather notes for the Derby area, the 3 months of June, July and August of this year resulted in a 22% decline in Sunny days compared to 2023 and a massive 100% increase in the number of Cloudy days over the same period – with butterfly numbers already suffering they were hardly helped by a lack of sunshine during the summer of 2024! Ironically rainy days were about the same as Summer 2023 but it was the lack of sunshine that really didn’t helped our insects in 2024 although temperatures of 21c and above were 14% up on 2023 which confirmed that we had our quota of warm, muggy, cloudy days which are not exactly ideal for carrying out butterfly transects, but apparently ideal conditions for hydrangeas which had a fantastic season in the National collection in Darley Park this year, according to the Curator (Peter Smith). With just over 3 weeks to go till the end of the transect season, there is hardly going to be a big transformation in butterfly numbers when compared to 2023 and the overall decline in the Region has been a 50% reduction in numbers. At the moment our 3 transects in South Derbyshire are on average 55% down on 2023 and even butterfly numbers at Hoe Grange Quarry NR are down 30% on 2023.
With very few sightings so far this month, this week’s records include some late sightings from August 2024 :-
Brimstone :- Biggest recent counts are 7 no noted on the 28th of August 2024 at Pleasley Pit (Tracy Mann) together with 15 seen in Tansley/Cressbrookdale on the 3rd of September 2024 (Gordon & Alison Rooke)
Red Admiral :- A large count of 30 were seen along the High Peak Trail, Hurdlow on the 28th of August 2024 (Felicity & Roger Jackson)
Peacock :- Highest counts now restricted to the Peak District with a massive 100 seen on the 28th of August 2024 along the High Peak Trail at Hurdlow (Felicity & Roger Jackson) together with 32 noted in Chatsworth Gardens on the 29th of August 2024 (Christine Gregory) and 27 no seen in Cunningdale on the 3rd of September 2024 (Steve & Lin Orridge)
Painted Lady :- Individuals are still being seen up to and including the 4th of September 2024 from 12 locations in the County with 2 no noted in Hartington Meadows NR (Clare Knox)
Dark Green Fritillary :- A late specimen was seen in Cunningdale on the 30th of August 2024 (Steve & Lin Orridge) together with another in Chee Dale on the 3rd of September 2024 (Cate Beck & Sue Mitchell)
Silver Washed Fritillary :- A late individual was seen on the 30th of August 2024 in Monsal Dale (Ian & Joy White)
Small Copper :- Becoming slightly more common but only in low numbers although 8 were noted in Cunningdale on the 3rd of September 2024 (Steve & Lin Orridge) and 11 were seen on the same day in Tansley/Cressbrookdale (Gordon & Alison Rooke)
Holly Blue :- Just 9 individuals noted up to and including the 3rdt of September 2024 including 1 seen in Whaley Bridge ( Alan and Angie Seymour)
Brown Argus Migrating :- Only 1 sighting this week at Woodside NR on the 3rd of September 2024 (Amy Ross)
Brown Argus Peak District Race :- Just showing at 4 sites this week with records from Cunningdale on the 3rd of September 2024 (Steve & Lin Orridge), from Hoe Grange Quarry NR on the 1st of September 2024 (Kyle Winney & Milou Groenenberg), on the 3rd of September 2024 from Tansley/Cressbrookdale (Gordon & Alison Rooke) and on the 4th of September 2024 on Longstone Edge (Karen Mort & Steve Wilson)
Common Blue :- It is pleasing to report that 2 sites in Derbyshire has had a decent second brood of this species when 25 no individuals were noted on the 28th of August 2024 along the Blackwell Trail (Helen Naylor) together with 19 no seen on the 3rd of September 2024 at Tansley/Cressbrookdale (Gordon & Alison Rooke)
Speckled Wood :- This species is now being recorded at many sites in the County with a maximum count of 42 at Pleasley Pit on the 28th of August 2024 (Tracy Mann) together with 39 noted in Whitwell Wood on the same day (Jess Bailey)
Wall Brown :- Pleasingly a further 26 individuals were noted at 18 sites mainly in the Peak District up to and including the 3rd of September 2024 with maximum counts of 3 coming from Hoe Grange Quarry NR (Jonathan Pitt), Horseshoe Quarry (Andrew Woodhouse) and at Redhill Quarry ( Steve Plant) and interestingly a couple of sightings were in the Peak Fringe areas of Bargate, Belper (Andy Wilkes) and at Salter Wood, Street Lane, Denby (Jane Rogers)
With buddleias, other than the late flowering yellow varieties, coming to an end, it is possible to attract some late butterflies to your garden by putting out ripe fruit such as plums, damsons, bananas, apples etc into a dish on a table to enable fresh Commas, Red Admirals, possibly Small Tortoiseshells and even Speckled Woods to take advantage of the fare on offer – Nick Brown has done this for a number of years now and he has sent me some photos to show you what insects it attracts (see the attached).
This week’s photos also include a group of hibernating Peacocks that have sought shelter within a viewing tower at the Mead site in Smalley – seen by Emily Moore of the Woodland Trust – worth checking any unusual dry frost free habitats for hibernating butterflies and moths.
Finally I have been in contact recently with a fellow transect volunteer who carries out a transect on Dunstable Downs in the County of Bedfordshire – Wilf Powell tells me that he records Chalkhill Blue, Small Blue, Grizzled Skipper and the Duke of Burgundy Fritillary on his survey but he doesn’t see the Wall Brown at all these days – that’s why he is going to the Peak District this week.
However since his retirement he has been travelling the world to photograph butterflies and you can have a look by clicking on :-
Butterflies – Wilf Powell Photography If you click on an individual photo in the gallery, you will be able to see where and when the photo was taken – enjoy!
