Hello Everyone,
With very little sunshine to enjoy during the last week, it came as a pleasant surprise for Mark Longdon when on the 14th of December 2024 whilst he was hanging up his Christmas decorations outside his Ripley house, a Red Admiral flew by him as it looked for a place to return into its winter mode, before it finally flew off down the road! Also on the same day Max & Christine Maughan visited the tunnels at Ticknall Limeyards where they noted 56 Herald Moths in hibernation but only 1 Peacock present.
Then on a cloudy but mild afternoon of the 15th of December 2024, Jonathan Page saw a Peacock flying up and down the stone external wall of his house in Wirksworth – possibly looking for another place to hibernate?
Since the last Update a couple of people have mentioned to me that neonicotinoids are also used in some flea collars that are put on to pets…the washing of their bedding would then obviously add to the pollution of our rivers and streams – once the genie is out of the bottle there is little to control it unless the Government bans the use of this pesticide now.
Working my way through all the 2024 transect data it soon becomes obvious that not only butterfly numbers have declined rapidly but butterfly species have taken a considerable drop as well – for instance in 2023 there were 40 sites with a total species count of 21 or over but in 2024 this drops to just 16 sites (13 of which were in the Peak District) which represents a massive drop of 60% – it could be due to the fact that the sloping sites in the Peak District did not hold much standing water in the Spring when compared to flat sites in the Lowland parts of Derbyshire? (have a look at the attached schedule for those sites that did relatively well in 2024).
I know that many of you like a challenge in the outdoors with Munros in Scotland being the top of your bucket list to conquer but did you know that there are 95 Ethels in the Peak District? Ie Hills that are above 300 metres (1000 feet) of which 72 are in Derbyshire – I didn’t know until recently but they are named after Ethel Haythornthwaite of Sheffield who pioneered the establishment of the Peak District National Park back in 1951, so my challenge to you is to imagine a warm sunny day in May 2025 when both volunteers and larks are ascending and when you reach the top, you are rewarded with the sight of a colony of the Endangered Butterfly species Wall Brown which have never been seen at that particular site before! Have a look at the attached list…39 of the Ethels already have Wall Brown recorded so over to you good people to fill in the missing pieces of the jigsaw…now there is a challenge for you in 2025!
We have just got time to thank you all for your excellent support during 2024, which has been a challenging year for our butterflies and moths, and to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Healthy & Happy New Year in 2025 when we hope to continue our special relationship with the many volunteers and Organisations that we have met over the years – if you ever wondered what Hoe Grange Quarry NR looked like when covered in snow, then have a look at the attached photo that was taken in November 2024.Brrr!
