Hello Everyone, It is hardly surprising that there haven’t been many further butterfly sightings in the County recently although Julie Potts managed to see 2 Peacocks in flight whilst she was walking along Shining Tor Ridge in the Goyt Valley on the 15th of January 2025. Meanwhile Sid Morris did his monthly walk inside the 3 railway tunnels on the Monsal Trail on the 19th of January 2025 and he noted just 1 Red Carpet Moth, 2 Tissue Moths and 1 Herald moth in hibernation, but no butterflies were seen at all. Then on the 29th of January 2025 Dennis Dell saw a Comma sunning itself on a fence in his Sheffield garden. (see attached photo)
Mark Radford sent me a link to a video which shows that work to cut down Sallows in Sherwood Forest NNR has recently been carried out there – a site where the Purple Emperor normally thrives…it beggars belief that such activity is allowed to be carried out without taking into account the consequences of this so called conservation work. Have a look at the link below :-
https://youtu.be/OK8feAte15w?si=dt3DaRltsO-Em04s
Meanwhile there is some good news from the Government…they have announced an immediate ban on the use of neonicotinoid pesticides which are partly responsible for the decline of bees and butterflies – this to last just for this year but at least it is a start!
Finally I have attached some blank sheets for your use in 2025 – these include a Casual Recording Form, a Rota Form for transects, which this year start on a Tuesday, together with an excel Recording form which now includes the Purple Emperor – who will be the first person to record this fantastic butterfly on a transect here in Derbyshire this year? Could I ask that transect recorders save the latest 2025 Recording Form and use it this year as in 2024 there were some sheets submitted that were corrupt and therefore the data could not be seen.
