Hello Everyone, At last, the sun has now crossed the Equator and we have it in the northern hemisphere for the next 6 months and how important this period is for our local butterflies!!! After a whole week without a single butterfly sighting, the 18th of March 2025 was the turning point with sightings of the Brimstone, Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma and the Red Admiral which was then followed by the first Speckled Wood sighting of the year seen on the 19th of March 2025 at Coton Wood in South Derbyshire (Chris Leverington). Then the ‘Harbinger of Spring’, the Orange Tip was first seen in the County on the 20th of March 2025 at both Milldale (Max and Christine Maughan) and Markham Vale (Colin Morris) and a few Small Whites was seen on the same day at Sunnydale Park, Littleover (Maurice Ireland), Foxley Wood, Linton (Chris Leverington) and at Old Tupton (Sandra & John Kidd). Overall numbers of hibernators seen in Derbyshire during the first 3 months of this year are running at about the same as those seen in the similar period of 2024, but it is very much hit and miss, but Hope Springs Eternal! However, still no records yet in the County for the these species :- Holly Blue, Green Hairstreak or even the Wall Brown which leads me into the following information on this special butterfly for me!
Many of you will know of my obsession with the Wall Brown butterfly as it was the very first butterfly that I recorded on my first transect at an old railway station site back in Derby in May 1981- it is difficult to believe how the fortunes of this once common butterfly have changed over the last 45 years not just here in the East Midlands but throughout the UK. It is now an Endangered Species whereas back in August 1983 I counted nearly 200 on a transect in Breadsall Cutting – there were so many on the old railway track that it was very difficult to not tread on them!.
Then came the rise of the Speckled Wood in the County which was followed closely by the fall of the Wall Brown – is there some correlation within these 2 events – nothing is proven but I have a feeling that there is some connection! By the time that 21st Century started it was becoming really noticeable in Lowland Derbyshire that we were losing one of our most common butterflies….and very fast! Various theories were being out forward…too much nitrogen in the soil which killed off the grass feeding larvae or was it purely climate change as the species was moving into the Peak District in order to seek a cooler atmosphere – this could well be the case as the species had become a mainly coastal butterfly in Southern England with vast swathes of Central Southern England fast becoming devoid of the butterfly. Warmer temperatures mean more rainfall, and after some very wet Springs, fields in the lowland areas of the UK were being swamped, for weeks on end, with more water than they could cope with and any larvae of the butterfly were prone to rotting and lost for ever! Was this the real reason the butterfly was surviving on grassy ledges of rocky outcrops in the Peak District such as those at Longstone Edge and Hoe Grange Quarry?
Looking at the data that has been amassed over the last 30 years, it is obvious that its nadir occurred in the year 2008 with just 37 individuals noted at 19 locations in Derbyshire …what a difference to the events of 25 years earlier, back in August 1983!
Thankfully the species survived these low numbers and indeed 10 years later in the year 2018 numbers had increased to nearly 1400 seen at 157 locations, 133 of which (85%) were at sites in the Peak District but only 5 (3%) were in South Derbyshire which has remained the case during the last 7 years. However in recent years what has been noticeable is that there has been a gradual movement eastwards out of the Peak District into the higher Peak Fringe areas (such as around the Belper area) and even the lower ground of North East Derbyshire, so could a gradual re-colonisation still be on the cards? Only your sightings will prove this situation or otherwise but I really doubt that I will ever see 200 Wall Browns again in Breadsall Cutting…quite sad really!
On a brighter note, I can’t wait to see a Purple Emperor gliding in one of our Derbyshire woodlands – could 2025 be the year that Iris is seen on a butterfly transect in the County for the very first time ever…I really hope so and again your total dedication and total commitment will confirm this spectacular event…again something that I would have not thought possible back in 1981!
Finally a big thank you to the 50 or so volunteers who attended the transect training on Sunday the 16th of March 2025 in Allestree – there were attendees from across the Peak District including Hayfield and Buxton as well as others from both North East Derbyshire and South Derbyshire – we were treated to an exceptional spread of homemade cakes courtesy of Christine Maughan – excellent!
