Hello Everyone, Pleasingly the month of March 2025 has had some really pleasant warm and sunny days which has allowed the hibernating butterflies to emerge from their slumber as well as some other species which managed to complete their life cycle, including the first Green Hairstreak on the 26th of March 2025 at Longstone Edge (Al & John Roberts) together with the first confirmed Green Veined White at Whittington on the same day (Paul Townsend) but no Holly Blues as yet. Nevertheless, it has been a strange month with both gardens and the countryside being mostly devoid of butterflies generally…so how peculiar that when all the sightings are added up for the first 3 months of this year, the total now is in excess of those butterflies seen during the same period of 2024!
Last Spring, on Update no 9 dated the 15th of March 2024, I mentioned that the Large Tortoiseshell was moving westwards out of Germany into the Low Countries, so I was very interested to learn from Mark Longdon that a number of the species had been seen earlier this month near Ashford in Kent – were these individuals which had hibernating over last winter or had they been brought across the Channel by the persistent east wind that we all endured during most of March 2025? The chances of seeing this rare butterfly in the County are really slim but never say never is my moto especially during this period of Climate Change . It is over 100 years since the last verified sighting of the species in Derbyshire but 3 sightings in Notts in 2023 and 1 sighting in Lincs in 2022 gives us all food for thought! Naturally I would need some photographic evidence if you think that you have seen this species in the County. The species hibernates in hollows of trees and within log piles and a single new brood is seen during July along woodland edges (with Sallows) and hedgerows(with Elms) and as well as seeking nectar from flowers, it likes sap that oozes from tree wounds.
Kyle Winney of the DWT has set up a couple of new butterfly transects in the White Peak, at Priestcliffe Lees and Cowdale – if you are interested to survey butterflies at either or both of these sites, please apply using the links below:
Butterfly Transect – Priestcliffe Lees
https://derbyshirewt.teamkinetic.co.uk/volunteers/opportunity/10238221
Butterfly Transect – Cowdale
https://derbyshirewt.teamkinetic.co.uk/volunteers/opportunity/10238213
Just a reminder that transect Record Sheets should be completed each week, even if there is a Nil count, and copied to everyone in the Group, together with myself, so that the next volunteer is aware as to what has been seen the previous week on the transect.
Please find attached copies of blank Transect Recording Form together with an example of the Casual Recording Sheet in Excel which I would be pleased if you could use a copy of this for your casual sightings in the same format – some recorders email this to me every week whilst others email it to me monthly, dependant on how many records they have – this will help me tremendously in the inputting of data into the National Database. Hopefully all volunteers have now received a copy of the transect rota for their sites – if not, then please email me and I will try and get it sorted for you.
As there are now nearly 1,800 recipients of this Update, in a bid to cut down the amount of time that I spend on my computer, I will not be acknowledging receipt of butterfly casual and/or transect records again this year but as previously mentioned, you can get an automatic acknowledgement from me if you carry out the following simple task – when you go into Outlook, go to Options on the top line, click on 2 boxes (Request a Delivery Receipt and Request a Read Receipt) This will then automatically confirm my receipt of your email as soon as I open it – simples! Naturally I will respond to any of your queries, especially those relating to the I D of butterflies in the usual way, or if I have any queries on your recording forms before inputting the data on to UKBMS. Thanks also goes out to all the100 or so inputters of transect data on to UKBMS for me which again saves me valuable time and thus allows me to compile these Updates in detail along with attaching your brilliant photos!.
So what will 2025 bring to our County – will the Essex Skipper move further north west beyond the Buxton area – last year it finally arrived at Lightwood above Buxton, will His Imperial Majesty (aka the Purple Emperor) be recorded on a transect in woods in the South of the County and will the Wall Brown continue its journey eastwards into North East Derbyshire? Only your sightings will prove any of this!
Good Luck to everyone and a big thank you for your total commitment – let’s keep the East Midlands Region at the top of the transect league table for yet another year as 2025 is the 50th Anniversary of Transect Recording in the UK.
