Hello Everyone, As expected the Spring weather of 2025 was both the warmest and sunniest ever with very little in the way of rain until the last 10 days of May 2025 – this being in sharp contrast to the weather in Spring 2024 which was wet and cold. A quick check on butterfly numbers on transects carried out in the Region during the first 8 weeks since the 1st of April 2025 shows that butterfly numbers have virtually doubled from over 10,000 to over 20,000 during the period although since then numbers have fallen away dramatically due to the change in the weather conditions and the usual ‘June Dip’ when species are between Spring and Summer broods.
Consequently, Week 9 of the transect season was far more of a challenge with some volunteers failing to see even one butterfly on their transect, but at least the brief sunny intervals allowed the Meadow Brown to appear in the County with the first sighting on the 23rd of May 2025 at Shipley View Lagoons (Jim Steele) – this was followed by a general appearance in low numbers at a further 15 sites in the County with the northern point being Woo Dale just south of Buxton on the 31st of May 2025 (Ian & Joy White) and New Mills on the same day (Lucy Pink) – expect this common grassland butterfly to appear at many other sites in Derbyshire very soon, probably quickly followed by the Ringlet (see attached photos for the difference)
Meanwhile the Large Skipper has been recorded at a further 20 sites in the County with a massive count of 20 coming from Maple Field NR above Wirksworth on the 31st of May 2025 (Bridget Edwards) – no confirmed sightings of the Small Skipper yet despite a few false alarms which were in fact Large Skippers – have a look at the attached photos to see the considerable difference in markings between the 2 species.
Pleasingly the new brood Small Tortoiseshell has appeared at 18 sites across the County with 7 being noted on the 28th of May 2025 in the Ripley garden of Brian Romans who informs me that they were tasking nectar from Bowles Mauve Erysimum – not so common this last week was the Painted Lady with just 4 sightings in Derbyshire including one on the 29th of May 2025 in the Parwich garden of Saskia Tallis – you guessed it, it was taking nectar from red valerian! and another seen in the Ripley garden of Brian Romans on the 1st of June 2025 on Bowles Mauve again.
There were very few sightings of other previously recorded species this week with just 1 Wall Brown noted on the 31st of May 2025 at Holloway (Alison Pritchard) and another at Hay Dale on the same day (Joanna Mackey). There were 5 Dark Green Fritillaries noted on Longstone Edge on the 31st of May 2025 (Joanna Mackey) plus an additional one seen on the 28th of May 2025 in Tansley/Cressbrookdale by Gordon & Alison Rooke.
Unfortunately it looks like Week 10 of the transect season will be another challenge with very few sunny days but at least the rain will benefit the plants and grassland as there was a distinct lack of it during the first 8 weeks of the transect season which is in stark contrast to the Spring of 2024. Mind you it could be worse, as 50 years ago today, the first class cricket match between Lancashire and Derbyshire at Buxton was delayed due to overnight snow!
