Hello Everyone,
Another very changeable week left us with no illusions that Autumn had finally arrived – this was reinforced by some volunteers failing to see a single butterfly on their transect in the County. With Derbyshire being such a diverse area, Chee Dale in the Peak District came up with 82 butterflies in10 species on the transect that was carried out there by John & Anne Coupland on the 9th of September 2025 and similarly Lathkill Dale NNR transect carried out by Peter Faulkner came up with 69 butterflies in 9 species on the same day! Also, it was not all doom and gloom with regards to butterfly species as yet again the Small Copper had another great week with appearances at over 150 sites in Derbyshire – thank goodness for the White butterfly species which once again provided volunteers with sightings throughout the County – this is also reflected in the results for the Big Butterfly Count for 2025 (see the final paragraph below) although numbers are beginning to fall away now due to the longer nights which can be coolish.
Sadly it looks like the flight period of the second brood Wall Brown has come to an end though – the only recent sightings of a few singletons have come from Shiningford, Carsington Water (Gary Atkins), Longstone Edge (Andrew Wilson) and finally on the 7th of September 2025 at High Peak Quarry, Longcliffe ( Bridget Edwards) who saw a very tatty male there. However, as one door closes so another one opens and this is certainly true of the Speckled Wood which is now flourishing in the County with sightings from 130 locations with the highest counts being 28 in Chee Dale on the 9th of September 2025 (John & Anne Coupland), 26 in Lathkill Dale NNR on the 5th of September 2025 (Debbie Worland & Liz Wheeldon) and 20 noted at Witches Oak Water, Shardlow on the 3rd of September 2025 (Rob Shaw). Although sightings of the Small Copper are now widespread across the County, the highest counts have come from the Peak District/ Peak Fringe areas with 24 noted at Shiningford, Carsington Water on the 9th of September 2025
(Saskia Tallis), 17 noted in Dene Quarry on the same day (Jonathan Page) and 20 seen in Lathkill Dale on the 5th of September 2025 (Debbie Worland and Liz Wheeldon)
Other records of interest include :-
Dingy Skipper :- A second brood individual seen in Millers Dale Quarry on the 2nd of September 2025 by Nicky Loveday is the first ever sighting of this Spring butterfly in Derbyshire during September – another sign of climate change.
Clouded Yellow :- A few late sightings of this rare migrant butterfly were made recently with one on the 2nd of September 2025 at Dene Quarry( Martin Cobham), another at the Forge site in Ironville on the 8th of September 2025 (Rob Smith) together with a third seen near Castleton on the 9th of September 2025 (Catherine Chapman).
Common Blue :- Examples of new specimens seen in the County are as a result of a new brood with the highest recent counts coming from Lowland Derbyshire – 19 noted in Salter Wood, Denby on the 5th of September 2025 (Jane Rogers), 13 seen at Doe Lea on the 2ndof September 2025 (Martin Smith & John Clarke) and 12 noted at Markham Pit South on the 5th of September 2025
Debbie Giles & John Metcalfe)
Holly Blue :- The second brood of this species appears to be still on the wing with no definite gap between sightings as the butterfly has been noted almost daily in Derbyshire during this month with the latest being on the 8th of September 2025 in the Hartshorne garden of John Schofield.
Brown Argus :- Both the Migrating and the Peak District versions are down to one or two individuals, although some are in mint condition, with the last sighting of the former species being on the 10th of September 2025 at Witches Oak Water NR, Shardlow (Rob Shaw) whilst the latter version was last seen on the 9th of September 2025 in Coombs Dale(Angela Brooks) and in Deep Dale, Sheldon (Steve & Lin Orridge)
Purple Hairstreak :- A late sighting on the 5th of September 2025 at Northwood, Darley Dale (Christine Gregory)
Brimstone :- Possibly the first of the hibernating butterflies to disappear each year – this year it is still on the wing up to and including the 6th of September 2025 when Steve Tompkins saw an individual in Deep Dale, Sheldon.
Red Admiral :- This species has not reached the dizzy heights of last year’s numbers but there has been a notable number of gatherings at suitable locations such as the table full of rotting plums that Nick Brown and Kath Patrick put out in their Langley Common garden on the 6th of September 2025 which attracted 13 of them having a feast (see attached photo). In addition David Hatfield saw 14 of the species on sedum spectabile in a Buxton garden on the 9th of September 2025, and 15 were seen on buddleia in Whaley Bridge on the 10th of September 2025 (Patrick Anderson) with the maximum count of 17 coming from Millers Dale Quarry on the 2nd of September 2025 (Nicky Loveday)
Small Tortoiseshell :- Still quite scarce in the County with the highest recent counts coming from the Hope Valley on the 2nd of September 2025 when Sally Pereira noted 14 in her Bradwell garden and Helen Perkins noted 9 in her Hope garden
Comma :- Now that ripe blackberries are dripping with juice in the Peak District, there have been a few gatherings of this species on transects, none more so than the 12 seen in Priestcliffe Lees on the 9th of September 2025 (Fiona Hewer). Elsewhere the ivy is beginning to show its fruiting buds and they can be a magnet for a number of butterfly species this month including the Comma.
Small Heath :- Still being seen on the wing mainly in the Peak District where Jay Amin noted 2 on the 9th of September 2025 on the transect in Millers Dale Quarry and 4 were noted on the transect in Deep Dale, Sheldon (Steve & Lin Orridge) on the same day.
Painted Lady :- This migrant butterfly is still hanging on in the County before it starts its long journey south to Equatorial Africa – a total of 18 individuals were noted up to and including the 10th of September 2025 when Patrick Anderson saw an individual on a late flowering buddleia frond in Whaley Bridge.
Humming Bird Hawk Moth :- Unlike the Painted Lady, this migrant moth can now over winter here in Derbyshire so it is no surprise to get records of singletons from 12 locations in the County up to and including the 10th of September 2025 – it was interesting to receive a note of 2 of this species seen on red valerian in the Bradwell garden of Sally Pereira on the 5th of September 2025 though!
Finally, the results for this year’s Big Butterfly Count have just been announced by Butterfly Conservation – as you would expect there has been an increase in butterfly sightings compared to 2024 but overall it has been described as definitely not a bumper year for our beleaguered butterflies Between the 18th of July and the 10th August 2025, over 125,000 citizen scientists got involved in Butterfly Conservation’s Big Butterfly Count – more than ever before – and recorded 1.7 million butterflies and moths, with the top five species being Large White, Small White, Gatekeeper, Red Admiral and Meadow Brown. However here in the East Midlands, the overall numbers of butterflies seen increased from 38,500 in 2024 to 70,000 in 2025 – an increase of 82% (there has been a 90% increase in butterfly numbers on transects up to the end of Week 20 in the Region). The top 5 species recorded in this area were :- Large White; Small White; Gatekeeper; Red Admiral; Peacock and the number of local volunteers involved per County were:- Derbyshire (2,502 no = 45% of Region); Notts (1,601 no = 29% of Region); Leics & Rutland (1,465 no = 26% of Region).
The number of butterflies seen per County were thus :- Derbyshire (30,571 = 44% of Region); Notts ( 19,980 no = 28% of Region),: Leics & Rutland (19,513 no = 28% of Region) – thanks to everyone who took part – yet another success story for the Region.
