Blog Archives

Mid-season numbers

29/6/2022

Tuesday's transect 13 marked the half-way point in the butterfly counting season. GH and BG set off in the teeth of a fairly strong SW wind and a sky with more dark clouds than we had expected, but fortunately it was warm enough for butterflies to be active.

The wind was most noticeable on the exposed Hither Field and Coneyboro Hill (sections 1 and 2) but, despite the less than favourable conditions, we saw Meadow Browns and Marbled Whites there. As reported last week, the density of the thorn scrub in Fames Rough has made it impossible to walk the lower path (section 3) and we decided to walk out and back to the far end of FR's upper path as the walk of sections 3 and 4. While we were in FR the clouds lessened allowing much more warm sun for the remainder of the transect.

We recorded 50 Meadow Browns (67 fewer than last week) but had higher counts for the Ringlets and Marbled Whites.

Count Details:
74 Marbled White
50 Meadow Brown
43 Ringlet
14 Small/Essex Skipper
(inc. 2 confirmed Small)
3 Dark Green Fritillary
2 Small Heath
2 Large Skipper
2 Red Admiral
1 Comma
1 Speckled Wood
Summary: 192 Butterflies from
10 species.
2018's total of 1,066 butterflies is our week 13 record.
Click on butterfly names for more info.

Survey by Brian Gardner and Graham H submitted to Butterfly Conservation (UKBMS).
Report and pics by Brian Gardner.
Click on pics to enlarge.

Small Skipper, Fames Rough

Viper's Bugloss, Fames Rough

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Well above average

23/6/2022

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With temperatures around the 28 degrees C mark, Wednesday afternoon's week 12 transect was a hot one and this brought out the butterflies.
The Meadow Browns were the most numerous at 117 (similar to last week's 109) but added to this were 71 Marbled Whites (up from 13 last week), 26 Small/Essex Skippers (up by16) and the first of this season's Ringlets straight in at 29. These figures, along with the smaller counts for 7 other species (see total below), gave a reasonable overall total of 270 butterflies, well above our week 12 average of 226.

Count Details:
117 Meadow Brown
71 Marbled White
29 Ringlet
26 Small/Essex Skipper
8 Common Blue
6 Small Heath
5 Dark Green Fritillary
4 Large Skipper
2 Brimstone
1 Comma
1 Small Tortoiseshell
Summary: 270 butterflies from 11 species. Click on butterfly names for more info.

CLEARANCE NEEDED
We're finding Section 3, the lower path through Fames Rough, is becoming increasingly blocked by thorn scrub, and it has been noticeable over the transects done so far in 2022 that we're not recording so many butterflies in Fames Rough as in previous seasons. The thorn makes it difficult for us to push our way through, seems to be choking out the flowering plants the butterflies feed upon and obscures our sight of any butterflies that may be there. It is vital that the scrub build-up is cleared to restore this important site for both butterflies and their food plants to thrive.

Survey by Brian Gardner, Graham H and Graham K submitted to Butterfly Conservation (UKBMS).
Report by Brian Gardner. Pics by Graham K and Brian G.
Click on pics to enlarge.

Marbled White, Fames Rough

Large Skipper, Stagbury

Meadow Brown, Hill Wood Field

Mating RInglets, Fames Rough - BG

Easier to spot: GK with remains of 50th Birthday/Anniversary balloon littering Hill Wood Field.

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Higher heat, higher numbers

16/6/2022

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Wednesday's transect was the first hot and calm day of the summer and the butterflies responded to these ideal conditions.

We've reported low counts for the ten transects walked so far this year but on this week 11 walk the numbers rocketed to 172, helped up by 109 Meadow Browns. This week's total of 172 beats 2017's week 11 count record by two.

The large number of Meadow Browns, together with the arrival of the first Marbled Whites, hopefully signal the start of the high season. We also saw our first Dark Green Fritillaries and more of the Common Blues. Small Blues were seen in reasonable numbers on the Kidney Vetch flowers at Stagbury Lagoon (not on our transect route) in recent weeks and we're pleased to report having seen one single Small Blue on the sparse KV on Hither Field.

Count details:
109 Meadow Brown
15 Common Blue
13 Marbled White
8 Small/Essex Skipper
7 Large Skipper
5 Dark Green Fritillary
4 Small Heath
3 Small Tortoiseshell
3 Speckled Wood
2 Brimstone
1 Large White
1 Small Blue
1 Small White
Total: 172 butterflies from 13 species.
Click on butterfly names for more info.

Survey by Brian Gardner, Graham H and Graham K submitted to Butterfly Conservation (UKBMS).
Report by Brian Gardner. Pics by Graham K and Brian G.
Click on pics to enlarge.

Dark Green Fritillary, Hill Wood Field -GK

Brimstone on Bramble, Hill Wood Field -GK

Small/Essex Skipper, Fames Rough -GK

Meadow Brown, Hill Wood Field -BG

Small Tortoiseshell, Hill Wood Field -GK

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Numbers down again

10/6/2022

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This is going to sound repetitive, but this week's transect (walked on Thursday) was another very low count – in fact, our lowest Week 10 count of the six years we've been recording butterfly numbers.

The forecast afternoon sun had already vanished before GH and I had started our walk and although the temperature remained high enough it was offset by a strengthening wind. Perhaps if the wind had been kinder more butterflies would have been up and flying.

We counted 8 Meadow Browns, 5 Dingy Skippers and a handful of individuals from seven other species, as shown below.

Here's what we recorded:
8 Meadow Brown
5 Dingy Skipper
3 Common Blue
2 Painted Lady
2 Small Heath
2 Small Tortoiseshell
1 Brimstone
1 Brown Argus (first sighting of 2022)
1 Peacock
Summary: 25 Butterflies from 9 species.
Click on butterfly names for more info.

Survey by Brian Gardner and Graham H submitted to Butterfly Conservation (UKBMS).
Report and pics by Brian Gardner.
Click on pics to enlarge.

Pristine Small Tortoiseshell, Stagbury Field

Tattered Peacock, Fames Rough

Dingy Skipper, Fames Rough

Brown Argus, Fames Rough

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Numbers still low

3/6/2022

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Here we are at Week 10, and we're still waiting for the 2022 season to provide butterflies in anything like their normal numbers. GH and BG walked this week's transect on Thursday and, with a temperature of 24C, plenty of sun and only a gentle breeze, conditions were ideal but this week's total of 34 was disappointing and possibly worrying. The usually reliable highest scoring two sections of Fames Rough were bettered by Hill Wood Field's score of only 8 butterflies.

But it wasn't all bad: we saw our first Large Skipper, Small Tortoiseshell and Meadow Browns.

We also did our usual check of the Kidney Vetch patches, especially as it's now Small Blue season. The KV on Hither Field is just starting to come through and the KV in the fenced-off square in Barn Field is more advanced and has begun flowering but no butterflies were seen there. However we were advised that beside the Stagbury Lagoon there was a a mass of KV in full flower which was attracting numbers of Small Blues. GH and BG went to the Lagoon to investigate after finishing the transect's set route and were amazed to see a sizeable area thick with knee-high bright yellow KV that was busy with bees. Sure enough, there were also SBs flitting about – easy to see but difficult to count because of their small size, their agility and the density of the flowers. We estimated that at any one time there were at least four SBs in sight. The Lagoon's KV is the most successful that we've propagated so far and hopefully will encourage other SBs to visit our other patches as they come into flower.