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The decline continues

30/8/2022

GH, GK and BG walked this week's transect on Monday afternoon. The weather was suitably warm but cloudy (except for a brief interlude when the sun put in an appearance) with a stiff breeze.

The downward trend in numbers reported last week has accelerated rapidly, so although we saw butterflies from six species, the total number of individuals has plummeted to only 24, whereas last week's count was 97. With this decline rate it's feasible that we may run out of butterflies to count before the end of the transect season in four weeks' time. That would be a first!

Count details:
11 Meadow Brown
5 Chalkhill Blue
4 Common Blue
2 Small Heath
1 Small White
1 Speckled Wood
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 pics to enlarge.

Speckled Wood, Hill Wood Field -BG

Worn Female Chalkhill Blue, Stagbury -GK

Goats outnumber butterflies on Coneyboro Hill

GK and friends

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Fewer species and numbers

25/8/2022

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GH, GK and BG walked Monday afternoon's transect (No. 21 of 26) in warm weather with increasing amounts of sun. Despite a couple of light rain showers in recent days, the summer's drought continues and the fields are virtually devoid of flowers to feed any butterflies. These difficult conditions for our butterflies resulted in the lowest ever week 21 count with overall numbers (97) and the species seen (5): these are both 50% of what we've seen in previous years.

Count Details:
49 Meadow Brown
21 Chalkhill Blue
17 Common Blue
7 Small Heath
3 Small White
Click on butterfly names for more info.

The five species that we recorded were in low but not unusual numbers: it was the missing species (that have boosted other years' week 21 counts) that have so reduced this week's figures. In previous years we've seen Brimstones, Small Coppers, Silver-washed Fritillaries, Dark Green Fritillaries, Brown Arguses, Large Whites and Gatekeepers.
As I write this report we've had a few hours of the first heavy rain from several months but this will probably will not benefit our butterfly population.

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 to enlarge.

Common Blue, Hill Wood Field -GK

Female Chalkhill Blue, Stagbury -GK

Brown grass in Harholt Plantation -BG

Artificial grass left at Holly Lane Car Park -GK

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Weather breaking?

17/8/2022

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With this long, very hot and dry summer forecast to end shortly, this week's transect was done by GH, GK and BG on Monday in sultry conditions: a mix of sun and high cloud. The extreme dryness of the ground and desiccated vegetation didn't provide our butterflies with much in the way of flowers upon which to feed but, despite the harsh conditions, we recorded a reasonable number of butterflies from 11 species.

Starting once again on Stagbury Field (Section 11) in the Chalkhill Blues patch, with 8 counted and a further 6 seen on our return on the upper path (Section 10) as we finished our walk. Although this hasn't been a good year for Common Blues, they seem to be holding up well enough. We counted 23 of them, mainly in Fames Rough (Sections 3 & 4), Hill Wood Field (7) and Great Parsons Field (8). Worthy of note was our third Brown Argus of the year: our first dates back to early June and the second to early July – it has been a very poor season for them.

In Section 7 (Hill Wood Field) we came across a largish brown butterfly that glided rather than fluttered. We had a similar experience 2 weeks ago when we thought we'd found a rare (for our area) Grayling but without a photo it was not confirmed, so this time we went to considerable lengths to ensure we got a photograph of it but after investigation it is sadly thought to be a humble Meadow Brown.

Count Details:
85 Meadow Brown
23 Common Blue
14 Chalkhill Blue
4 Small Heath
3 Speckled Wood
2 Small White
1 Brimstone
1 Brown Argus
1 Clouded Yellow
1 Large White
1 Small Copper

Summary: 137 butterflies from 10 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 to enlarge.

Small Copper, Fames Rough -GK

Brown Argus, Fames Rough -GK

Chalkhill Blue, Stagbury Field -GK

Speckled Wood, Harholt Plantation -GK

Close up on our clipboard: the Meadow Brown we hoped was a Grayling -BG

Prevailing conditions: parched grass on Stagbury Field -BG

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A cooler day?

9/8/2022

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With another heat-wave forecast for the later part of the week GH, GK and BG decided to do Transect 19 on Monday when the temperature was only 28 degrees.

Starting at Section 11 (the downward slope of Stagbury Field), we were straight into Chalkhill Blue territory and counted 12, and a further 18 on the top path along the field's edge (Section 10) as we finished our walk. On previous weeks we saw mainly the powder blue males but this week there was a good number of the brown females. Meadow Brown numbers are still holding up fairly well and across all transect sections except Section 5, the link between Fames Rough and Harholt Plantation where we seldom see anything to count anyway. 124 MBs were recorded. The number of Common Blues suddenly shot up to a count of 60, their highest weekly count of 2022.

Count Details:
124 Meadow Brown
60 Common Blue
30 Chalkhill Blue
8 Small Heath
7 Gatekeeper
3 Small Copper
1 Large Skipper
1 Small White
1 Speckled Wood

Summary: 235 Butterflies from 9 species.
Click on butterfly names for more info.

Next Wednesday, 17th August, it's hoped that as many WoodChippers as possible will join the Surrey Wildlife Trust/Butterfly Conservation Trust work party with an aim of taking out an area of encroaching thorn scrub in Fames Rough. As reported regularly in our blog in recent years, the scrub is steadily taking over what was until recently a butterfly-rich flower meadow. See recent emails from Andy, Graham K and Richard C for more details of the work.
Or contact Graham K direct: [email protected]

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

Common Blue, Hill Wood Field

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One that got away

3/8/2022

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GH and BG walked the transect on Monday in warm but frequently cloudy weather. The day's total count was a reasonable one in what is proving to a generally poor year for butterflies.

On the plus side, we recorded our second highest week 18 counts of 42 Chalkhill Blues and 154 Meadow Browns while, on the minus side, Brown Arguses remain mainly absent (with only two seen this year).

In Section 9 (Great Parson's Field) a medium sized dark brown butterfly with pale patches on its hind wings crossed our path then dropped down into the grass. Our initial thought was that it was a Meadow Brown but its flight was not not typical of an MB and neither were the pale patches. Although it allowed us to approach fairly close, it then flew off when I raised my camera. This was a pity because, upon reflection, GH strongly suspects it was a Grayling, a rare visitor for our area – the proverbial one that got away.