WOODCHIPS
  • Home
  • About Us
  • The area we cover
  • Featured creatures
  • Our Butterflies
    • Butterfly Blog
  • Toolkit
  • Photo Competition
  • WoodChips Blog
  • Countryside Videos
  • CONTACT/MORE INFO

Butterfly Blog

And finally ...

26/9/2021

0 Comments

 
The week's weather was forecast to deteriorate after the weekend and so we decided to do this year's final transect on Sunday afternoon. In anticipation of the Ramblers Rest car park being full for a lunchtime start, we parked in Holly Lane and picked up the transect route at the fenced-off pit in Stagbury Field and then proceeded in anti-clockwise (reverse) sequence from Section 10.
We saw no butterflies at all in our first two sections (10 and 9) and a single Red Admiral in Section 8 (Barn Field). In Section 7 (Hill Wood Field) we saw four butterflies, including a close-up view of a Brown Hairstreak who posed nicely for the camera. From Sections 7 and back to 12 there were only a handful of Meadow Browns and Common Blues, but also a passing Clouded Yellow on Section 2 (Hither Field).
Count for Transect 26:
8 Meadow Brown
3 Common Blue
2 Brown Argus
1 Brown Hairstreak
1 Clouded Yellow
1 Comma
1 Small Copper
1 Small White
Click on butterfly names for more info.
Total: 18 Butterflies from 8 species.
From the start of April to the end of September we've walked 23 of the possible 26 transects and recorded a total of 3,295 butterflies from 33 species.


PS. Look out for my report covering our ‘butterfly year’.
Picture
Brown Hairstreak, Hill Wood Field


​Survey by Brian Gardner, Graham H and Graham K submitted to Butterfly Conservation (
UKBMS). ​
Report by Brian Gardner. 
​Pics by GK. 
​
Click on pics to enlarge.
Picture
Worn Small Copper, Hither Field
Picture
Common Lizard, Fames Rough
Picture
And it's goodbye from the transectuals until next year: Graham K, Roger Vye, Brian Gardner and Graham H.

Seasonal berries on the transect

Guelder Rose (Viburnum opulus), Coneyboro Hill
Black Bryony, Coneyboro HIll
Hawthorn berries, Hill Wood FIeld
Sloes, Hill Wood Field
0 Comments

Last but one ...

23/9/2021

0 Comments

 
The weather for Wednesday's penultimate transect of 2021 was superb, but the day's count strongly pointed toward the end of this year's butterfly season: there were some frail and worn butterflies out there. The overall tally of 42 from 7 species was good when compared with Week 25 scores from previous years (2016 was 13, 2017 was 30, 2018 was 14, 2019 was 50 and 2020 was 32).
Here's what we counted:
29 Meadow Brown
  3 Common Blue
  3 Small White
  2 Brown Argus
  2 Small Heath
  2 Speckled Wood
  1 Comma
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 GK and BG. 
​
Click on pics to enlarge.
Worn Brown Argus, Fames Rough
Worn Speckled Wood, Harholt
Meadow Brown, Fames Rough
Herdwick, Section 9
Picture
Two of the team (plus Treacle) climbing out of Fames Rough. -Brian G
0 Comments

Sunny intervals

15/9/2021

0 Comments

 
Despite the slightly cool and unpromising sky when we started Wednesday's count, the sun soon started to make occasional appearances, lifting the temperature and the butterflies along with it. 
 
The 74 butterflies we recorded were half the number of last week's total, but on the plus side we counted 12 species, our best score since early August. Among these were several 'exotic' species: 3 Brown Hairstreaks on Hill Wood Field, a Painted Lady in Fames Rough, a Comma while negotiating the thorns, brambles and nettles between Fames Rough and Harholt Plantation, and a Red Admiral in Harholt P. Two of the Brown Hairstreaks were flying in the oaks on the top edge of Hill Wood Field where only a few weeks previously there had been Purple Hairstreaks. The third Brown Hairstreak was flying in the blackthorn bushes on the lower edge of the field – spotted just as GH commented that he'd never seen one on its blackthorn food plant! 
Summary:
41 
Meadow Brown
  7 Small White
  6 Common Blue
  5 Small Heath
  4 Brown Argus
  3 Brown Hairstreak
  3 
Speckled Wood
  1 Comma
  1 Green-veined White
  1 Painted Lady
  1 
Red Admiral
  1 Small Copper
 Click on butterfly names for more info.
Total: 74 butterflies from 12 species.
Survey by Brian Gardner, Graham H and Graham K submitted to Butterfly Conservation (UKBMS). 
​Report by Brian Gardner.
Pics by Graham Kenward. 
​
Click on pics to enlarge.
Painted Lady, Fames Rough
Brown Hairstreak, Hill Wood Field
Comma on Blackberry, Harholt Plantation
Brown Hairstreak upperside, Hill Wood Field
Green-veined White on Field Scabious, Fames Rough
Red Admiral, Harholt Plantation
Sun Fly and Common Blue, Fames Rough
Common Darter, Fames Rough
Picture
Increasing scrub in the sadly neglected Fames Rough (and Coneyboro Hill) is making life difficult for butterflies and the volunteers who count them. The access path used by our team is rapidly disappearing under the rampant growth. Unfortunately, these areas do not fall under our remit, so we cannot currently maintain them.
0 Comments

Highest score

7/9/2021

0 Comments

 
On Monday, the day chosen  for our transect, the hot weather returned and it was oppressively humid too. The warmth and late-summer sunshine brought out the year's remaining butterflies and also a Red Admiral and  Small Tortoiseshell that could over-winter through to next year, if they can feed up sufficiently and find suitable shelter for their hibernation.  
 
This week's total count of 141 butterflies is the highest week 23 score since we started doing the transects in 2016 when the count was 62. It was 66 in 2017, 35 in 2018, 112 in the superb butterfly summer of 2019,  and 48 in 2020.  However, this week's count is no indicator of any upward trend, as 2021's annual count looks like it will result in a lower than average total number. Below right are annual figures for three common species that show marked or even alarming declines.  These drops in numbers may be due to normal seasonal variations or may be proof of an overall deterioration in environmental conditions. 
      
Survey by Brian Gardner and Graham H submitted to Butterfly Conservation (UKBMS). 
​Report and pics by Brian Gardner. Click on pics to enlarge.
Summary of this week's count:
70 
Meadow Brown
29 Common Blue
25 Brown Argus
  6 Small White
  4 Brimstone
  2 Small Heath
  2 Speckled Wood
  1 Red Admiral
  1 Small Copper
  1 Small Tortoiseshell
 Click on butterfly names for more info.
Total: 141 from 10 species.
Picture
Small Tortoiseshell
Picture
Picture
Speckled Wood
Picture
Autumn Gentian, Fames Rough
0 Comments

Unappealing weather

2/9/2021

0 Comments

 
Tuesday's transect was walked in cloudy, lukewarm weather which, from the numbers we counted, did not greatly appeal to the butterflies. The number of species was down to only 5 compared with last week's 11, and the total count of butterflies was 104, against 221 last  week.
Here's what we saw:
79 
Meadow Brown
15 Brown Argus
  8 Common Blue
  1 Small Copper
  1 Speckled Wood
​
Click on butterfly names for more info.
Survey by Brian Gardner and Graham H submitted to Butterfly Conservation (UKBMS). 
​Report and pic by Brian Gardner. Click on pic to enlarge.
Picture
Brown Argus
0 Comments
    Picture

    The Transectuals

    Here you'll find details and pictures from the team carrying out our regular  butterfly surveys (known as transects) over 26 weeks during Spring and Summer.

    Archives

    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Picture

​
​Give us a call

01737 363013‬


Send us an email

woodchips1@btinternet.com
See blog for latest info
The content on this website is subject to copyright of the WoodChips and their volunteers. Please get in touch if you wish to use any of the text or pictures.
  • Home
  • About Us
  • The area we cover
  • Featured creatures
  • Our Butterflies
    • Butterfly Blog
  • Toolkit
  • Photo Competition
  • WoodChips Blog
  • Countryside Videos
  • CONTACT/MORE INFO