Butterflies in the rain

7/7/2021

Wednesday was the day we'd selected for transect 14. The weather forecast was for better conditions than we were actually faced with at the start – windy with light rain. We thought that would deter any butterflies but even on a bleak Section 1 (Hither Field) we saw a Dark Green Fritillary, a Large Skipper, a Marbled White and two Meadow Browns. As we passed Section 1's still flowering Kidney Vetch, GK measured how far the furthest outlying clump of KV had spread from the plot of our original KV planting and found it was an impressive 40 metres.

In Sections 2, 3 and 4 (Coneyboro and Fames Rough) we recorded a minor explosion in the number of Marbled Whites, and in Section 3 (the outward path through Fames Rough) we saw our first Ringlets of the season. We saw no butterflies in Sections 5 and 6 and so, as we emerged from the comparative shelter of Harhalt into the driving rain of Hill Wood Field, we called a halt to the transect as conditions were worsening.

Here are the figures recorded for Sections 1 to 6:
66 Marbled White
15 Meadow Brown
12 Ringlet
7 Small Skipper
2 Dark Green Fritillary
1 Large Skipper
1 Small Heath
Click on butterfly names for more info.
Total: 104 butterflies from 7 species.

Male Small Skipper, Fames Rough

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.