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Brown Hairstreak in Worcestershire - Bulletin 20

December 2005

Dear Brown Hairstreakers,

Over-indulged at Xmas? Determined to fight the flab in the New Year? Don't fancy being surrounded by superfit people down at the gym? There is but one answer: gain new fitness by becoming the first to add new squares for 2006 to the distribution map of the Brown Hairstreak in Worcestershire. There are miles of footpaths and hedgerows out there still to explore and a chance to gain at least temporary fame by having your record attributed in the Brown Hairstreak ebulletin. Over the years, we have slowly but surely added to our knowledge of the whereabouts of the butterfly in the county by carrying out egg searches during the winter months. This time last year, the Brown Hairstreak was known from 39 1km squares in east Worcestershire but by the end of the winter, through the efforts of local recorders, this had grown to no fewer than 54 squares extending from Himbleton in the west to Inkberrow in the east, and from Naunton Beauchamp in the south to Ham Green in the north. We are pretty certain however that this is not the full extent of the butterfly's distribution and a few targeted walks between now and the end of March may well produce dividends.

Probably the best place to start are the obvious gaps in the current distribution. Using either OS Landranger Map 150 or, even better, OS Explorer maps 204/205/220, squares like SP01/55 (NE of Radford), SP01/58 (E of Stock Wood), SP01/59 (Moreton Underhill), SP00/54 (Westol Hall Farm), SO99/53 (Abberton village), SO94/59 (Phepson), SO94/58 (Himbleton), SO94/57 (Huddington), SO94/56 (Huddington Hill Farm), and SO94/55 (Bow Wood) currently have no records although adjacent squares do. All of the squares have numerous footpaths and, in most cases, plenty of blackthorn in the hedgerows. Beyond this, there are historical records for the old Pershore Airfield, which is a little way south of the current known distribution, and for Trench Wood, where an adult was reported in 2004 but eggs have not yet been found. Wherever one searches, the best places to try are footpaths on the sunny edge of east-west running hedges or along sheltered field or woodland margins. If the hedges have already been flailed, and there is a good chance they will have been, don't be too put off, but look for any blackthorn in the base of the hedge, around gates and entrances or adjacent to hedgerow trees that may have escaped cutting. If you do find eggs, please let us know and the information will be passed on to DEFRA with a view to persuading landowners to enter the Environmental Stewardship scheme. Despite recent well reported hiccups, short of owning our own land (see below), this is still the single most effective instrument for ensuring effective hedgerow management for the Brown Hairstreak and the more farmers that can be persuaded to join the better.. So this is definitely a case of recording with a clear purpose in mind.

Monitoring of the core hedgerows around Grafton Wood, which we count annually, started the week before Xmas and thank you to all those who turned up to help. A very good start was made and we managed 12.25 person hours of searching finding 141 eggs. The same stretches of hedgerow and scrub last year produced 220 eggs so, on the face of it, an over 35% decline in the number of eggs. Having said this, we know that 2004/5 was a record high for egg numbers so some decline was to be expected and the egg totals seen still compare very well with previous years. Indeed, some of our individual hedgerows actually showed an increase, so it will be interesting to see how the rest of the core monitoring works out. Brown Hairstreak eggs are normally found singly, usually within the angle between a spine and the stem of the blackthorn but, as usual, we found a few double eggs (see photo above). No-one really understands what prompts the female Brown Hairstreak to lay multiple eggs (the most we have seen in Worcs is five together, although the all time record is seven!). Whenever you watch females on egg runs, they are surprisingly fussy, often going through the motions of egg-laying without producing the final product, so why they should suddenly go egg crazy in this way is anyone's guess. Thanks to Becky Lashley for providing the photograph.

The same day, John Tilt and myself visited the home of Rosemary Wilson, one of our latest Brown Hairstreak champions. Rosemary already has a blackthorn hedge running along the edge of her property which looks very promising and has now ordered some further blackthorn for planting in a sunny corner of her field, together with a few disease resistant elm trees. Hopefully, the elms when they are established may provide breeding habitat for another species of Hairstreak, the White-letter Hairstreak, which used to be fairly widespread in Worcs but has been severely reduced by the onset of Dutch elm disease. Our next Local Champion egg hunt day is Sunday, 15th January meeting at 10.00am at Grafton Flyford Church. For those that have not been before, each area of blackthorn within the core area has a prescribed search time based on person hours so the more people that come along the greater the number of hedgerows we can cover. If there is a good turnout, we should be able to complete this year's core area count in record time allowing more scope to plot further squares in the distribution map starting with our following field meeting on 29th.

In Bulletin 18, we announced the impending purchase by the Worcestershire Wildlife Trust of Humpy Meadow at Flyford Flavell. This is a remarkable site with thousands of old ant hills and many splendid wild flowers as well as breeding Brown Hairstreak butterflies. The Trust require £40,000 to complete the purchase and is seeking donations towards this. Donations will enable them to complete the purchase of the meadow, carry out hedgerow restoration and management, repair and replace fencing to allow grazing to take place and install a water supply for grazing animals. Every pound raised will be matched by monies from the Vale Landscape Heritage Trust, a local charity who are working to conserve the natural beauty, wildlife and landscape heritage of the Vale of Evesham and surrounding area. Donations made out to the Worcestershire Wildlife Trust should be sent to their headquarters at Lower Smite Farm, Smite Hill, Hindlip, Worcester WR3 8SZ.

A very happy new year and look forward to seeing many of you on 15th. If you have any family or friends who you think might be interested please invite them along.

Mike Williams,
Brown Hairstreak Species Champion