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March 2007
Dear Brownhairstreakers,
A lot to report on since the last ebulletin and difficult to know where to
start. Following on from our last Brown Hairstreak egg hunt day at the end of
January, two of our new Local Champions, Roger and Linda Drew, proved they had
well and truly got their eye in by finding 5 eggs in five minutes on their own
land near the Red Lion at Bradley Green. Roger went on to subsequently find
another ten over the course of the next few days! A little further north, Trevor
Bucknall, had success in finding eggs in three new 1km squares at SO9964/SP0064
and SP0263. The first two along the road from Redditch towards Hanbury are the
furthest north yet recorded and open up the possibility of other squares in this
vicinity. The latter record was at an altitude of 354 feet which is quite high
for Brown Hairstreaks who generally favour much more low lying land for egg
laying. The challenge issued in the last ebulletin of looking for eggs over the
border into Warwickshire was taken up by local champion Bob Dunnett who searched
the area around Bevington Waste and also the southern part of Weethley Wood. He
reported very little suitable blackthorn and unfortunately no eggs. It may be
that the area further north going towards Redditch might be more productive
where there is still extensive woodland. Apart from Trevor's records, the only
other new square to report is SO9353 just south-west of Upton Snodsbury where I
found an egg on 11th February. Interestingly, this was on a hedgerow I had
searched unsuccessfully in previous seasons and is further evidence of expansion
of range.
We believe that this continuing expansion in the distribution of the Brown
Hairstreak (now found in 134 1km squares) is attributable in part to the number
of landowners entering Countryside Stewardship or Environmental Stewardship as
it is now known. This agri-environment scheme provides payments to farmers who
manage their land for environmental benefit. Key from a Brown Hairstreak point
of view is rotational management of hedgerows and ensuring, where new hedges are
to be planted, that there is a high blackthorn content. Butterfly Conservation
has worked closely with DEFRA in the operation of the scheme within the Forest
of Feckenham offering support at training days and making comments on proposed
schemes. We are also pleased to offer advice to those thinking about entering
the scheme or needing help in finding out whether the Brown Hairstreak is
breeding locally. The most recent example of this was last Sunday when Rob &
Rose Mabbett, Trevor Bucknall and myself visited a farm near Bradley Green that
was considering a Higher Level Stewardship application. The farm contained some
excellent blackthorn habitat over a wide area and we found eggs very easily.
Indeed, the number of eggs suggested a strong local population of Brown
Hairstreaks and there are a number of privately owned woodlands in the vicinity
which may pay a visit if we can arrange access.
In the afternoon, the four of us went on to follow up old Brown Hairstreak
records from the late Jack Green, former butterfly recorder for Worcs, for what
we have recently discovered is Defford Airfield. Jack in an article written for
an entomological magazine in the early 90s had referred to eggs being found at a
"perimeter dispersal point on a disused airfield". Initially, we had assumed
that this referred to Pershore airfield which, given our knowledge of the
current distribution of the Brown Hairstreak, seemed more likely but apparently
not. Defford area is still well to the south of the known range and despite
searches of likely looking spots we were not successful in making Brown
Hairstreak history. Our suspicion is that this part of Worcs has changed
considerably in landscape character over the last thirty years and not for the
better. Blackthorn is certainly nowhere near so prevalent as it is within the
core area and the blackthorn we did find had been largely flailed. We explored
various locations on all sides of the airfield but to no avail. Obviously, one
visit is not sufficient for us to conclude that the butterfly is no longer found
in this area but it certainly did not look very promising. Given that we know
that Brown Hairstreak colonies are generally centred on areas of woodland, it
may be that a thorough search of nearby Croome Perry Wood and even Deerfold Wood
might prove worthwhile. There is certainly extensive blackthorn present in both
woods and I did explore the south eastern edge of Deerfold on my way home but to
no avail.
The other area of interest at the moment in terms of looking for Brown
Hairstreak eggs is the M5 corridor to the east of Droitwich and Worcester
between junctions 5 and 7. This follows the discovery of a female near a
motorway bridge at Oddingley last autumn and recent contact with the Highways
Agency. This sighting was not that far from the Worcestershire Wildlife Trust HQ
at Lower Smite Farm and Steve Bloomfield from the Trust has agreed to carry out
a survey of the farm hedgerows and report back. A quick visit on Sunday showed
plenty of suitable blackthorn in the vicinity so definitely worth a proper
search. At present, the M5 motorway forms the western boundary of the known
distribution of the Brown Hairstreak in east Worcestershire and, if we can show
that the butterfly has indeed crossed the motorway, this would be fantastic
news.
We have referred several times in past ebulletins to the Vision Mapping project
run by the Worcestershire Biodiversity Partnership and supported by the Heritage
Lottery Fund. This project has now ended although we are very pleased to hear
that the Project Officer, Becky Lashley, who has been a great champion for Brown
Hairstreak conservation over the past two years, has been appointed as
Biodiversity Action Plan Manager for the Biodiversity Partnership while the
current manager is away on maternity leave. One of Becky's first duties will be
to revise the various action plans for the county including that for the Brown
Hairstreak! A final report on the Vision Mapping project has now been produced
which makes very interesting reading. One of Becky's big achievements was to
successfully engage both schools and the wider community in undertaking wildlife
surveys and monitoring. Himbleton First School became our first School Brown
Hairstreak Champion in 2005 through Becky's efforts and I was delighted to read
in the report that children at the school are now being taught via their
Alphabet Book that B is for Brown Hairstreak butterfly (see photo)! The Vision
Maps produced by the project can be found via the Worcs Biodiversity
Partnership's website at www.worcestershire.gov.uk/biodiversity
The CSV Action Earth campaign, this year sponsored by Morrisons Supermarkets,
kicks off this month and is offering grants to community and voluntary groups
throughout England & Wales looking to improve their local environment (see
www.actionearth.org.uk for full details). As part of the campaign, we are
planning a blackthorn management day on Sunday, 11th March meeting at 10.00 am
at Grafton Flyford Church. We shall be looking to coppice a very overgrown farm
hedgerow to provide new habitat for egglaying and local Brown Hairstreak
Champions plus anyone interested are encouraged to come along to assist.
Stop Press: Egg at the edge of a playing field in Hanbury village which is
another new 1km square SO9663 recorded by Trevor Bucknall on 1st March making
our 135th square. This represents our 23rd new egg square so far this winter
which is an almost 22% increase in known range. We only have a few more weeks
left of the "egging season" and it will be interesting to see if we can reach
the 140 mark before the end of March.
Mike Williams,
Brown Hairstreak Species Champion