Branch Newsletter

HOME__________________________________________________________________________________________________

NEWSLETTER No. 11 - Summer 1984

WEST MIDLANDS BRANCH, BUTTERFLY CONSERVATION

The fact that the last newsletter was published a little earlier than normal meant that a number of reports on butterfly sightings for the 1983 season arrived too late for inclusion. Many of these late reports concerned the Clouded Yellow which managed to survive well into October. As late as the weekend of 22/23 October there were still 10-15 Clouded Yellows at Charlecote Quarry in Warwickshire, including two variation Helice, together with Painted Lady and Small Copper. The previous week a single Clouded Yellow had been spotted by new member John Hodson on the outskirts of Worcester, together with several Small Coppers and incredibly a very tattered male Common Blue. There cannot have been many October records for this species in the Midlands over the years. Keith Iggulden reported a further Clouded Yellow from the Cole Valley near Castle Bromwich on 26th October and the following day Phil Parr saw another along with a Red Admiral during a late holiday in south S. Devon. Clouded Yellows are clearly hardy souls as a number managed to survive the first widespread frost which occurred in the Midlands on the night of 21st October, and one was reported from Stratford on Avon on 29th October flying strongly with an air temperature of less than 10 degrees centigrade. Warwickshire took the honours for the last Clouded Yellow record for the year on the 7th November. There is an interesting report in the Hampshire branch newsletter of Clouded Yellows heading out to sea in late September and early October which perhaps points to some attempt at return migration. The prize for the last butterfly of any species in the Midlands is on its way to Stourport for my own sighting of two male Brimstones near Droitwich on November 9th. The same day I also saw a Common Sympetrum, which proved to be the last dragonfly sighting for the year as well. Dean Warren saw a Small Tortoiseshell as late as 10th December but this was in south London so does not count!

The number and extent of the Clouded Yellow invasion will, of course, never be known. Richard Warren has sent me a detailed account of the records he received which runs to 66 separate reports covering 26 of the 38 10km squares in Staffordshire and involving a minimum of 133 individuals. Although impressive in itself it must be only a tiny fraction of the actual number of butterflies involved. Roger Smith in Warwickshire has almost doubled the number of reported sightings since the publication of our last newsletter. Richard's Staffordshire records seem to confirm the view that the original migration was concentrated in a broad band up through the centre of the country. Indeed, there was only one June sighting within Staffordshire and that was in the north-east of the county close to the Derbyshire border. Derbyshire apparently fared considerably better with quite a number of June records.

Both Richard Warren and Dave Hatton sent in a detailed report of the season in Staffordshire. Apart from the Clouded Yellows a number of interesting points emerged. Amongst these were another July record of Dingy Skipper (see last newsletter), this time from Mottey Meadows; two new sites for Gatekeeper at Stafford and near Newcastle under Lyme; and a sighting of a Ringlet at Coombes Valley RSPB reserve. Small Skipper, Speckled Wood and Comma all continue to extend their range within the county. Richard reports that the former species is now one of the commonest wayside butterflies in places where it was unknown ten years ago. As elsewhere in the region, both Painted Lady and Red Admiral were scarce. Dave Hatton kept careful records of the first and last dates he had seen various species, which is always an informative aspect of butterfly watching. His first Orange Tip for example was not seen until 14th May, considerably later than the previous year, with the main emergence delayed until the end of the month. The White letter Hairstreak was again seen in Staffordshire at a number of known sites plus a new one near Wyrley Common. The RSPB warden at Coombes Valley found 19 larvae on Wych Elm which is very encouraging. Excellent news is the report of a new site for the Small Blue in the Manifold Valley, and they were again seen in low density at their recently discovered locality in the south of the county. Purple Hairstreaks were also reported from a new area south - west of Wolverhampton, and not far away Gareth Robinson spotted three flying around an Ash tree. Edward Haden was fortunate to see a Purple Hairstreak in his garden at Norton near Stourbridge.

While on the subject of Purple Hairstreak, an unusual report has come from Don Steere of one which landed on his chest while he was cycling along London Road in Coventry! Don had also seen 15 Clouded Yellows on a piece of waste land near his home in Coventry. A waste site in Small Heath, Birmingham regularly visited by Jim Cooke had produced 18 species, which just shows how valuable such sites can be. Edward Haden had enjoyed another good season on the piece of land behind his factory in Halesowen, where the branch had done some planting of extra nectar sources in 1983. A new species here was the Orange Tip and there were also very good numbers of Common Blues and Small Skippers.

A number of further White letter Hairstreak records have also come to hand over the last few months. A particularly pleasing record was the one seen at Chaddesley Wood on the 4th August, the first at this locality for several years, which came about as a direct result of the Pollard walk undertaken by branch members Tony Wharton and Patrick and Nicholas Penrose. Another first was the one seen at Hampton Wood, the new WARNACT reserve.

Amongst an interesting set of records submitted by Peter and Debbie Newton-Lewis was a further sighting of Green Hairstreak on the Malverns in early July which corresponds well to the ones seen by Ron Hatton and Bob Sim mentioned in the last newsletter. The Newton-Lewis' were also fortunate to come across a Holly Blue at Chaddesley Woods in late May feeding on Bluebells. August 9th proved to be quite a day with 25 species seen, including Marbled White, Grayling, Brown Argus, Dark Green Fritillary, Clouded Yellow, White Admiral and White letter Hairstreak!

New member, Margaret Vickery, submitted a list of species recorded by Arthur Owens and herself over the Summer. Again, Clouded Yellows were a noticeable feature, but perhaps the most interesting was the sighting of Marbled White at Draycote Reservoir in Warwickshire, some way to the east of the butterfly's main area of concentration within the county. Margaret is working on a new reserve guide for WARNACT and we look forward to this with great interest.

1983 proved to be quite a year for Marbled White vagrants but the one seen by Edward Haden near the Crown Inn at Iverley, Staffordshire must have been a really intrepid explorer. The same correspondent also owned up to murdering a Clouded Yellow on the radiator of his car on the way down to Cornwall in August. Despite, no doubt, heavy carnage by other speeding motorists, he was pleased to find them very numerous during his holiday. Clouded Yellows and Marbled Whites also featured in a very comprehensive set of branch recording forms returned by Gareth Robinson. Included in his sightings was a report of an introduced colony of Marsh Fritillary in West Bromwich! Altogether Gareth recorded 29 species during the year which is good going.

Colin Marsay submitted his customary report of sightings within Warwickshire which included records for some of the county's scarcer species like Small Blue, White Admiral and Marbled White. The White Admiral, as reported in the last newsletter, enjoyed a good season in Warwickshire and it is therefore very distressing to learn via the Keeper of Natural History at Coventry Museum of forty specimens being collected from one woodland location over the season. Peter Newton-Lewis also heard of collectors being active on Cleeve Common in Gloucestershire.

Ron Thomas was able to report a new north Warwickshire locality for the Dingy Skipper which appears to be extending its range in that area along with the Speckled Wood, which had also cropped up at a number of new sites. Ron had also heard of White-letter Hairstreaks and Purple Hairstreaks being recorded from Burbage in Leicestershire. The Branch has few Coleopterists amongst its membership, Dean Warren, however, is one of the few and he sent in details of two unusual beetles he had found in the Branch's Wyre Forest reserve - a green click beetle and a predator of moth larvae.

This Winter has been a curious one with no real settled pattern of weather .Butterfly sightings have been few and far between, although Peter Newton-Lewis heard of a Brimstone being seen in the Wyre Forest on 30th December and another was seen by David Brown at Charlecote, Warks on 4th February. A mild spell in early March brought a small flurry of sightings: a Brimstone at Wadborough on 5th from Bob Sim; a Comma and a further Brimstone the following day near Droitwich; and finally a second Comma seen by the Newton-Lewis, at the Knapp & Papermill, a Worcs N.C.T. reserve on 11th.

Among the more intriguing records which will need further investigation this year was the report of around a dozen Marsh Fritillaries being seen in south Worcestershire in an area totally devoid of its foodplant and the possible rediscovery of the Purple Emperor in the Forest of Dean. What else 1984 has in store for us we shall have to wait and see. Please make a special effort to help the branch in its recording efforts this year and give me a ring (or drop me a line) if you have interesting sightings for the next newsletter.