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NEWSLETTER No. 15 -  Summer 1986

WEST MIDLANDS BRANCH, BUTTERFLY CONSERVATION

 

Conservation Corner

Operation Hairstreak.

A report on the second year of the White Letter Hairstreak project appears elsewhere in the Newsletter, and it is certainly pleasing to hear of further new colonies being found, including those based on Common Elm rather than Wych Elm. In a continuation of the Branch's work on the suitability of hybrid disease resistant Elms to the butterfly, three different varieties have now been planted in a hedgerow at Nunnery Wood Country Park, where a small colony of butterflies was discovered by Phil Williams last year, surviving on
suckered Elm. These Elms are already affected by Dutch Elm disease, so this experiment should show not only whether the butterfly is capable of switching to the hybrids, but also exactly how well the hybrids themselves resist the close proximity of the dreaded disease. We are grateful to Hereford & Worcester County Council and in particular the staff of the Countryside Service, for their interest and assistance.

Branch Recording Scheme.

All members are urged to take part in the Branch's recording scheme which operates as part of the national distribution scheme organised by Roger Sutton, the B.B.C.S. national recorder. While general records are always welcome, we are especially interested in reports of the more local and rarer species (information given in confidence will be respected). These 'target' species are as follows:

Dingy and Grizzled Skippers, Brown/Northern Argus, Small Blue, Chalkhill Blue, Silver-studded Blue, Green Hairstreak, Purple Hairstreak, White Letter Hairstreak and Brown Hairstreak, Duke of Burgundy, Purple Emperor, High Brown, Dark Green and Silver-washed Fritillaries, Pearl and Small Pearl Bordered Fritillaries, White Admiral, Marsh Fritillary, Large Tortoiseshell, Wood White, Large Heath, Grayling, Marbled White.

We are happy to receive records from anywhere in the U.K. but we are most interested in those counties falling within the area presently covered by the West Midlands Branch i.e. Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands and Worcestershire. Report forms should be returned by 31st October each year to the Branch Recorder, Pete Salmon.

National Trust Survey.

Reference has been made in previous newsletters of a biological survey being carried out by the National Trust in an attempt to assess the wild value of their properties. We have now been asked by the National Trust for our help in surveying a number of potentially good sites from a butterfly viewpoint. These are as follows:

Staffordshire: Hawksmoor.
Shropshire: Wenlock Edge Woods, Wilderhope Manor Estate - Stanway Coppice
Hereford & Worcester: Brockhampton Estate.
Gloucestershire: Dover's Hill, Chipping Campden Littleworth Wood, Snowshill, Crickley Hill.

Members willing to visit any of the aforementioned over the Summer should contact the Branch organiser, as it will be necessary to obtain permission to view areas not normally open to the public. We already have the beginnings of a small survey team to look at Brockhampton Estate, which includes a number of promising woodlands and it would be excellent if we could adopt a similar approach with the other sites. Records from any other National Trust properties are also welcome.