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No. 38 NEWSLETTER Winter 1997

WEST MIDLANDS BRANCH, BUTTERFLY CONSERVATION

 

This project, a first for the West Midlands branch, was born out of the enthusiasm of Dr. Linda Barnett who several years ago, during her time as branch Moth Officer, designed a home-made moth trap for sale to members, with a view to promoting the awareness of the 700 British macro moths, including migrants, which are there to be discovered throughout the twelve months of the year. Three of the traps were bought by Peter Darch, Mike Williams and myself and have been used mainly in gardens for want of an electric power supply or generator.

Wyre Forest has been the venue for moth trapping by the few for very many years usually based on running an occasional single trap located on the periphery of the Forest. This new long term project located in the heart of the 6,000 acre Forest is based on the multiplicity of five moth traps and two 1,000 watt halogen lamps. Thanks to the close collaboration that has been built up over the past five years with the Ministry of Defence, a 5 month project was launched in June 1997 when a secluded, private 40 acre site was made available to Butterfly Conservation and the Wyre Forest Study Group to undertake a comprehensive moth survey. The success of this project has exceeded expectations and is to continue for the full 12 months of the year. Wyre Forest spans both Worcestershire and Shropshire and this particular site falls into the latter county. Over the five occasions so far that trapping has taken place almost 140 species of macros have been recorded including a number of notable species which have been recorded very rarely in Shropshire. These include Angle-striped Sallow, Black Arches, Marbled White Spot (see Summer newsletter) and Waved Black. A fitting climax to this first stage of the project came at the last of our planned monthly surveys in October with no fewer than three Merveille du Jour, surely one of the most spectacular of all moths.

A detailed report will be produced at the conclusion of the project. In the meantime members wishing to become better acquainted with this private site are urged to attend the work day on 18th January next year to help improve the habitat further for Pearl-bordered Fritillary, Grizzled Skipper and Small Heath as well as the moths.

Frank Lancaster

 

Conservation Corner

Future of annual Conservation review

With the formation of separate branches for Gloucestershire and now Warwickshire, it has been decided that the 1996 annual review covering the entire West Midlands region will be the last to be published in the existing format. In future, each of the three branches covering the region will be responsible for providing its own annual report to members. How this is done will no doubt vary from branch to branch but, in the case of West Midlands branch, our annual review will now be encompassed in the Spring Newsletter, which has the advantage that all members will receive a copy as of right rather than being expected to pay an additional charge as has been the norm up to now. In order to produce a report to this timescale, however, members and other recorders will need to ensure that all records and transect data are received by the branch by 31st December at the very latest. Can all transect recorders please list separately the butterflies for each tetrad covered by the transect. Any records received after this date run the risk of not being included in the report. As normal, all general records should be passed to the Branch Recorder and transect data to the Conservation Officer. Anyone still requiring copies of the 1996 Annual Review should send a cheque for £3.00 to Mike Williams (please make cheque out in favour of Butterfly Conservation West Midlands branch).
Calling all Staffs and Salop members

Your branch needs you! We have only two full recording seasons left to map Staffs and Salop butterflies for the new Millennium Atlas to be published by Butterfly Conservation at the beginning of the next century. Thanks to the sterling efforts of Richard Southwell who has had great success in encouraging Worcestershire members to record butterflies local to where they live (see separate article), the recording situation in the southern half of the branch’s area is now much healthier but the situation in our two northern counties is less good. Please, please make a real commitment to send in all records (including the common species) in 1998, plus any records you may already have for this year or previous years. We need location details and ideally a date and grid reference. Special recording forms are available from the Branch Recorder but we are happy to receive records in any form as long as you include your name, address and preferably phone number in case we need to get back to you. For 1998 we are looking for volunteers who might be willing to take responsibility for encouraging other members and non-members from their local area to send in records. Our experience has been that the personal approach to members really seems to pay off and this is something that works much better on a local level. If you feel that you might be able to help in this vital work (all expenses paid!) please contact Andy Nicholls or Digby Wood as soon as possible.

Winter conservation work

A full programme of winter works days is again planned and we hope that these will continue to be well supported by members. Almost all our effort is focused on improving habitats for our rarer butterflies and moths and we always welcome new faces to our work parties. A new site that we intend working on this coming season is Hunthouse Wood NR near Clows Top in Worcestershire, where members enjoyed a guided walk with the warden, Andrew Santer, last Summer. (see page 15 “Dates for your diary”, 14th December for conservation work details).

Regional Action Plan implementation

Mention was made in the last Conservation Corner of the impending completion of the West Midlands Regional Action Plan. With help from the Wareham office this has now been published and is in the process of being sent out to our conservation partners, local authorities and other agencies involved in biodiversity planning. The final plan which is in two volumes provides detailed conservation priorities for 22 high and medium priority butterflies and 6 high priority moths. It also details the key areas and sites for Lepidoptera where our main conservation effort needs to be focused. The plan has already received very favourable comment from several quarters and we hope its publication will assist partner organisations to set their own priorities. At the same time, we hope that the completed plan will be of help to those other Butterfly Conservation branches nationally who are in the process of grappling with their own RAP and who may be able to benefit from our experience. The plan, of course, is not an end in itself but rather a beginning and the key to its success will be the extent to which the actions and targets proposed can be implemented on the ground. For our part, the three branches who make up the West Midlands region have collectively agreed to set up a regional conservation fund pro rata to their respective membership. This fund will be under the control of the regional Conservation sub-committee, administered through the West Midlands branch, and will be available to support high priority butterfly and moth projects. The Committee will meet later this autumn to begin discussing priorities for 1998.

Essex Skipper arrives in Worcestershire!

As predicted in the 1996 Conservation Review, the Essex Skipper has made it into Worcestershire, after its recent colonisations of Warwickshire and, more recently, Gloucestershire. Rather galling was that the first records came from two holidaying members from Suffolk who, to add insult to injury, came across the butterfly at Monkwood NR! Not realising the significance of their find, their discovery only came to light at the end of September when they passed on their records to Digby. This is certainly an intriguing report and, if a genuine colonisation, must beg the question as to whether the butterfly has colonised from the east or south. Either way there is much searching to be organised next summer to try to answer this question. If the Gloucestershire experience is anything to go by and this is not a casual release (sadly, always a possibility), it is likely that the butterfly will be found over a wide area.

Mike Williams