HOME__________________________________________________________________________________________________

NEWSLETTER No. 44 -  Autumn 1999

WEST MIDLANDS BRANCH, BUTTERFLY CONSERVATION

 

Reports on Trips

This Newsletter has reports on most of the events in the 1999 summer calendar, in the hope that members who have yet to come on a trip will be tempted. – Ed

 

Wyre Forest – 12 June

The Vagaries of an English Summer - not a Vestige of Sun.

The itinerary for the day 12th June 1999 was to be a repeat of that of the 17th of May 1998 when 35 members descended on Wyre Forest in brilliant sunshine and a record total of 68 Grizzled Skippers, 48 Pearl-bordered Fritillaries together with a further 11 species were recorded.

Twelve months on, our expectations were dampened. During the day the sun never broke through a low cloud base and the temperature stubbornly remained at 16oC. Despite the uncompromising weather conditions, the party of four, Dean Fulton, a new member, Mike Williams, Pat and I had an enterprising day, veering into the wide world of natural history.

During a period of four hours various habitats produced a total of 4 butterflies of 3 species, a single Common Blue, Speckled Wood and 2 Pearl-bordered Fritillaries - the target species of the day. Had it not been for the damp conditions our attention would not have been drawn to many spiders’ webs at ground level. Our curiosity was heightened by each having an inverted ‘honey-pot’ funnel, one of which contained the wings, all that remained, of a Blood Vein Moth.

A further small incident was whilst watching two fallow deer one a very dark form, we were distracted by a noisy flypast of three greater spotted woodpeckers.

Yes despite the vagaries of the English weather we four had an excellent day in the Forest, our thoughts focussed on warmer climes 12 months hence on a voyage of discovery to the Spanish Pyrenees to celebrate the Millennium - the motto for the murky day was “think positive”.

Frank Lancaster

Excursion to Glen Cova - Balmoral Estate, 2-5 July

Scotland did seem a bit too far for another Branch mapping weekend in early July, but there were six members willing to undertake the expedition. Travelling up on Friday, there were to be two days of intensive surveying, then back on Monday. Although over 400 miles to Glen Cova (northeast of Stirling), the journey passed by without hiccups. The accommodation booked was in a Boys Brigade Camp complex, right at the end of the Glen. It was an excellent choice, adjacent to a tumbling burn, with dippers, grey wagtails, goosanders and the frequent calls of nesting oystercatchers. All this framed with a backdrop of scenic mountains. One drawback was a million midges at any time of day!

On the Friday evening we enjoyed a slide show of the area, given by the local warden, but by Saturday morning some typical Scottish weather moved in, mist on the tops and rain. Undeterred by this, a trek was made up into the mountains with another warden to see how an SSSI, in the form of a mountain corrie, was managed. Miles of deer fencing to protect the special alpine plants, gave us all a chance to see some specialities, not seen before. There were glimpses of red deer, and yet another million midges to eat us alive.

Sunday was altogether a much better butterfly day, with two groups for most of the day, setting off in opposite directions, to explore other glens that led up into the mountains. Although like England a lot of the area was devoid of butterflies, small colonies of Small Pearl-bordered were discovered, one Northern Brown Argus, one Common Blue and a Dark Green Fritillary, plus a few other commoner species.

By the end of the day lot of territory had been explored and mapped, plenty of wonderful scenery viewed and in excellent company. Not least was the filling up of some very empty squares in our mapping project.

A big thanks to the organisers who arranged the trip.

Garth Lowe