Neil Hulme

[millerd]

That's a splendid Swallowtail caterpillar, Neil. It does make you wonder how many more there might be lurking in vegetable gardens along the south coast... All it needs is for them to find one another when they emerge next spring.

I imagine we know more about the behaviour and habits of the Long-Tailed Blue from your observations of its now-regular incursions to the UK than was perhaps known worldwide before!

Cheers,

Dave

[Allan.W.]

Hello Neil, On the subject of Swallowtails , someone in the Rye area of Sussex ,found 8-9 Swallowtail caterpillars on Fennel in their
garden ,and took them to the Rye Harbour nature reserve ,where most (or possibly all !) succsessfully pupated ,and are being kept for release
next year .............................this was on someones blog ,but i can,t for the life of me ,remember who,s !!
Regards Allan.W.

[Pete Eeles]

this was on someones blog ,but i can,t for the life of me ,remember who,s !!

https://sussexwildlifetrust.org.uk/news ... 9dff843170

Cheers,

- Pete

[Allan.W.]

Well done Pete ! Thanks for that ! Allan.W.

[David M]

...the White Storks, which successfully bred this year, are a firm favourite with the visitors.

No surprise there, Neil. Absolutely majestic birds...even the branch jutting out to the right of the nest looks like it's paying homage to them!

Good to see a few Swallowtail larvae have been discovered. I don't recall any adults being reported earlier in the year. It's hard to know how such an imposing butterfly goes incognito.

How do you manage to find these black adders? I've yet to see one even though these snakes are pretty common in the Swansea area.

[Neil Hulme]

Thanks, Dave, Allan, Pete and David.

I think there's plenty known about the Long-tailed Blue from around the world, but the real lessons being learned are about what's happening at the very northerly limits of its annual movements. For me, the exciting part is the increasingly large body of evidence for a return flight south, at least by the gravid females. I don't believe that this is a fruitless adventure northwards, as has been widely suggested in the past.

We have seen a few adult gorganus Swallowtails reported along the South Coast this summer but, as always, the majority will go unseen or unreported. Only recently I spoke to someone who had seen the butterfly in Deep Dene this year, but hadn't reported it anywhere. A few more larvae have recently been discovered in the Hastings area. I suspect there are far more out there than we realise.

Black Adders seem to be more localised than rare, perhaps reflecting the isolation of some populations. On one site, a few years back, I saw five Adders in a morning; all were black!

BWs, Neil

[Neil Hulme]

Brighton Blues Festival (Part 6) 17.9.20 & 21.9.20

The emergence of fresh, Sussex-born females (and a few more males) continued during the period between 'Super Sunday' (13 September) and my next visit to Whitehawk Hill. I'm aware of one pairing on 14 September, and a further three on 15 September! However, things had quietened down again by 17 September, when I saw only about 15 individual males, none being in pristine condition.

21 September was more productive, with a minimum of 20 LTBs flying, including two fresh males and one female. The latter butterfly was tiny (about the size of a Small Blue), with an unusually dusky upperside and lightly marked marbling on the underside. She was last seen being pursued over the allotment fence by a male.

A few freshly minted LTBs have been seen since 21 September, by others, but the emergence will now inevitably slow down, as temperatures drop sharply. However, the rewards for persistence, on warmer days, will still be there for some time yet.

Much of the credit for the spectacular emergence at Whitehawk Hill this year must go to Brighton & Hove City Council. Last year, this site produced very few LTB, despite the large influx along the SE coastline. This was because (due to logistical problems with livestock fencing) the grassland was grazed at the wrong time of year for the species, removing all of the Broad-leaved Everlasting Pea foliage just before the immigrant wave arrived. Following discussions with the local ranger, the council got the timing of the grazing spot-on this year. At some point over the winter or spring, the Herdwicks will return, to give the site the thorough graze it needs.

[David M]

Great to see this continuation, Neil.

Whilst this particular location has been especially productive in 2020, there aren't similarly good numbers reported from elsewhere. Is there a reason for this?

[bugboy]

Great to see this continuation, Neil.

Whilst this particular location has been especially productive in 2020, there aren't similarly good numbers reported from elsewhere. Is there a reason for this?

I would say this sites apparent productivity has in part been magnified by social media. Whilst they are around on other sites, once these ones started appearing on facebook and twitter etc it just lead to more people turning up to further fill social media which in turn attracted more people and so on. The site itself, being a hill, also meant that the males hung around hilltopping and lekking, so made easy pickings for their many fans. I'm sure Neil will be able to give a more detailed reply when he's able

[Neil Hulme]

Thanks, David and Paul. Social media has certainly drawn a closer-than-ever focus on Whitehawk Hill, but there are other factors which have influenced the distribution of sightings.

The main one is that the influx of immigrants all-but-missed a large part of the East Sussex coastline this year; they just didn't make landfall (in any numbers) around Newhaven and Seaford - they were searched for, thoroughly, by expert witnesses. I know of just a single egg being found at Tidemills. However, they certainly occurred in significant numbers further east, at the usual haunt near Dover.

On some sites (e.g. Beeding and Southwick), the hot summer caused the BLEP to burn through very early in the season, providing little breeding habitat for the immigrant wave.

At other sites (e.g. Lancing Station and adjacent areas) the BLEP was either deliberately sprayed off or cut back, to deter butterfly-watchers. I won't comment further on this, as I'm sure we all think the same about such acts.

However, even across the stretch of coastline along which many LTB arrived (certainly Bognor to Brighton), many will have gone unrecorded. Odd ones were recorded at highpoints such as Cissbury Ring and Mill Hill, and there was a small cluster seen at Lancing Ring by Lindsay Morris and others. The truth is, as always, that many people tend to follow people, rather than butterflies.

BWs, Neil

[Neil Hulme]

Knepp Beasts

As always at this time of year (and come to think of it, at every other time of year), I've been spending as many hours as possible at the Knepp Wildland project. The Red Deer rut is now underway and will be followed by the Fallow from mid October onwards.

I don't see them on every visit, but it's always a pleasure to come across the Tamworth Pigs. These animals, perhaps more than any others at Knepp, are drivers of vegetation change, caused by their constant rootling and disturbance of the ground. As you can see from the facial expressions, Knepp animals are happy!

[David M]

Thanks, David and Paul. Social media has certainly drawn a closer-than-ever focus on Whitehawk Hill, but there are other factors which have influenced the distribution of sightings.

The main one is that the influx of immigrants all-but-missed a large part of the East Sussex coastline this year; they just didn't make landfall (in any numbers) around Newhaven and Seaford - they were searched for, thoroughly, by expert witnesses. I know of just a single egg being found at Tidemills. However, they certainly occurred in significant numbers further east, at the usual haunt near Dover...

Thanks for the response, Neil. It's interesting to see how this 2020 migration correlates with those of previous years. I expect we'll learn a lot more as the time passes by, because this does seem to be a phenomenon that is becoming an almost annual event.

[Neil Hulme]

Thanks, David.
Even though the Brighton Blues Festival is over for another year, there are still fresh adults emerging. Recent poor weather cleared out all of those numerous individuals which were flying a couple of weeks back, but I did see a single, freshly emerged male yesterday (9 October), which I failed to relocate after 12.30 pm. I suspect that most adults still to hatch will have a bleak future, as temperatures are unlikely to reach 14/15 degrees for some while.
BWs, Neil

[Neil Hulme]

Knepp Red Rut

One aspect of my new freelance role, which is highly rewarding, is assisting in the filming of wildlife documentaries. Recently, I've been covering the Red Deer rut at Knepp with a very gifted cameraman. No 'spoilers', but suffice to say there'll be some spectacular stuff hitting our TV screens in a couple of years time. These stills just don't do justice to the sort of action-packed footage we've achieved; while we're working, my own camera stays firmly in its bag.

[David M]

...One aspect of my new freelance role, which is highly rewarding, is assisting in the filming of wildlife documentaries. Recently, I've been covering the Red Deer rut at Knepp with a very gifted cameraman. No 'spoilers', but suffice to say there'll be some spectacular stuff hitting our TV screens in a couple of years time.

I shall look forward to that, Neil. If it's to be two years in the making, it must be a fairly comprehensive piece of work.

Shame about the outlook for any October-emerging LTBs. Not surprising, I guess, as this is Britain, not France, and the idea that our mid autumn is suitable for a Mediterranean species of butterfly to thrive is fanciful to say the least.

[Neil Hulme]

2020 Retrospective

Having been too busy to post much this year, until the Long-tailed Blues provided a fabulous finale, I'll be summarising the best of the season over the next month or two.

I'll start by rewinding to April, when it became evident that life might never be the same again; Covid-19 was no longer a foreign problem. Like many, I found this unknown enemy to be a real worry, particularly for people of my parent's generation. With car travel restricted to essential tasks and 'work only', and before short car journeys were deemed acceptable prior to taking exercise, it was a case of 'on your bike' if you wanted to venture any further than on foot.

I simply had to get out to some bluebell woods; there's surely no better sanctuary in times of reflection. This involved some long, sweaty bike rides, but it was worth the effort to find peace and tranquility, while the world seemed to become enveloped in madness.

I only managed a couple of visits to Angmering Park Woods, bearing in mind the effort required, but I pledged to return at every possible opportunity during the 2021 flowering season. I think the pandemic has probably focused everyone's minds on what is truly important in life.

[trevor]

Once the coming Winter has finished with us I think we will all appreciate
scenes such as those more than ever. What your images can't convey is the
scent of those bluebells wafting through the Spring air. Magic!.

Great stuff Neil,
Stay safe and well,
Trevor.

[Wurzel]

A beautiful and timely antidote to the dreadful drear outside Neil Fingers crossed we can enjoy similar scenes next year without similar restrictions

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[Neil Hulme]

Thanks, Trevor and Wurzel. I think we need a new national holiday to celebrate the Bluebell season.
BWs, Neil

[Neil Hulme]

Rowland Wood, Past And Present

Before returning to my 2020 retrospective, I'll take the opportunity to look back at the huge changes which have occurred on the BC Rowland Wood reserve over the last few years, prompted by a visit on Thursday (5 November). I was there (as part of my freelance work) to direct a contractor, who was mowing the ride network and some of the other permanent open spaces. Both Rowland Wood and the adjacent Park Corner Heath looked magnificent in their autumn colours, and I'm confident that habitat conditions over the entire area are now rapidly moving towards the ideal state.

When I later looked back at photos taken immediately after the major restructuring work, performed just a few years ago (2017), it really brought home just how remarkable and rapid the transformation has been. The first four images show how things looked as new rides and open areas were created. This came as a shock to some people, with a few choice comments about wholesale habitat destruction - that's perhaps understandable if you don't understand how habitat creation works; fortunately, most kept faith.

The speed at which Mother Nature can work never ceases to amaze me, despite having been involved in many similar projects over the years. Rowland Wood can already boast a total of 38 butterfly species, including Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary, Pearl-bordered Fritillary (both reintroduced), Silver-washed Fritillary, Dark Green Fritillary, White Admiral, Dingy Skipper, Grizzled Skipper, Wall, Green Hairstreak and Purple Hairstreak, some of which are recent natural colonisers. We've also had some guest appearances by Large Tortoiseshell and Long-tailed Blue.

There have also been many other beneficiaries amongst our fauna and flora; Park Corner Heath has always supported an impressive reptile population, but the eastern part of Rowland Wood is now home to many Adders and Grass Snakes. The site is also fantastic for dragonflies and damselflies, although the former are rather too effective at predating rare fritillaries for my liking.

After the misery of 2020, I suspect that these reserves will bring a much-needed antidote next year; I'm already dreaming of warm spring days here.