Neil Hulme

[Chris L]

Thanks, Chris. Extreme stealth is required to get anywhere near them, but 55 years of butterflying has taught me how to move slower than a garden slug.
BWs, Neil

I am getting better and better each year with the stealth. Friends comment on how quiet and skilled I am at getting close to butterflies. I know only too well though that there are times when I approach a butterfly like a rhino. Or like I am wearing clown shoes. Or a rhino wearing clown shoes.

[Chris L]

Good to read that Pearls are out. This means I will shortly be making my annual pilgrimage to a small patch of Bugle near Bewdley, a piece of ground the size of a penalty area, just to see a dozen or so Pearls. Not my favourite butterfly outing of my season. It feels like I could drive quicker from my house to Istanbul than to Bewdley. The one mile walk to the Bugle should have lots of butterflies - but each year it gives up a token Holly Blue.

[David M]

At last ... wall-to-wall sunshine, and no wind!

At last indeed, Neil! Amazing that it should take so long to arrive.

Great to see that PBF.

[bugboy]

At last ... wall-to-wall sunshine, and no wind!

At last indeed, Neil! Amazing that it should take so long to arrive.

Great to see that PBF.

It only lasted 24 hours mind, the next 3 days were back to grey with damp periods... until my return to work when the sun came again!

[Neil Hulme]

Thanks, Trevor. The PBF season is just running late this year, due to the poor spring weather. I was at PCH and Rowland Wood on Sunday and the reserves were awash with butterflies. Even now, they've only just started on some sites.

Hi Chris. No matter how practised you become at stealthy approaches, I'm afraid you'll still occasionally flush a Purple Emperor from your feet. They enjoy reminding us that we're all fallible.

Hi David and Paul. I hope I'm not tempting fate, but it looks like we've finally got a spring.

BWs, Neil

[Neil Hulme]

Duke of Burgundy 2024

This is a brief update on the flight season in Sussex, which still has a long way to go bearing in mind that some sites are much 'later' than others. Unusually, the Duke of Burgundy season is running ahead of the Pearl-bordered Fritillary this year. A miserable, wet and sunless spring has far less impact on Duke pupae buried in the moss beds than it does on the post-hibernation Pearl larvae that need to complete their development.

The highlight, so far, is the spectacular emergence at Springhead (a.k.a. Kithurst) Hill. We seem to have got the management here spot-on, and despite my annual concerns over the very high footfall (and a lot of unnecessary trampling), this tiny site (only just >1 hectare) continues to punch well above its weight. I was pleased enough when Kat Dahl and I counted 52 individuals (including 4 mating pairs) on 4 May, but the best was yet to come.

On 8 May I was joined by three BC staff, to pass on knowledge of the species' habitat preferences and management. We achieved a best-ever count of 74 individuals, including an ab. leucodes and a mating pair. I subsequently narrowly beat this count (76) on 11 May, although they were undoubtedly heat-suppressed that day.

The Green Hairstreak is also having a good year here, with other more-appetising species including Grizzled Skipper, Dingy Skipper and Small Blue. If visiting, please try to keep to the numerous well-worn paths, of which there are far too many. Bizarrely, I was back up here at 11.30 pm on 10 May, having dragged my 12-year-old daughter out of bed to view the aurora borealis; the vivid pink shafts to the west and east, and ghostly green curtain out across the Weald most certainly didn't need long-exposure photography to blow our minds - it was something I'll never forget.

[David M]

Great images of the Dukes, Neil. You're right, certain species have swapped emergence times with others this year. Small Blues are late, but Brown Argus are on cue, for example. No sign of Marsh/Small Pearl Bordered Fritillaries yet either.

[Neil Hulme]

Thanks, David. Yes, it's been a weird start to the 2024 butterfly season, but I suspect that things will find a more typical rhythm by the time that the appearance of Meadow Brown heralds the start of summer.
BWs, Neil

[Neil Hulme]

Pearl-bordered Fritillary 2024

The longer I study this species, the more convinced I become that a late start to the Pearl-bordered Fritillary flight season means that numbers will be low. Big peaks in abundance almost always coincide with 'early' springs, following warm and sunny conditions through March and the first three weeks of April; this allows the rapid development of post-hibernation larvae and a short period of vulnerability when the cats hang-up to pupate.

Numbers crashed, at least in Sussex, during the bitterly cold spring of 2021. They rallied slightly in the better (but far from wonderful) spring of 2022, but the springs of 2023 and 2024 have been notably grey, wet and miserable. Although the PBF flight season on most sites has plenty of life left in it (having only started a little more than a week ago on some), my results from Rewell Wood tell a clear and disappointing story.

The first Rewell PBF was spotted on 29 April and my count of 110 over six discrete habitat patches (some well off the beaten track) on 8 May suggested that my fears might have been misplaced. On the following day, I counted 164; this might sound a lot, but bear in mind that my monitored area covers 2km x 2km and a huge amount of excellent habitat (the 2020 peak count was 914). But numbers had dropped sharply to 63 by 15 May, indicating that the peak had come and gone very rapidly, with this relatively low peak having been generated by the emergence of a high percentage of the now weather-delayed pupae over a couple of days of very warm and sunny weather. I'm not expecting a long tail to the season, at least at Rewell.

I still have several later sites to complete my PBF counts on, but I'm not expecting any fireworks, anywhere. In good years, Grizzled Skipper numbers can be relatively high at Rewell (for a woodland site), but they too started late and I haven't seen more than a handful in a day. Thankfully, Dukes are having a corker; as always, the butterfly season is a mix of swings and roundabouts.

[Neil Hulme]

BC Volunteers Walk, 12 May 2024

The following is a report lifted directly from the BC Sussex website.

"Having read some rather gloomy reports of late, I was slightly concerned that Sunday's event for the volunteers who give their time so generously to manage our reserves, might under-deliver. I'm pleased to report that our experience was entirely different! The mosaic of habitats looked magnificent in the warm sunshine and the sound of Garden Warblers accompanied us wherever we were on either Park Corner Heath or Rowland Wood.

"Of the 14 species of butterfly we saw, the Pearl-bordered Fritillary was top of our wish list. Given that we are still so early in the weather-influenced flight period for this species, our tally of 21 confidently differentiated individuals (amounting to dozens of sightings) was very encouraging; this included 15 individuals on Rowland and 6 on PCH, with 5 females already at work laying eggs on the former site.

"Other species included Green Hairstreak (21 individuals; the most I've ever seen on the reserves), Small Heath (11), Dingy Skipper (6), Grizzled Skipper (2), Small Copper (1), Holly Blue (2), Orange-tip (1), Brimstone (22), Green-veined White (2), Large White (1), Small White (1), Speckled Wood (1) and Peacock (2). I usually take a few photos, but my camera seldom came out of the bag today, as I know that others will be posting some of their images. Thanks to all who came, and more importantly, for all you do to keep this place so beautiful. Some of us stayed until the fritillaries headed up to bed in the trees, before enjoying a drink at the local Roebuck Inn."

I'll be leading a similar event for the volunteers to see the Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary, when the timing is right.

[David M]

14 species at this time of year is an excellent return, Neil. So pleased that it was a success.

[Neil Hulme]

Thanks, David. The second event for the volunteers went equally well.
BWs, Neil

[Neil Hulme]

BC Volunteers Walk, 27 May 2024

The following is a report lifted directly from the BC Sussex website.

"This is a deliberately late report, as social media can be so effective at generating very high visitor numbers (including those who are less careful in avoiding damage to habitats while in the pursuit of their quarry) that I wanted to give the Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary population of Rowland Wood plenty of time to get on with the job of breeding, before too many eager enthusiasts arrived. This is particularly important given the very low ebb the species has been at over the last couple of years, as it has retracted to Rowland Wood; I suspect it's been too hot and dry on Park Corner Heath in recent summers. However, this very wet spring has probably benefitted the species, as I've never seen so much violet on the reserves, including the extensive carpets growing in humid conditions which are required by SPBF caterpillars.

"After the first SPBF sightings by transect walker Andrea Gibbs (five on 24 May), I hastily arranged my second guided walk (27 May) for the volunteers who give their time so generously at conservation work parties over the winter. I'm pleased to say that, as with the earlier Pearl-bordered Fritillary event, we hit peak emergence spot-on. One female SPBF landed in front of us and promptly squirted meconium, suggesting that this was her maiden flight. We covered every square metre of the reserves and some of us again stayed for the entire day. Our tally of 17 individuals (9 males, 8 females) is the best since 2020, and with the foodplant in abundance, there is reason for cautious optimism for next season. Since then, the best count has been nine in a day (3 June).

"We also saw plenty of other butterflies, including Dingy Skipper (7), Grizzled Skipper (4, including aberrant forms taras and intermedia), Small Heath (12), Green Hairstreak (2), Large Skipper (1), Common Blue (1), Speckled Wood (6) and Red Admiral (1). A Cream-spot Tiger moth was appreciated by all and reptiles included Adder (3, including a melanic), Grass Snake and Common Lizard.

"In what has been a generally dull and miserable year for butterflies, these two days out have been among the very best. I hope we can repeat the events next year."

[Neil Hulme]

Cistus Forester

One of the many great things about surveying and monitoring butterflies and other wildlife for a living, is that every season I find myself on sites that I would otherwise never visit, some of which don't appear to be particularly appetising, at least at first sight. On 2 June I visited one such location - an isolated west-facing chalk bank of modest proportions, set within a largely farmed landscape on the Downs to the north of Southwick.

Although there were a few butterfly species of interest here, such as Small Heath, Brown Argus and Common Blue, it was the day-flying moths which grabbed my attention. I counted 46 Cistus Foresters, this being a rare and highly localised species in Sussex. Differentiating between the very similar Cistus Forester, Forester and Scarce Forester is never easy, so I always check my identifications with the incredibly knowledgeable Colin Pratt. All of these species are a stunningly beautiful iridescent green or copper-green colour.

The Cistus Forester is the smallest of the three, and the presence of its foodplant, Common Rock-rose, is a helpful guide; The Forester's larval foodplant is the sorrels, while the Scarce feeds on knapweeds. I suddenly realised that an hour had passed, as I followed these tiny green gems around an area no more than 30 metres x 30 metres, so had to summon the discipline to move on.

[David M]

That's good news regarding the Small Pearls, Neil. Hope they have had a good flight period this year and that numbers will continue to increase.

[Neil Hulme]

Thanks, David. Perversely, I think that this very wet spring and early summer will be to the liking of SPBF; perhaps a thin silver lining to this miserable dark cloud!
BWs, Neil

[Neil Hulme]

3 June 2024

Despite very marginal weather conditions, and with low expectations after hearing a string of rather negative reports from the Sussex reserves, I was pleased to find plenty of good butterflies during my visit on 3 June. Grizzled Skipper ab. taras was still flying on Rushy Meadow, along with species including Dingy Skipper and Small Heath. Elsewhere, I found a couple of Green Hairstreak, but their condition suggested that they were near the end of their season here.

My search for SPBF didn't start particularly well. I bumped into a chap who was hunting the same, but had seen none on his travels around the often productive area near the decoy pond. He had disappeared before I reached the same area, when I spotted a female slowly fluttering above the lush mats of violet. Several more appeared over the next couple of minutes; they aren't the easiest butterflies to spot when they're at work below the now tall Bracken canopy. As the cloud moved over, they rose up to rest on the rush flowers, waiting for the sun to reappear. When it did, a male appeared from nowhere and in a blur of fluttering wings they joined almost instantly. Luckily, the chap I'd met earlier reappeared, along with another enthusiast.

Unfortunately, the butterflies had uncoupled before two more visitors arrived; Billie and Annie. I've met them before, and know they have 'good eyes', so I was unsurprised when they showed me images of both male and female SPBF they'd encountered on Rushy Meadow. Collectively, we confidently recognised the presence of a total of nine individuals in Rowland Wood that day - but still none on Park Corner Heath.

As the day wore on, the weather conditions became increasingly poor, so we started to focus our attention on the rich reptile fauna of the reserves; we saw three black Adders and a Grass Snake. Even when all hope of further butterfly action had evaporated, I stayed for another hour, just to walk around the reserves admiring the now extensive areas of top quality habitat created by the top quality volunteer workforce.

[Neil Hulme]

Day-flying Moths

When I'm out assessing habitat health, primarily using butterflies as indicators, I of course record other wildlife, including day-flying moths. During the spring period, I put quite an emphasis on the Chalk Grassland Species Indicator (CGSI rating) I've developed over the years, with a simple and pragmatic point-scoring system which awards a point for each of Grizzled Skipper, Dingy Skipper, Small Heath, Brown Argus and Adonis OR Small Blue, with the top score obviously being 5/5. A half-point is awarded if only one individual of any of these species is observed, which potentially reflects a butterfly just passing through.

However, other factors, such as total species diversity and abundance, are also factored into any assessment. Some day-flying moth species also add to the picture, including one of my favourites, the Five-spot Burnet subsp. palustrella. This is not to be confused with the Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet or the Six-spot Burnet, which both fly later in the summer. The Five-spot Burnet subsp. palustrella flies from late May onwards and is highly localised and seldom common; the only site I know of where it flies in large numbers (in Sussex) is Fairmile Bottom near Arundel. I use this as a positive indicator of chalk grassland habitat health, as it only occurs where the larval foodplant, Common Bird's-foot Trefoil, grows in abundance.

If I'm working within a woodland setting, I'm always on the lookout for the Drab Looper, which flies erratically in sunny clearings. It's a very small and some would say rather bland-looking moth, but I love them; an original painting by the great Richard Lewington sits on my desk. The presence of the Drab Looper is indicative of well-managed woodlands, where a succession of clearings is made. These are necessary for the larval foodplant, Wood Spurge, to periodically flush.

I'm pleased to say that I've seen plenty of both species this spring, while many butterfly species have been notably scarce.

[Neil Hulme]

11 June 2024

With the continuation of poor weather and a forecast predicting only short sunny spells, I abandoned the idea of a day monitoring butterflies on the South Downs. However, the conditions were sufficiently favourable for what will be my only Black Hairstreak hunt of the year at Ditchling Common. In line with most, this species seems to be having a rather poor season, at least in Sussex (I believe the Surrey population fared rather better); I saw only a handful of males and a single female.

After a few hours, I moved on to the BC Sussex reserves, hoping for Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary. Here, in Rowland Wood, I found a male in quite good condition and two females. The weather soon deteriorated with some heavy showers, which at least made photography easy.

[trevor]

Interesting reports on the SPBF. it was a relief to see them again this year.
I am sure the weather we've had will aid their continued survival.
As it is very nearly THAT time of year, let's hope the Emperor spends
a little longer in his pupae. In Chichester yesterday we had near storm
force wind gusts, and the journey there was in torrential rain.