Neil Hulme

[Susie]

Anne, Emily and Charlotte and the single egg on the same shoot is Bramwell.

[Padfield]

Ah! Bronte Hairstreak eggs.

Guy

[Susie]

Well done!

Perhaps I should have chosen something less obvious

[Jack Harrison]

A brilliant exercise finding so many. Well done Neil.

You could of course name them after members of the dynasty of the Duke of Norfolk. The family tree gives plenty of scope:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dukes_of_N ... amily_tree

Jack

[Neil Hulme]

Thanks Jack,
I might pass this on to Mr Oates - it would be an ideal source of names for his Purple Emperor caterpillars in 2011/12.
Neil

[Susie]

There are 20 odd eggs on the potted blackthorn in my garden who need names, but they're going to be greek gods and goddesses.

[Neil Hulme]

Hi Susie,
Presumably you'll start with Jack and Neil?
Greek God

[Jack Harrison]

Perhaps Capt. Oates would have a longer list to choose from if he used the present Royal Family. The line of succession to the throne is listed in Wikipedia as far as no 1893.
There are some really catchy names there, for example (picked at random) no.1679 Countess Anna Luisa Schaffgotsch genannt Semperfrei von und zu Kynast und Greiffenstein

Jack

[Lee Hurrell]

Hi Neil,

Is there a key to your distribution map?

I.e. what does the blue mean and are the numbers in the tetrads the number of eggs recorded?

PS - good work!

Thanks,

Lee

[Neil Hulme]

Hi Lee,

No key to this map (yet), mainly because it's just a working document which we are updating as records come in. The blue denotes the 2 Km squares in which we have found either adults or eggs in 2010. The numbers are the four figure grid references (mainly in TQ) for the 1 Km square that lies in the bottom lefthand corner of each 2 Km square. We are actually mapping at 1 Km level, but will show distribution maps at the 2 Km scale in our 2010-2015 Atlas of Sussex Butterflies. These grid references are displayed in empty (unsearched) blocks, in order to guide our surveyors to 'terra nova', thus avoiding duplication of effort.

Even more blue squares have been added since I posted that map - I believe the total is now 115. Adult butterflies were observed in fewer than 10, which demonstrates quite nicely just how elusive the Brown Hairstreak can be!

Neil

[Neil Hulme]

Rowland Wood Reserve Taking Shape

On Sunday (12th December) I joined one of Michael Blencowe's work parties at Rowland Wood, the recently acquired Butterfly Conservation Reserve in East Sussex. This absolute gem will be opened this summer, although I can't give much in the way of detail as plans are still being made. The one thing I can say is that it will be well worth a visit.

A large group worked incredibly hard into the afternoon, opening up yet another ride within the 80 acres here. Volunteers meet every second Sunday in the month through the winter, with many having turned up year-after-year to look after the 'old' Park Corner Heath Reserve next door. Sunday's 'have a go heroes' were Clare Jeffers, Marie Buss, Wendy and Keith Alexander, Mike Mullis, Bart Reason, Roy Wells, Andrew Burns, Dave Mitchell, Colin Brinkhurst, Peter Coyston, John Luck, Roger Carter, David Bradford, Vince Massimo and, of course, Michael Blencowe. Vince deserves a special mention for travelling so far, having been exiled to Surrey.

The main feature of Rowland will be the Small Pearl-bordered Fritillaries, which started to venture into the newly cut habitat from Park Corner Heath last summer. PBFs will also be making a welcome return in the future, with stock being sourced locally from the now thriving population at Abbot's Wood. Another wood in the area is also being managed with a view to creating suitable habitat for PBFs. Within a few years it is hoped that a significant area of East Sussex will again be populated by this species. The Rowland Wood and Park Corner Heath Reserves represent a piece within a much larger jigsaw; this is another BC conservation project being conducted on a landscape scale.

[Lee Hurrell]

Hi Lee,

No key to this map (yet), mainly because it's just a working document which we are updating as records come in. The blue denotes the 2 Km squares in which we have found either adults or eggs in 2010. The numbers are the four figure grid references (mainly in TQ) for the 1 Km square that lies in the bottom lefthand corner of each 2 Km square. We are actually mapping at 1 Km level, but will show distribution maps at the 2 Km scale in our 2010-2015 Atlas of Sussex Butterflies. These grid references are displayed in empty (unsearched) blocks, in order to guide our surveyors to 'terra nova', thus avoiding duplication of effort.

Even more blue squares have been added since I posted that map - I believe the total is now 115. Adult butterflies were observed in fewer than 10, which demonstrates quite nicely just how elusive the Brown Hairstreak can be!

Neil

Thanks Neil, fascinating stuff!

[Matsukaze]

Hi Neil,

Would the return of the High Brown be a possibility one day? By the look of it you have the management and monitoring in place - is there suitable area and will the habitat be suitable?

[Jack Harrison]

Matsukaze asked:

Would the return of the High Brown be a possibility one day?

Kingspark Wood, some 4 kilometres to the south east of Tugley Wood, used to be superb in the 1970s. I understand that it is now in private hands. Certainly when I drove past in August 2010, there was no access and the wood looked badly neglected and overgrown.

Kingspark had Dark Green Fritillaries. One day when watching DG Frits, I found a High Brown and excitedly dashed along the ride to tell Ken Willmott. He was far from dismissive about my sighting and he clearly knew much more than he let on. It didn’t take a Sherlock Holmes to realise that there had been an attempted introduction. That didn’t work and the DG Frits disappeared as well.

I then moved to another part of the country and was not able to return for many years by which time the wood had been closed off.

Better luck Neil if you try HBFs in Rowland Wood but I doubt that anyone really understand its precise woodland habitat requirements; indeed, why did HBFs disappear from (as far as I know, all) woods in England? Dark Greens also used to be woodland butterflies. Do they still occur in any woods?

Jack

[Pete Eeles]

Neil (Kipper) is having Internet problems and just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Christmas. Normal service will be resumed ASAP!

Cheers,

- Pete

[Neil Hulme]

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all UKBers. After a very frustrating two weeks with severe IT problems, I've only been able to occasionally glimpse some of the best threads I've seen on this website, without the ability to contribute. I'll start catching up today.

To kick off the New Year I thought I'd show an etching by my brother Mark, who is visiting Sussex with his family from Antwerp. It commemorates the pernicious attack by a Purple Emperor on a Great Splatted Woodpecker, observed at Marlpost (Southwater) Wood on 26th June 2008. There might be too much sex and violence on TV, but there's little I enjoy more than sex and violence in the world of butterflies.

Wishing you all a butterfly-filled 2011.
Neil

[Neil Hulme]

Return Of The High Brown?

Hi Matsukaze and Jack,

A re-introduction of High Brown Fritillaries isn't really on the cards at the BC Rowland Wood Reserve, for a number of reasons. First - a little history of the species in Sussex (much of which is courtesy of Colin Pratt's definitive work on Sussex butterflies). Following a steady decline throughout the 20th Century the species became extinct in West Sussex in 1986, and finally on Ashdown Forest (East Sussex) in 1987. If a Sussex re-introduction were ever to be attempted, the latter would probably be the location to look at. HBF became extinct in Vert Wood (of which the BC Rowland Wood Reserve is part) in the early 1960s, and ten years earlier in Abbot's Wood, a short distance to the East; both of these woodlands were once prime locations for HBF in East Sussex. The species certainly persisted in Kingspark Wood (West Sussex) until the early 1960s, but there was an attempted re-introduction in 1973. I imagine it was one of these butterflies that you saw there Jack; I believe that specimens were occasionally seen up until about 1982.

So it's a very long time since HBFs were seen in this part of the world, and the demise of the species here (and elsewhere from southern woodlands) was long before sufficiently detailed autecological studies were made, which could perhaps have revealed the precise reasons for decline, and possibly the knowledge to arrest it. As you say Jack, I don't think we know enough about the HBF's detailed requirements in this particular habitat type, to have a realistic chance of long-term success. One thing we do know about the species in its remaining core areas (in different habitat types), is that conservation success relies upon a landscape-scale approach, perhaps more so than for any other British species. So it would not fulfill many of the criteria for a BC-supported re-introduction; Rowland Wood does not provide a sufficiently large area of highly suitable habitat with a sustainable management plan for this particular species. Furthermore, BC-supported reintroductions require that they form part of a wider, strategic plan, which is more likely to achieve long-term success. At best, a re-introduction at Rowland Wood would create a HBF 'zoo', with only short-term (medium at best) prospects. Much better to throw everything we have at conserving the species in its remaining strongholds, where we now know a great deal more about its detailed habitat requirements, and are at last achieving some successes, at least locally. And better to work outwards from these areas, rather than create an isolated 'island' of HBFs.

I would dearly love to see the High Brown flying in Sussex woodlands again, but I suspect I'll always have to make long journeys to see it for the rest of my lifetime. On a happier note, I think that things will be looking a good deal rosier for Small Pearl-bordered and Pearl-bordered Fritillaries here in just a few years.

Neil

[Neil Hulme]

Ornamental Duck House Removed

It was good to see a massive turn-out of 27 volunteers at Michael Blencowe's Rowland Wood work party today, blessed by beautiful sunshine and clear blue skies. Knights-in-shining-armour included Marie Buss, Anna Grist, Susan Suleski, Nikki Kent, Clare Jeffers, Catherine Tonge, Sherie New, Carol & Nigel Kemp, Dave Mitchell, Andrew Burns, Mark Bunch,Tom Ottley, Dave Harris, Roy Wells, Roger Carter, Keith Alexander, Peter Atkinson, John Luck, Richard Roebuck, Colin Brinkhurst, Andy Stokes, Vince Massimo, David Bradford and Peter Coyston. I like to think that this hard-working army is making the reserve 'their own' by contributing in this manner. Those going 'the extra mile' today included Vince Massimo who travelled from Surrey (and supplied one of the images below), and Mark Bunch who joined us all the way from Essex - many thanks! A great deal was achieved and with every visit the reserve just looks better and better. The prospects for this summer really excite me.

One of the jobs on today's list was the removal of the first of two ornamental duck houses on the lake - no longer allowable as an 'expense' following last years financial investigation. Michael bravely took to the water, and the large crowd of onlookers seemed only slightly disappointed that his partner Clare's emergency repair of his waders held up.

The work party provided the first opportunity to try out my new Silky Zubat 390 Japanese saw - an awesome weapon worthy of any conservation ninja. Apparently, zubat, or zubatto in Japanese, is the sound a samurai sword makes as it strikes its target. It's razor-sharp and cuts on the pull rather than push stroke. It will be particulary useful for attacking coppice stools, allowing the outer poles to be cut from the 'inside', hence working with, rather than against gravity. The 'cage' on a standard saw means cutting from the 'outside', which often closes the kerf and traps the blade.

While most of the party were removing trees, Clare Jeffers and Tom Ottley planted a mixed batch of ten Dutch Elm Disease-resistant strains of elm tree, kindly supplied by Andrew Brookes of Portsmouth University and BC Hants & IOW Branch.

It was one of those days when I came away full of optimism for the future of our butterflies and moths. While people like this are willing to give so generously of their time, I'll always remain optimistic.

[Neil Hulme]

Hedgerows And Butterflies

On Thursday (13th January) I gave a talk ‘Hedgerows and Butterflies’ to a group of Sussex farmers, along with representatives from Natural England, RSPB and Hedgelink. The idea was to promote best hedgerow management practices for the benefit of butterflies, moths, birds ..... and the farmers themselves! The consistent, harsh, annual treatment of hedgerows, which does so much damage to the prospects of our wildlife (including Brown Hairstreaks), serves only to shorten the useful lifespan of a hedge, so the adoption of better practices actually benefits all parties. I learned a lot about the mechanics of hedge growth from Nigel Adams of Hedgelink, so every time I look at a hedge from now onwards I’ll be seeing it through different eyes.

It’s easy to underestimate the importance of the humble hedgerow to butterflies – I know I used to. Hedgerows, and hedgerow bases, might only provide quite limited opportunities for breeding, nectar, shelter and hibernation per metre, but when their lengths are added up they form a massive, linear nature reserve; all the better if they are adjacent to wider grass buffer strips, set-aside headlands and conservation headlands (unsprayed crop margins), which can be financially encouraged via agri-environment schemes.

With the obvious exception of Brown Hairstreak, most of these species are common ‘non-specialists’ (e.g. Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Ringlet, Large Skipper, Orange Tip, Green-veined White, Holly Blue). But hedgerows also provide migration corridors across the more difficult terrain for butterflies, allowing them to disperse over the landscape. With fragmentation of richer habitats becoming ever-more an issue, these butterfly ‘trunk roads’ are vital in allowing travellers a place to rest, nectar, shelter and avoid predators.

Some of our rarer butterflies had a much better season in 2010, and species such as the Wood White, Pearl-bordered and Dark Green Fritillaries demonstrated high rates of dispersal. There’s little doubt that many of these would have hedge-hopped across arable landscapes while travelling from A to B. We need to see more sympathetically managed, rotationally cut hedgerows, with wider, uncut bases.

[Piers]

The work party provided the first opportunity to try out my new Silky Zubat 390 Japanese saw

I'm looking forward to pics of your first Silky injury Neil - they are never pretty and it will happen . Mine was a forearm slice, nice fat scar it is too...