Neil Hulme

[Jack Harrison]

Marlpost Wood usual entrance the heading east is downhill. Some 600 metres there is a stream. After that stream the ground rises again further east. The stream is some 17 metres lower that the surrounding land. I don’t know how dense the forest is in that part of Marlpost, but if sufficiently open, (which old Google Earth images suggests) it would be a classic frost hollow.

Jack

[Susie]

If I remember rightly last year we had some very chilly nights at about the right time. Add that to a frost hollow and I think you've got your cause of last year's fabulous abs. There is a deep ghyll over the other side of the wood from that I usually visit. Perhaps this area needs more examination next year. This habitat isn't isolated though. I can bimble from here through Itchingfield and then into Marlpost Wood through pockets of this type of woodland which must all be chocka with SWF, WA and PEs. I'll try to explore these areas more next year, I think Southwater Woods is getting famous and is going to be far too popular for my liking!

Thanks for the explanations on the Duke abberations, Kipper and Felix. You both make very good teachers.

[Susie]

Not many blokes who wouldn't be!

[Neil Hulme]

First Of The Year

I was delighted to see my first butterfly of the year today; a lovely male Brimstone came wandering through the trees at Rewell Wood, before settling down in some holly. I later dropped in to see veteran Lepidopterist Major Reg Trench, who had also seen a Brimmy in his Amberley garden earlier in the day. A fleeting visit to collect a couple of books he has kindly donated as raffle prizes for our Spring Social inevitably turned into a long chat about butterflies. Despite his 90 years Reg still awaits the start of each season with undiminished anticipation. I'd like to think I'm doing the same in 2051!

[millerd]

Those Brimstones always look so perfect after all those months tucked away. How do they do it? The longest-living of all our butterflies (as imagos anyway), of course.

Dave

[Neil Hulme]

Rowland Begins To Wake

At a well-attended work party in Rowland Wood on Sunday (27th February) there were signs that Mother Nature is beginning to stir from her long winter sleep. Wood anemones are now pushing through the surface of the recently cleared rides and amphibians are beginning to move around the picturesque pond. Toads are now active and the occasional croaking of frogs could be heard from deep within the bracken. A few of us photographed a Great Crested Newt before it took to the water, where it will soon be joined by its Smooth and Palmate cousins. I always think they have a primeval look about them; the basic body plan has evolved very little since Eryops splashed around the Lower Permian swamps about 300 million years ago.

A huge amount of conifer brash was chopped, hauled and burned by our trusty volunteer force, fuelled by Michael Blencowe's tasty jacket potatoes. Caroline Clarke, Sherie New, Barbara Woods, Susan Suleski, Carole and Nigel Kemp, Peter Atkinson, Dave Mitchell, Bob Eade, Richard Roebuck, Keith Alexander and Andrew Burns all 'chipped in'. Thanks must also go to Colin Knight, who had helped Michael and Dave Mitchell on the reserve the day before. The next two Sundays are going to be very busy here, as there's still plenty to do..... then it will be time to sit back and admire.

[Neil Hulme]

50 Not Out

Thanks to all for the 'Happy Birthday' messages today. I got lots of lovely pressies, but my favourite has to be this canvas print of 'The Butterfly' by Luis R. Falero (1893) from Hannah. I fell in love with this when I visited the excellent Russell Coates museum in Bournemouth.

This afternoon, in beautiful sunshine, Hannah and I took a stroll around a wood near Five Oaks. I've never been here before, but this July I'll be back to find the Purple Emperors which I'm sure will be here in good numbers. I've seldom seen so much honeysuckle, so I'm expecting to find a lot of White Admirals too.

[Susie]

Near Five Oak? Now I am really curious. Please tell us later in the year how you get on if you go back. I know there are PEs in the Tote Hill area.

[Jack Harrison]

How many “Number” Oak(s) are there in southern England?

You mention Five Oak. There is (was) Sevenoaks but I believe that after one tree die, the town had to be re-named called Sixoaks (how the Map Makers and Sat Nav people must have loved that!) Canterbury Cricket Ground used to be “One Lime” but in early 2005 after the old tree died, it was briefly “No Lime”. However, a new tree was soon planted to restore the ground’s unique status.

Jack

[Lee Hurrell]

I drive through Five Oaks to get to Kipper Country from Tunbridge Wells. (Male Brimstone spotted from the car on the way down last August).

However, my hometown is Sevenoaks. There have been several sets of seven oak trees over the years, the first supposedly being in Knole Park (a 1000 acre deer park housing Knole House) of which I used to live on the edge. Ah....

Anyway, the most important recently were the 7 oaks planted in 1902 on the edge of The Vine cricket ground near the town centre. It was 6 of these that blew down in the storm of 1987 (you should have seen Knole Park that day ). A further 7 were planted, making 8 oaks. Those replanted were vandalised, temporarily leaving only 1 oak. There were 8 when I left but Wikipedia says there are 9 now. I'll check when I'm next there. It's still called Sevenoaks though, and always has been.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sevenoaks

Susie, I'll have a look at Tote Hill on the map...

Cheers (and sorry Neil)

Lee

[Neil Hulme]

Heyshott Again

On Thursday (3rd March) I joined another group of Murray Downland Trust and BC Sussex volunteers at Heyshott Escarpment, to continue improving the habitat for Duke of Burgundy. John & Trisha Murray, Naomi Barnett, Mike Snelling, Roger Martin, Mike Hadley, Martin Kalaher and Colin Knight (who supplied one of the images) set to work with saws, loppers, brush-cutters and rakes to prepare two areas, including the pit shown below. Leaving just a thin shelter-belt of trees around the crest, the steep bank was cleared of vegetation to further increase the number of suitable egg-laying sites for 'the Duke'. Thanks to all that worked so hard on this increasingly exciting project.

[ChrisC]

hi Neil.
firstly extremely belated hawaian birthday wishes (five 0, bad pun i know but what can you do)
out of curiosity are the larval foodplants already there or has/is extra planting taking place?

Chris

[Neil Hulme]

Hi Chris,
Thanks for the birthday wishes.
Plenty of cowslip all over the escarpment here - a plant which readily seeds itself where bare, disturbed ground is available. There's no need for the introduction of plants - which would need special permission, this being an SSSI.
Neil

[Neil Hulme]

Tortoiseshell Twitch

I couldn't resist a trip to the Isle of Wight yesterday (16th March), to re-visit the Large Tortoiseshells that have appeared with some regularity over recent years at Woodhouse Copse. The shroud of mist began to clear just as I arrived and it wasn't long before the temperature started to rise. An early sighting of a (obviously male) Large Tortoiseshell high up, tussling with a Comma, raised my expectations for an exciting day ahead. However, despite waiting until 3pm, that was it! But a trip to the Island on a beautiful sunny day is never wasted, and there were plenty of other butterflies to keep me interested. Ian Pratt and Rob (IOW BC group) joined in the hunt. Ten Commas, two Peacocks and a female Brimstone were on the wing here - things are really beginning to wake up in numbers now.

Several bee flies were seen along the woodland ride, which is now blooming with daffs, primroses, and the rare and attractive long-leaved lungwort (below).

[Jack Harrison]

Well done again Neil.

Have you tried Ashcombe Bottom to the west of Lewes? I seem to recall some sightings of LT there a few years ago. There would appear to be wide tracks and a promising cleared area under the pylons. Large Torties have popped up (as of course you know only too well) in and near the South Downs in recent years and it wouldn’t surprise me if there is a remote colony lurking somewhere.

Ashcombe Bottom is certainly remote and being at the top of a steep climb, it might be better re-named Ashcombe Top.

Going back some 40 years, LTs were reported more than once from Houghton Forest (just north of Rewell).

If you can’t sniff them out Neil, then nobody will.

Jack

[Neil Hulme]

Work Party Season Over

Yesterday (17th March) I tidied up an area on the Downs where some habitat management works had been all-but-completed by contractors. It's already too late to cut into new areas of scrub, as the breeding season for birds has started. It is vital to make sure that there is no evidence of nesting activity or likelihood of disturbance to our feathered friends from the beginning of March onwards - and even worth checking beforehand for some early species.

Looking back over the winter I reckon that more has been achieved than ever before, both on the reserves at Park Corner Heath and Rowland Wood, and across numerous sites on downland and in woods across Sussex. A quick, ‘back of a cigarette packet’ calculation of the time put in on Lep sites by Butterfly Conservation (including the Rother Guardians), South Downs Joint Committee and local Downland Trust volunteers alone (those working for several other conservation bodies have been beavering away too) gives a figure in excess of 500 man/woman days. Although some heavy duty tasks will always have to be performed by contractors, it’s the huge amount of time given so generously by volunteers that makes such a difference to the fortunes of our butterflies and moths. Of course these efforts are being replicated elsewhere across the country – ‘hats off’ to everyone that gets involved in this way.

On the way home I dropped into another site to assess some recent habitat management work. I couldn't help smiling at this 'notable verge for wildlife' sign, with a cluster of ladybirds enjoying their notable status.

[Neil Hulme]

Spring Social

More than 50 BC Sussex members gathered in Goring-by-Sea for our annual Spring Social on Saturday (19th March). The first talk of the afternoon was given by Sussex Wildlife Trust ecologist and local Moth Group chairman Graeme Lyons, who provided us with an entertaining history of the moths in his life; from childhood moth-trapping, to Death's-head Hawkmoth tattoos, and culminating in his more recent work with the SWT. Graeme's talk was followed by a break, during which the sale of teas, marmalade and a raffle netted us a fantastic £113 for the Branch conservation work fund.

After the break I presented Robin Crane with the 2010 'Colin Pratt Silver Trophy', together with Colin's generous cheque for £100. Many will know Robin from his work chairing the successful South Downs Campaign, which ultimately led to National Park status. However, Colin's award was in recognition of Robin's 20 year study of the Silver-studded Blue populations on Iping and Stedham Commons. An abridged version of his report on the butterfly's autecology, habitat management techniques and taxonomy of the host ants will be published in our forthcoming 2010 Sussex Butterfly Report.

I then gave a talk on 'The Secret Life of the Purple Emperor', before Michael Blencowe updated us on the progress of the Sussex Butterfly Atlas. A few prizes were then awarded for 'services to Brown Hairstreak egg-surveying' and more general recording for our Atlas project. As always it was nice to catch up with such a good bunch of people.

[Neil Hulme]

Isle Of Wight

Yesterday (23rd March) I teamed up with Matthew Oates for another bash at the Large Tortoiseshells of Woodhouse Copse. We soon saw one gliding down the straight section, below the first (double) bend in the ride. We then flushed it off the ground before it disappeared for a while. Matthew got a good view of a second individual as it floated around in the ditch towards the far end of the ride, close to where a large sallow has fallen across the track. The first specimen reappeared soon after this, again patrolling the upper straight. Apart from the obvious size difference, the flight pattern of the LT is very different from the Commas which abound here (Woodhouse Copse is stuffed with them); rather than the rapid beating or fluttering of a Comma's wing, the LT adopts a more powerful flap and glide. A few Brimstones and a couple of Peacocks were also making the most of the beautiful weather.

In the early afternoon we moved on to Parkhurst Forest. We saw a male Large White almost immediately, before clocking up 8 Peacocks, 3 Commas, 4 Brimtones and a Small Tortoiseshell. Apparently much of the forest is rather coniferous and grim, but the part we visited had a very pleasant New Forest feel to it. With a temperature of 18 degrees and the rides decorated in yellow primrose and blue lungwort, it really did feel that spring is now underway.

Finally, and for no other reason than I like the shot, here's a portrait of a frog taken by my brother Mark. I assume it's in his Antwerp garden pond.

[Neil Hulme]

Toad Of Toad Ball

Yesterday (24th March) Hannah and I went for a long walk around Rewell Wood near Arundel, in the hope of seeing a few butterflies. In some of the more sheltered areas it felt more like summer than spring and we saw more than 30 in a couple of hours (Commas, Brimstones and Peacocks).

Rather than post yet another image of a Comma, I think the picture below is far more interesting. A friend from Chichester, Brian Henham, sent me this after admiring my brother's photogenic frog. Brian had recently visited some West Country folk, and snapped this amazing tangle of toads in their garden pond. It reminds me of skool days..... "bundle!"

[Neil Hulme]

LBJ Predicts 'Early' Spring Emergences

It might not be much to look at, and certainly less glamorous than an Orange Tip, but the first appearance of the tiny pyralid moth Pyrausta despicata (or one of its more colourful relatives) at Mill Hill (Shoreham) has always provided a good guide to the calendar of subsequent springtime emergences. I saw a couple of these on Tuesday (29th March), together with a very early Small Purple-barred (Phytometra viridaria). Based on patterns over previous years, this suggests that the Grizzled Skipper is now imminent (next sunny day) and that Dingy Skipper and Green Hairstreak will be out before mid April. Things appear to be running more than 2 weeks ahead of the 2010 calendar.