Prospects for PBF and Grizzled Skipper in 2012

[David M]

Does anyone want to hazard an educated guess about how Pearl Bordered Fritillaries and Grizzled Skippers might fare in 2012?

The weather in April 2011 was the best for a century, meaning that these spring butterflies emerged abnormally early, enjoyed a long flight season and benefited from ideal conditions in which to mate and produce a subsequent generation.

Unlike most other butterflies (i.e. those that produce full 2nd generations in a single year), these two rare UK species are surely in an optimum position to consolidate on their fortuitous 2011 season. The next brood will not be till April THIS year and will be the progeny of the one that went before it which experienced conditions as close to perfection that any British butterfly could hope for.

It will have taken almost a year for the evidence to be observable, but one would have to hope that last year's spring will have given both these species a good 'kick-start' on the way to recovery.

[Pete Eeles]

I don't want to be a party pooper, but I think this protracted mild spell will seriously deplete numbers, and therefore those seen next spring. We need a "proper" winter again!

Cheers,

- Pete