Neil Hulme

[Maximus]

Have a great birthday Neil,

Mike and Cathy

[John W]

Happy Birthday Neil! Look forward to bumping into you out in the field this coming year…

Cheers
John

p.s. sounds like a fabulous present

[Rosalyn]

Happy Birthday Neil, Thanks for all your help in the past. Looking forward to the new season, I can't wait
Rosalyn & Phil x

[Butterflysaurus rex]

A very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you Neil, I hope you have another 'amazing' butterfly filled year

Butterflysaurus rex

[Lee Hurrell]

HB Neil.

Hope you had a great day, looking forward to catching up this spring.

BWs,

Lee

[Neil Hulme]

Thanks again for all your kind messages. It won't be long now before I start bumping into many of you for another fun-filled season.
Best Wishes, Neil

[essexbuzzard]

Bit late but Happy Birthday from me too,Neil!

[Susie]

Wont be long before the country lane are patrolled by orange tips again.

[Neil Hulme]

Thanks Mark (essexbuzzard).

Probably only three weeks to OT time Susie. If we don't get a really cold spell very soon now (and a cold spell is looking unlikely), spring will come on with a mighty rush this year. And possibly very, very early!

BWs, Neil

[Susie]

I am sure you are right, Neil. The frogspawn in my pond was early and I am keeping a close eye on the cuckoo flower around the pond as the first OTs usually coincide with the first flowers. It is already in bud

[Neil Hulme]

Back To Houghton Forest

Today (4th March) I joined Colin Knight (UKB and BC Sussex), Rob Thurlow (Forestry Commission) and Simon Mockford (South Downs National Park Authority) to complete the large woodland clearing we have been working on at Houghton Forest near Arundel. A few weeks ago this area was dark, damp and cool, and suitable only for the Speckled Wood. Thanks to the efforts of today’s workforce, and all of those who have attended either of the previous work parties, more than 0.5 hectare of prime Pearl-bordered Fritillary and Grizzled Skipper habitat has now been created. The continuation of this sort of work in future years will soon see Houghton Forest improving greatly for butterflies and other wildlife. A battered, but still beautiful Red Admiral paid us a visit during the morning.

[Neil Hulme]

Brimming With Optimism

Yesterday (5th March) I joined a party of seven at the combined Murray Downland Trust/BC Sussex work party, held every week from September through March on the slopes of Heyshott Escarpment. Although it will take three or four years for the bare ground created on the far slope (pictured) to develop into useful habitat for the species, the two old pits in the foreground should provide egg-laying sites for female Duke of Burgundy this coming May, with only the strimming-off of several year's dogwood growth being required to bring them back into condition. It is this rolling programme of grassland restoration and maintenance which is so important in creating a habitat mosaic of mixed age structure.

I encountered a beautiful male Brimstone almost as soon as I entered the lowermost pit on the reserve, which was flitting between the numerous patches of flowering primrose. In the warm morning sunshine it painted a picture of real optimism for the season ahead. After the work party had dispersed I relocated the same (?) butterfly, which provided ample opportunities for photography in the now cloudier and cooler conditions.

[Neil Hulme]

Small Tortoiseshell Recovery

I'm optimistic that the strong recovery made by the Small Tortoiseshell in Sussex last year will continue into 2014. This morning I counted 16 along the banks of the Ferring Rife, including 3 courting couples. This site is usually quite slow to get going in the spring, as it is only 100 - 500 metres from the beach, and quite exposed. The nettles need to be about another 10 cm above the ground to provide ideal egg laying sites, so I'll be back in a couple of weeks when there should be a lot more butterflies around - I counted 194 here last April!

I later moved on to Rewell Wood, to search for Pearl-bordered Fritillary larvae. By now it was probably too cool and too late in the day to have much chance of success, but I did see my first Common Lizard of the year scrambling through the sweet chestnut leaf litter.

[Neil Hulme]

Small Tortoiseshell Numbers Climb

On a sunny Saturday afternoon (8th March) I took my daughter for a nature walk up Ferring Rife. Although we saw frogs, toads, spawn and plenty of butterflies, it wasn't the time to do an accurate, systematic count. However, there were clearly in excess of 50 Small Tortoiseshell on the wing, with courtship chases occurring both in the air and through the nettle beds. Only one attempt at coupling seemed to be successful while I watched, with the female leading a very excited male deep into a leylandii hedge. We also saw 4 Peacock.

On Sunday morning (9th March) I returned without Mia and managed to photograph some of the butterflies, many of which are in excellent post-hibernation condition. I also performed a count over both the west and east banks of the Rife, south of the foot bridge. I ended up with a total of 59 Small Tortoiseshell, 4 Peacock, 3 Brimstone and 1 Comma. It's wonderful to see the Small Tortoiseshell continue the spectacular recovery it made last year, after so many years in the doldrums. The Environment Agency is to be congratulated for looking after this site so well; it's certainly the best place I know of in West Sussex to see this species. Even on sunny days it takes until about 1 pm for them to really get going, although the few early-risers are easier to photograph at 10.30 am.

[Buchan Boy]

Hi Neil,

Excellent news on those Small Tortoiseshells,a trip to Ferring is being planned for the near future.

Thanks

Dave

[Neil Hulme]

Hi Dave,
An early afternoon visit on a warm sunny day within the next few weeks should provide you with the required swarm.
BWs, Neil

[Jack Harrison]

I don’t wish to sound too gloomy, but isn’t it likely that the large numbers of Small Tortoiseshells in 2013 and again post hibernation is simply an indication of the phase of the host-parasite cycle? In my almost 70 years of butterflying, I have seen Small Tort numbers fluctuate enormously. When I collected around 100 larvae (in Yorkshire some 30 years ago) if my memory serves me correctly no more than three or four WEREN’T parastised.

Superb photos and reports as always Neil but that is a given. It would be more worthy of comment should you post a POOR picture.

Jack

[Neil Hulme]

Thanks Jack!

There's little doubt that the Small Tortoiseshell has experienced a cyclic ebb and flow in its fortunes over the years, to greater or lesser extent due to parasite loading, and arguably exacerbated to some degree by the arrival of Sturmia bella. However, at least in Sussex, these ups and downs have been super-imposed on a larger scale dip in the population over the last three decades.

Local historian Colin R. Pratt F.R.E.S., author of the superbly comprehensive 'A Complete History of the Butterflies and Moths of Sussex', writes in Supplement Number Three (2014) "Since the late 1990’s there have been several noticeable episodes of brief scarcity” (Pratt, 2011) and in parts of Sussex - as at Walberton - this Tortoiseshell became a longer-term rarity (J. T. Radford). However, local recoveries started to take place amongst the number of larvae found elsewhere in the county during the spring of 2012 and in the resultant adults during the autumn (Pratt, 2013). Not only did this trend accelerate during early 2013 - for example, after a two and a half hour count at Ferring Rife, on April 22nd in 2013, 194 adults had been encountered (N. Hulme) - but late summer levels equaled those experienced during “the good old days” during the 1970’s. For example, dozens of adults could be seen feeding at the same time from flowering buddleja bushes during August, as at Small Dole (R. Roebuck), Filsham (S. Richardson), Cissbury Ring (M. Snelling), and Peacehaven (C. R. Pratt)."

Of course numbers will dip or even crash again in the future, but for the time being I'm happy to celebrate the return of this childhood favourite.

BWs, Neil

[Neil Hulme]

Isle Of Wight

On Wednesday (12th March) I headed over to the Isle of Wight for my first attempt of the season at tracking down a Large Tortoiseshell. With the weather forecast promising a sunny Thursday, once early fog had cleared, I decided to stay overnight. Both days were bathed in beautiful, warm, spring sunshine. At Walter's Copse it was good to catch up with island experts Andy Butler and Peter Hunt (UKB member Marmari), who were on a similar mission.

This National Trust woodland is very well managed and always a pleasure to visit. Some of the earlier flowering sallows were covered in butterflies. On both days there were 30 - 40 Comma and 10+ Peacock present, along with a few Brimstone, Small Tortoiseshell and Red Admiral. Late on the Wednesday afternoon a large unidentified butterfly drifted very high through the upper canopy, but the hoped-for adrenaline rush never happened. In the end I was more than happy just to soak up the tranquillity and sort out a fewer of the better Commas to photograph. On the final afternoon a Red Squirrel put in a welcome appearance.

I also spent some time in the southern part of Parkhurst Forest, where I saw all of the species listed above and my first Orange Underwing moth of the year. The downside was that I was bitten on the thigh by a dog. Only my thick moleskin trousers prevented a more serious wound but the puncture marks and bruising are clear. Had I been at home I would have called the police, but I didn't want to waste a couple of hours of my precious time on the island. Predictably, the ****wit out-of-control dog owner's response was the standard, "he's never done it before, I don't know why he did it", followed eventually by a grudging apology. I get increasingly fed-up with the criminal negligence of some dog owners and last year gave up leading walks for BC, largely due to the fall-out from a dog attack on a party I was leading at Iping Common. These problems seem to be getting worse. Equally negative was the appalling state of Woodhouse Copse, which continues to deteriorate and is no longer worth visiting.

[Butterflysaurus rex]

"I get increasingly fed-up with the criminal negligence of some dog owners"

HEAR HEAR! it's getting worse and worse. It's quite simple if you can't control your dog keep it on a lead. Just common sense really. Also so few people pick up their dog mess, some of them bag it up and then chuck it in the bushes! The mind boggles

I hope your leg recovers quickly, is your tetanus is up to date?

I'm looking forward to your post reporting that you've successfully found a Large Tort

ATB

B'saurus