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David M wrote: Talking of Glanvilles, surely they ought to be emerging some time soon at Sand Point, near Weston Super Mare?

I saw them at Sand Point on the 10th of May last year David, but this year has been so topsy-turvy that it may be worth checking with the Sand Point landowners, which as you know is the National Trust.

Bill

A year on and the situation has changed.Last year,eight days previous,the site was alive with butterflies,including Glanville's ,and Heath's a month later.Today I went to see what the score was.New fencing and gates and notices to keep out!There is much more Methane being burnt off,and work has been done to make it difficult to enter.There was not a sign of a butterfly and the vegetation looked too lush,so I wonder if an event has taken place.
Local info has told me that the site has been sold and the proposal is to use it as another landfill site.In other words filling it up with human rubbish and eliminating the butterflies.In the photographs the trench is on the line where we found bee orchids last year.
Any ideas?
P.J.U.

Not that it helps the Surrey site but I'm off to Sand Point tomorrow - principally to see if the Wall has recovered from a very bad year last year - I'll report any Glanville sitings.

MIke

Perhaps i'll give Wrecclesham a miss this year!

Looks like it's back to the drawing board fir Glanvilles and Heath Frits then

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Wurzel wrote:Looks like it's back to the drawing board fir Glanvilles and Heath Frits

Surely, it's better to visit their 'natural' sites. We took our bikes on the ferry from Lymington to Yarmouth, from where it is a short ride to Freshwater and Compton Chine for Glanvilles.

For Heath Frit, East Blean Wood was almost a mono-culture of these butterflies when we visited last year and there are lots of other interesting places to visit throughout Kent, which makes a short holiday there very rewarding.

Mike

Yes I agree it is better to see them at their natural sites but in terms of finance, time and petrol a visit to Wrecclesham would have been much more efficient than travelling further on to Kent or venturing down into Devon for Heaths. Also there is the view that whilst people were getting their photos and trampling around Wrecclesham there was less pressure on the natural sites, less intrusion and unintentional damage. Same cracking photos, same opportunities for observations of behaviour etc but with a much smaller footprint...

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Wurzel wrote:Also there is the view that whilst people were getting their photos and trampling around Wrecclesham there was less pressure on the natural sites, less intrusion and unintentional damage. Same cracking photos, same opportunities for observations of behaviour etc but with a much smaller footprint...

Have to say that's a good point made, particularly in view of the delicate nature of 'genuine' Glanville sites.

I was talking to Sussex Kipper about this the other day and was saying that for some of us a trip over to the Isle of Wight really isn't an easy option. I liked Wrecclesham last year as it gave me a chance to see and photograph the Glanvilles and I think of it as being somewhat similar to a zoo.

I agree that Wurzel makes good points. In my own case,visiting various far-flung butterfly sites became an adventure, which my son and I both enjoyed. For example, cycling across the IoW was all part of a memorable day.

Trampling of sites is perhaps becoming more of a problem, as more people become interested in seeing different butterfly species. There's a long way to go, however, before it reaches the proportions of a bird 'twitch'. The increasing use of 'bridge' cameras, with their long focal-length lenses, reduces the desire to bash through vegetation to get really close to the subject.

I find that I increasingly tend to use a longer focal length lens but, in my case, this is more due to advancing years and a reluctance to bend down to get closer to the subject!

Mike

Im going to have to bump this topic...
i visited the site at wrecclesham for the first time today in the hope of seeing the Glanvilles.I cant compare it to last year obviously,but on my way into the site i did not see one "danger..keep out" sign or have to jump any fences to get in.I did later notice some signs but they all seemed to be in one place.
The place,in parts,has a feel of a nature reserve about it.The vegetation was lush everywhere and there was an abundance of butterflies,moths,birds and other insects everywhere.I did see Glanville Frits but not in huge numbers as the sun was very scarce and rain was imminent.

cheers
rob

POST MODERATED BY PETE.

I was down there today (where I bumped into RobS). I did see some of the warning signs, and there is the bizarre sight of high fences adorned with formidable amounts of barbed wire. The paths through the site are well-worn too, so plenty of folk must wander in and out.

Dave

POST MODERATED BY PETE

Hi folks - just catching up. Of course, this site cannot endorse the encouragement of trespass on private land (i.e. without the owner's consent) and, I'm afraid, we'll probably have to moderate any posts that would contravene this position, for obvious reasons. Any objections - please PM me.

Thread now unlocked again - but please abide by the above. Ta!

Cheers,

- Pete

Now unlocked.

avoding stating the obvious, in discussion doing the obvious - it was suggested by someone I met that the Glanvilles had been there for 11 years? and that in the last few year Heaths had been added to those introduced. Have been threre that long? Seems to be rather long.

This was the information we were given last year,from several sources.The habitat is obviously suitable for the Glanvilles,but the Heath's dispersed very rapidly last year and probably not suitable.
P.J.U

Anyone even looked for these this year? It sounds as if a few were around late in the season last year...?