www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Note Pete's splendid photo here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7988232.stm

And another one here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2 ... ountryside

I have been observing butterflies for a shade over sixty years. It's so easy to blame poor weather for a decline in any species but, poor weather plays a lesser part in any species' decline. There are far more agencies that affect populations and localities. Indeed, poor weather need not affect numbers much ... indeed it can help because no matter how poor the weather, there will be periods of more favourable conditions and it is then that many species, not just butterflies, will 'make hay whilst the sun shines'. My observations in many previous 'poor' summers have confirmed this time and again.

Poor weather can mean insects keep a much lower profile ~ or, higher out of sight one in a few species ~ and thus are difficult to observe which is not the same as they're not being there. Indeed, some of my finest population counts have been in far from what most would consider ideal weather conditions.

Longer periods of poor weather doesn't help, but, it is nowhere the biggest part of butterfly population declines.

I spend far less time in the field in recent years than I once did. Even so, the Wood White is far from in decline from my recent observations. In the past few years I have seen it in good numbers in some local habitats where it was never present in the previous fifty seasons when I spent more observation time there. Indeed, some years ago, I even caught one in my front garden by some amazing freak coincidence which I have reported more fully here in UKB. The nearest colony I'm aware of is over ten miles away.

Back in the 1970s, I travelled much in the midland and southern counties as part of my job. During my travels, whenever I saw what was a 'possible' Wood White flying alongside a hedgerow I would stop and try to catch it for a positive ID. I carried a Kite Net in the car's boot for that purpose. On several occasions I observed Wood Whites flying purposefully alongside roadside hedgerows far removed from typical habitat. Obviously seeking fresh 'pastures new' as it were and just like the individual passing through my front garden was doing.

Most other species do this 'exploration' when conditions dictate the need. Indeed, deep inside one of my favourite Purple Emperor woodlands, many miles from the nearest suitable downland, I saw a female Chalkhill Blue flying strongly a ride, settling briefly to take nectar from a flower right in front of my feet, then swiftly moving on ~ the Chalkhill Blue is a powerful flyer, more powerfull than the so called Large Blue from my observations.

Moral: Look after those suitable habitats ~ the butterflies will look after themselves despite the worst of the weather.
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