www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

padfield wrote:

I have, of course, seen the scenes of flooding on the news and wondered about the butterflies.

I don't want to clog up Guy's personal diary with talk about the weather in the UK, but the recent flooding and the general saturation of the ground must be having a big impact on the insect populations.
Walking the dog yesterday, with every footstep water squirted out from under our wellies. The ground has been saturated for months now, and any rain just runs straight off the fields onto the roads and into the rivers. So much of the local river banks are slumping into the water because of the weight of water in the ground, rather than through erosion.
During the July flooding I noted the loss of so many Orange Tip caterpillars. We had further flooding in September which would surely have impacted on any eggs, caterpillars or chrysalis in its path, not to mention any adult butterflies that had settled there.
I'm now thinking about species that over-winter as caterpillars or chrysalises low down in the grass. I am sure this weather will have an impact on those species. I suppose only time will tell.

All the life cycle stages are pretty durable and Britain is a very wet country! I daresay it's not ideal for the overwintering stages but then I suppose it's just as bad for their predators too.

If only we could get a nice, dry spell next May & June to help populations recover. The last couple of years have been pretty awful.

It's raining again and once again there's flooding.

Please all be careful and if you're travelling over christmas please keep safe.

As Susie wrote, take care and I hope you will all manage to keep your homes dry.

In addition, if you are able to store some of the water, don't forget that there will probably be a hose-pipe ban by April

Mike

MikeOxon wrote: In addition, if you are able to store some of the water, don't forget that there will probably be a hose-pipe ban by April

I think the next person to mention 'drought' in the UK is likely to get thrown in the nearest reservoir!

Agreed! But i said that in Spring!
Nevermind the butterflies just for now,my heart goes out to my friends in Cornwall. The county has been dealt a particularly bad hand this year,with frequent flooding in too many areas throughout spring,summer and since. Flooding in your home is one of the worst things that an happen to the homeowner,and it takes many months,if not years,to recover. Helston is a town which is close to my heart, and i know Lostwithiel quite as well.Devon and South Wales have been victims,too. Lets spare a thought for these people.
Here in East Anglia we missed the worst,and flooding has been fairly minor. Such is why this is the driest part of the ountry,and Essex is the driest of all.

essexbuzzard wrote: Nevermind the butterflies just for now,my heart goes out to my friends in Cornwall. The county has been dealt a particularly bad hand this year,with frequent flooding in too many areas throughout spring,summer and since. Flooding in your home is one of the worst things that an happen to the homeowner,and it takes many months,if not years,to recover. Helston is a town which is close to my heart, and i know Lostwithiel quite as well.Devon and South Wales have been victims,too. Lets spare a thought for these people.
Here in East Anglia we missed the worst,and flooding has been fairly minor. Such is why this is the driest part of the ountry,and Essex is the driest of all.

Concur totally. The far south west seems to have been hit extraordinarily badly over the past month or so. I guess one would expect that given that it is the first UK landfall for many Atlantic storms, but the assault lately has been relentless and one must extend sympathies to those in that region caught up in this.

Looking at the forecast for the next 10 days, I fear there is no relief, since the pattern up till New Year's Day is for deep Atlantic fronts to bring misery from the west. Usually these systems strike the west of Scotland, so perhaps this winter the same pattern has established itself as was present for much of the early summer - i.e. weather systems forced 500-750 miles further south due to shifts in the Gulf Stream. No-one has yet publicly commented on this however, unlike last June when it was reported to death.

Well said,David. Cornwall is of course first land fall for many atlantic weather depressions,and most places get 40 to 50 inches of rain a year,compared to 20 -25 inches in the eastern counties. But there has been much more this year,as you said,the fronts have ofter passed further south than normall since March,perhaps only by a few hundred miles or so.
I'm sure South Wales has been affected,too. I hope the flooding is not too bad for you.

essexbuzzard wrote:Well said,David. Cornwall is of course first land fall for many atlantic weather depressions,and most places get 40 to 50 inches of rain a year,compared to 20 -25 inches in the eastern counties. But there has been much more this year,as you said,the fronts have ofter passed further south than normall since March,perhaps only by a few hundred miles or so.
I'm sure South Wales has been affected,too. I hope the flooding is not too bad for you.

Must say south Wales has only been hit in isolated pockets. Most of the region has escaped relatively unscathed.

Well thats good news,anyway. Merry Christmas.

I was woken early this morning not by the sound of Father Christmas' sleigh but by a thunderstorm. Bizarre!

There's an eerie green glow to the sky now as it lightens.

Susie wrote:There's an eerie green glow to the sky now as it lightens.

Who you gonna call?.... Ghostbu... Nah, better try the Environment Agency.

Trev

Article in today’s i newspaper about the effects of a less-than-perfect summer. Matthew Oates was quoted making some sensible comments. But he made no mention of Large Tortoiseshell; don’t blame Matthew for the faux pas.



Why do photo editors so often select unsuitable images? Of course the Large Tortoiseshell had a bad summer – it always does (if it has a summer here at all). Why not a photo of a widespread species that did badly this year, for example Common Blue?

I suppose we should be thankful for small mercies. At least they didn’t illustrate the article with blue Morpho or a Giant Birdwing.

Jack

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildli ... -2013.html

Guy

padfield wrote:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildli ... -2013.html

A quote from the page referenced above: "... vulnerable species are among the worst to be effected ..."

<sigh>

Paul

Pawpawsaurus wrote:

padfield wrote:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildli ... -2013.html

A quote from the page referenced above: "... vulnerable species are among the worst to be effected ..."

<sigh>

The Torygraph long ago went the way of the Grauniad. I don't think they can employ copy editors any more.

Guy