Butterflyin'

Over the last few years i've become more and more interested in butterflies, especially when things slow down birding wise in summer, once all the new exciting migrants have come in and rarities are less frequent. I now fill my time during this period with other things, such as brushing up my wildflower ID skills (more on that in the future...) and learning more about our rich invertebrate fauna, as well as continuing to enjoy birds through bird ringing and still recording what I see wherever I go.

Last year I stepped up the butterfly interest by organising an ongoing butterfly monitoring project with Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust. I recruited a load of volunteers to record butterflies across some of the Trusts sites, which had been in need of some species recording for some time. I played my part in this process by surveying my own site at Clifton Grove, a site I already know well from birding it for several years. My site proved to be the best out of all the sites included in the survey, mainly due to the section of my transect along the top of Clifton Grove seemingly being very good for butterflies. I also recorded through Clifton wood and Holme Pit too, but these areas weren't as productive.

2012 perhaps wasn't the best time to start a butterfly survey, as it turned out to be the worst year for the nations butterflies on record, due to it being the wettest spring and wettest June for years. I did however see plenty of butterflies, with the record being 105 in one visit. Here is a table of 8 of my 12 visits that i made (I don't know where the other data got to.)

I saw 16 species across the year, with the majority being Small and Large Whites, and Ringlets. Even through the wetter weather, Ringlets could still be found in good numbers during their peak flight time.

Vanessids were mainly represented by Red admirals, particularly late in the season when i remember seeing up to 50 individuals, feeding on ivy flowers in the late summer sun. Commas were also seen in good numbers late in the season but were poorly represented early on. Small tortoiseshells were notable by their absence, with only 1 individual recorded, and I didn't see any Painted Ladies anywhere in the UK in 2012.

Whites were most common, with Orange-tips being more frequent down in the woodland section before the tree canopy leafed over. They were rarely noted on the top of the grove. Brimstones were very scarce.

Skippers did well, mainly due to the vast array of grasses available to them up on the grove. Small skippers were most frequent, though Large skipper wasn't too far behind. I don't recall recording Essex Skipper.

Ringlets dominated the counts of Browns, with numbers in the high 50's at their peak. Meadow Browns were also quite frequent, and Speckled wood were almost constant throughout, with a definite peak when the second brood emerged. Gatekeepers fared well elsewhere but for some reason were scarce on my transect.

The only Lycaenid recorded was Holly Blue, which was more common in the second emergence, mainly due to much better weather i presume. Lots were noted on Ragwort and flying high along the woodland edge.

Even though nothing extraordinary was recorded (to be expected here), I really enjoyed learning more about our more common butterflies, especially their life cycle and different emergence times. It was interesting seeing the site change through the season too. I even saw my first Spotted Flycatcher on the transect too.

I've carried it on this year but I now am focusing my attention on the section on the grove, as it is enough to keep my interest going. I'll keep an eye out for any moths too. I'll update on the progress of the survey throughout the summer.


Pictures taken at Clifton Grove, 2012