Dear Brownhairstreakers,

With blackthorn now in flower and butterflies on the wing, we can officially declare the egg hunting season of 2009/10 to be well and truly over.  The final tally of new egg squares added to the Brown Hairstreak map for Worcs was eight with two new 1km squares added since publication of the previous ebulletin.  The first on 22nd February was near Throckmorton airfield in SO9750 which is right on the southern edge of the butterfly's known range.  This was another classic Brown Hairstreak egg encounter when, after a two hour trek across the fields finding nothing but flailed hedgerows, I discovered 2 eggs on an overgrown blackthorn bush within 50 yards of where I had parked the car!  The second new square SO9464 was on National Trust land at Hanbury Hall in March where eggs were found by Simon Barker who is one of the Trust's Conservation Advisors and an old hand at the Brown Hairstreak game,  It was Simon, in a previous existence, who undertook one of our earlier efforts to encourage farmers into agri-environment schemes over ten years ago.  This discovery was of particular interest as we are yet to record eggs in any of the surrounding squares and it therefore opens up a new area of search for next year.  I did undertake an initial foray following Simon's report but such blackthorn I could find had already been pretty well hammered!  An article on some of our recent experiences of egg hunting, or "egging" as it is sometimes called, is included in the Spring 2010 edition of The Comma magazine.  Non-members of Butterfly Conservation can download a copy from the West Midlands branch website (www.westmidlands-butterflies.org.uk).  Past copies of the Brown Hairstreak Bulletin can also be accessed from the same location.   

Egging post Xmas can still be a fairly depressing experience it has to be said.  Despite encouraging numbers of farmers entering stewardship schemes, annual hedge cutting is still very much the norm and the number of Brown Hairstreak eggs lost to the flail each year is colossal.  Worst of all, is the situation where known eggs are destroyed which has been the case this winter at a number of sites, including at a couple of farms in Higher Level Stewardship!  Perhaps most disappointing, however, was the flailing of blackthorn around our newly discovered assembly tree in Cowsden resulting in the loss of most of the eggs laid.  No wonder the Brown Hairstreak still remains confined to such a small area of Worcestershire.  

Much more positive was a visit made to the Worcestershire Wildlife Trust headquarters at Lower Smite Farm last week.  The Trust has a landholding of some 150 acres of arable and pasture which is managed to conserve and encourage wildlife and I was shown round by two members of staff, David Dench and Caroline Corsie.  There are some fantastic looking blackthorn hedges on the farm with lots of suckering growth at the base which provide ideal conditions for egg laying.  At the moment, unfortunately, the farm is just out of range for the butterfly with the M5 still representing the western boundary of Brown Hairstreak land but, hopefully, it is only a matter of time before an adult makes a supreme leap of faith and crosses the motorway.

Previous ebulletins have mentioned the establishment of Hedgelink, a new partnership bringing together organisations with an interest in hedges and their conservation.  "The UK Biodiversity Action Plan: Priority species linked to hedgerows" report lists no fewer than 130 priority BAP species associated with hedgerows and Hedgelink have put forward 12 species against which it will measure the impact of policies, advice and action on the ground.  These 12 species, we are pleased to report, include the Brown Hairstreak and Butterfly Conservation, which is a member of Hedgelink, will be in a good position to provide hard information from various parts of the UK on how the Brown Hairstreak is faring.

Next weekend on 2nd May, West Midlands Butterfly Conservation will be having a stall at the Tiddesley Wood Open Day organised by the Wildlife Trust.  This is a great day out and if you are planning to attend do drop in to say hello.  We will have copies of our Hedgerows for Hairstreaks leaflet to give away plus copies of 30 Butterfly Walks in the West Midlands to sell.  The latter is also available by post from Annesbrook, 2 Dewberry Close, Stourport, Worcs, DY13 8TB price £5.95 including postage and packing.  Please make cheques payable to Butterfly Conservation West Midlands branch.

Mike Williams,

Brown Hairstreak Species Champion