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NEWSLETTER No. 7 -  Summer 1982

WEST MIDLANDS BRANCH, BUTTERFLY CONSERVATION

 

Local News

This Summer should prove the acid test for the theory that bad winters are good for our native butterflies, because the cold kills off many of their predators. Watching blue tits in my own back garden searching every nook and cranny for food, however, I felt unconvinced - only time will tell! For the sake of what remains of Butterfly Year, we can only hope for the best.

Reading through the Newsletters of other branches confirms our own findings that 1981 was generally a poor year for butterflies. Migrant species, however, did well, and reports suggest that we might almost term 1981 a Clouded Yellow year. Brian Wildridge also sent me a splendid picture of a Monarch feeding on Michaelmas Daisy.

The friendly rivalry between Bob Sim and myself over first and last sightings ended last year in an honourable draw, with both of us recording a final Comma on 3rd November. We were both well and truly left in the starting stalls this year, however, by John Roberts who spotted a Brimstone at Harbury, Warks. on 31st January. Equally astonishing was the report from Worcester of a Red Admiral flying in someone's back garden on 9th February, which must surely suggest hibernation and not migration. The same day, new member Barry Waldron from Bewdley saw a Peacock at Fernhill Heath near Worcester, and five days later a second Warwickshire Brimstone was seen at Easenhall, this time by Terry Green.

Early March was wet and miserable, and it was not until 18th that the first Small Tortoiseshell was reported by Irene Hatton at Bishops Cleeve, Glos. March 23rd heralded a short spell of real Springlike weather and John Robertson recorded the first Brimstones and Commas of the year in the Wyre Forest. The next few days brought forth a spate of sightings from all over the region - with Bob Sim recording 17 Commas in the course of one day. On 25th. March the first Small White was spotted by Tony Hatton near his home, and the season seemed well under way only to be cut short by return of somewhat cooler weather as the month drew to a close. As a final appetiser for the season ahead, on the last weekend in March, John Roberts was able to count no less than 40 Commas on the old railway line at Oxhouse Farm, Warks.

The Branch's Winter programme once again was successfully accomplished, beginning with our second A.G.M. at the end of November. Our Chairman, Ron Hatton, broke all records by getting through the agenda at breakneck speed; a feat clearly appreciated by all present as he was unanimously re-elected to office. Business over we were able to sit back and appreciate John Tubbs' film on the butterflies of his local area. We are extremely grateful to John for travelling all the way from Hampshire, and can only hope that everyone's obvious enjoyment made the trip seem worthwhile.

Our second major indoor event was the Slide Evening held in Kidderminster in mid-January. It was touch and go whether the event should go ahead, but signs of a slight thaw in the freezing weather persuaded us to stick with the original date. Our confidence was justified, and the evening proved a great success. Thanks are due to all those members who contributed towards the food and drink and entertained us with their slides. Many thought it worth the journey just for the shot of Ran Hatton and David Porter eating ice cream during our trip to the Chilterns! (Nice one, Madge).

The Egg Hunt, this year, proved unsuccessful. The closest we got was when my daughter found an empty birds nest! One can only conclude, after finding two eggs last year and none this, that the attempted re-introduction of the Brown Hairstreak has so far failed. In March, a few members attended the national A.G.M. in London and a week later we visited Birmingham Museum to view their butterfly collections. This proved an interesting visit and we are grateful to local member, Phillip O'Connor, and Mike Bryant of the Museum staff for making all the arrangements. We spent some time trying to identify Fritillaries from the upperside, which proved no easier with set specimens than it does in the field. What was helpful, however, was to compare the Small Skipper with the Essex. The only reliable way of telling them apart is by the black mark on the underside of the antennae on the Essex Skipper, and we were pleased to find this much more noticeable than we had imagined. Mike Bryant was a mine of information about butterflies and also moths. Three pieces of news concerned the White-letter Hairstreak which has been a major victim of Dutch Elm disease. The first was that White letters had been seen at two Worcs. sites in 1981 - one near Kidderminster as mentioned in our last newsletter, and the other at Belbroughton. Secondly, a colleague of Mike's had seen the butterfly laying on ash, which apparently has proved an acceptable alternative foodplant in captivity. Finally, and one of the strangest records of all time, a live White-letter Hairstreak had been brought into the Museum last year, having been caught outside Woolworths in New Street a few minutes earlier!

The other major thrust of our activities over the Winter has been active conservation work on butterfly reserves. Four work days were accomplished, two in Warwickshire and two in Worcestershire, and generally they were well supported. It was very nice to see many of the members who had joined us on Summer field trips doing their bit. I know our efforts were appreciated by the two county nature conservation trusts, and will hold us in good stead in our future dealings with them.

Progress has been made on most of the sites mentioned in the last newsletter where we had hoped to see conservation action undertaken. The Glos. Trust have been quick to take steps to secure the Silver-spotted Skipper site first reported by member, Michael MeCrea, and Ron Hatton and family have been involved with a recent work party to the site. The Worcs. Trust have had a positive response from the new owners of the Feckenham site, where the White-letter Hairstreak was seen in 1980, and a joint meeting is to be held on site in the near future to discuss the situation. The Branch will be surveying this site over the Summer months. The Coventry site for the Marbled White, recorded by Don Steere, is to be surveyed by WARNACT's new Ecological Survey Team (see elsewhere in this newsletter) and we hope that conservation action will follow. We shall be
continuing our own Recording Scheme this Summer and new forms are enclosed with this newsletter. Please take sufficient photocopies for your requirements and let me have your returns by the end of October. If anyone is really stuck for photocopying let me know and I'll send more forms through the post.

One final plea - if you know of a good site for butterflies please don't keep it to yourself. Let your County Trust know and let the Branch know. Good butterfly watching! Hope that many of you will be able to join in on our field trips this Summer. We have arranged more than ever before, not in the hope of seeing the same people on every trip, although you are welcome to attend as many trips as you wish, but to give you the maximum choice of both dates and venues. A booking sheet is included with this newsletter.
 

Mike Williams