regional magazine of west midlands butterfly conservation · 4 the comma winter 2014/2015 5 branch...

Bringing butterflies and moths back to Britain • www.westmidlands-butterflies.org.uk

Regional Magazine of West Midlands Butterfly Conservation

theCommaNo.90 Winter 2014/2015

Prestigiousaward forJohn Tilt

New book:how youcan help

Iam sure you will bedelighted to learn thatJohn Tilt has beenawarded the prestigiousButterfly ConservationOutstanding VolunteerAward (page 6) andplease look at John’s

Grafton Wood blog. News of this well-deserved award has been publicized inmore than a dozen newspapers acrossour area, recognition of the key role John plays in sustaining Branch activity.

All good thingsStephen Lewis will be retiring from hispost as Warden at Prees Heath, but plansto maintain an interest in this importantreserve. The Open Day last July was aclear testament to the work Stephen hasput in over the years to cement the statusof the Silver-studded Blue (page 19).

Wood White newsFollowing news in the last Commaof Rhona Goddard’s appointment as our new Regional Officer. Rhona has

started to develop anew Wood Whiteproject. This is fundingdependent, however ifwe are successful withour application theproject will involve

working with a number of partners in the Shropshire, Worcestershire andHerefordshire landscapes, for the benefit of the Wood White butterfly.

You will see on page 24 that George Grove at Monkwood isseeking volunteers. This is an excellentopportunity to help us work towardsbringing back the Wood White. It may

happen in 2016 but we need to carryout the necessary preparation work. My first experience of walking roundMonkwood many years ago was a hot late June day with Wood Whitesalong all the rides – it seems a naturalstate to return to – and complement whathas been achieved in Shropshire.

New butterfly bookSo what is taking place elsewhere? Thebutterflies are all asleep – but not theBranch. Read about prospects for a newbook “Butterflies of the West Midlands:Birmingham & the Black Country,Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshireand Worcestershire” in the article onpage 5. Project manager Ian Duncan’scommitment provides the Branch with asignificant initiative, one which, I hope,will inspire you to offer your help.

Recording butterfliesMany of you record butterflies and moths but not everyone gets round to submitting them. As in Zoë Randle’sarticle (page 12) I would urge you totake the next step and send in yourrecords; casual butterfly records toNigelStone, our Branch Recorder, and mothrecords to your County Recorder. Yourrecords will make a difference to thequality of information about the truepicture as it now exists in our region andhelp compile an accurate analysis in theaforementioned book. Nigel and ourlocal Moth Recorders have a sizeabletask and, I think, there is scope foroffering them support. I would like tohear from anyone willing to take on therole of Records Coordinator who canhelp form an overview of records, andoffer support and advice to recorders.

The dainty Wood White, a highpriority species in BC’s regionalaction plan for the West Midlands, features prominentlythroughout this edition of TheComma so we are pleased tofeature Penny Hurt’s picture ofthis delightful butterfly on thefront cover. You can read aboutplans to reintroduce Wood Whiteat Monkwood nature reserve,and Penny herself reveals howshe first encountered this butterfly in Haugh Wood.

Cover story

Please send articles and imagesto the editor at: [email protected]. The opinions expressed in this newsletter arenot necessarily those of the WestMidlands Branch or ButterflyConservation.

Copy deadline

Contributions

Rhona Goddard

Peter Seal

Chairman’s BriefingDeveloping local networksOne of the Committee’s declaredpriorities, given the diverse nature of our region, is to develop local networksand member forums. Mike Williams’Local Champions piece on page 11addresses this theme with a suggestionas to how we can take this forward. TheBranch views this as a mechanism forencouraging members to feel moreinvolved, setting up county networks tohelp our members engage be it throughmeetings, field trips or e-mail networks.

Plans are in hand to take this forwardin Staffordshire – hence the location of the 2015 AGM – please do attend.There will be more news of initiatives in Staffs soon. Also Joy Stevens’contribution (page 16) gives news of alocal initiative in an urban setting, onewhich we hope to strengthen throughmatchpot funding. As with many of oursuccessful schemes, it is crucial as a smallplayer to seek partnership with otherenvironmentally minded organisations.

For my part, I have experienced anumber of distractions over the last threemonths, such as moving house andfamily changes, and I realize in puttingtogether this briefing that I have notoffered an update on how butterflieshave fared in 2014, so this will have tobe redressed more systematically in theSpring edition. It is good to see that theSmall Tortoiseshell is continuing to dowell and that the Grayling is holding onin the Malverns. We did suffer from acool August but there were a host of lateAutumn sightings, as Simon Robertsdescribes on page 19 with his accountof a surprisingly late White Admiral.

Finally, thanks to all those whocontributed to this edition of TheComma and to all those who regularlybrave the elements to make our reserveswhat they are.

Company limited by guarantee, registered in England (2206468)Registered office: Manor Yard, East Lulworth, Wareham, Dorset BH20 5QP.Charity registered in England & Wales (254937) and in Scotland (SCO39268)

The deadline for editorial contributions to the Springedition of The Comma is 31st March 2015.

the Comma Winter 2014/2015 3the Comma2

The Sandwell Valley – for those notfamiliar with the area – lies either side

of the M5 motorway as it heads northfrom West Bromwich to join the M6.

The area in common with much ofthe Black Country was once heavilyindustrialised but now has been largelyreclaimed and contains an extensivecountry park and also an RSPB reserve.

Thanks to the efforts of the Sandwell Valley Naturalists Clubmuch of the wildlife recorded in the area has been documentedin a series of booklets and this newly published volume coveringthe butterflies and moths is very welcome.

From 1973 to the present dayRecording covers the period from 1973, when the Club was firstformed, up until the present day and, during that period, some675 species of moths have been recorded and 27 differentspecies of butterflies – pretty impressive for such an urbanisedarea. Space is given to each of the 1km squares found within theSandwell Valley with a description of the varied habitats that existand accounts of the results of the recording work undertaken. Thisapproach works very well and the sections are very readable andinformative with plenty of interesting discussion and analysis.

Well illustrated throughout, with some really excellent photos,diagrams and charts, the booklet is well worth the very modestoutlay and is a must for those members local to the site or with aninterest in brownfield habitats.

Review by Mike Williams

Butterflies & Moths of the Sandwell Valley

John deserves his award

Copies are available priced at £10 plus £1.75 postage from Mr. A. Wood, 12 Wigginsmill Road, Wednesbury, West Midlands,WS10 7NH (cheques made payable to SVNC).

the Comma4 Winter 2014/2015 5

Branch members are being urged to help provideinformation and photographs to be included in the

publication, which will have detailed accounts of all 44 species recently recorded in the region. The full-colour book will include high-quality images of allthe life stages: egg, caterpillar, chrysalis and adult ofall the common species.

Ian Duncan, project manager for the book and a former branch chairman, said:“Our aim is to produce an informative and authoritative guide that will appeal toall levels of observer in the West Midlandsand beyond.” The book will also includeabout 25 walks in the region showing the best sites to see butterflies.

The editorial team comprises Ian Duncan, PeterSeal, branch chairman, John Tilt, former branch chairman, Roger Wasley, a journalist and editor of TheComma, and Mike Williams, a former conservationofficer with a wealth of knowledge of British butterflies.

Voluntary contributionsDiscussions are at an advanced stage with Pisces –one of the leading natural history publishers – to publish the book in 2016. All contributions to thebook will be voluntary with the proceeds shared

between the branch and the publisherPisces. Ian said: “This will be a

high-quality publication, flexibound, withthe best images we can obtain from our own

membership or elsewhere. But we need to raise£4,000 to cover our share of the costs.”

It is intended to raise this money by seeking species champions, with a minimum contribution of£150/species for companies and organisations and£75/species for individuals and families. More than£500 has already been pledged. Champions will be acknowledged in the book and receive a pre-publication copy.

By The Editor

The two charities have togetherpurchased Laight Rough, an

eight-acre site adjacent to GraftonWood Nature Reserve, nearGrafton Flyford, east of Worcester,which they alreadyjointly own. ButterflyConservation’s share ofthe purchase wasfunded locally throughthe charity’s WestMidlands branch.

Important areaThe newly acquiredland is an importantarea for woodland floraand fauna and will beused to further protectbutterflies, moths and other species.John Tilt, volunteer manager ofGrafton Wood for the twoorganisations and former WestMidlands branch chairman, said:“The two conservation charitieshave already been working at

Plans for first book on butterflies ofthe West Midlands

BC extends safe haven for butterflies

Butterfly Conservation’s West Midlandsbranch is to publish the first book to coverthe butterflies of the area, includingBirmingham and the Black Country,Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshireand Worcestershire.

Butterfly Conservation has again strengthened its ties withWorcestershire Wildlife Trust to secure the future of a smallwoodland for butterflies.

If you would like to be a champion please contact Ian Duncan on [email protected] which species you would like to sponsor (first come, first served)

High-quality photos would be welcome, particularly of eggs, caterpillars and chrysalises.If you would like to donate photos please contact Roger Wasley on [email protected]

If you have a favourite walk you would like included please contact Peter Seal on [email protected]

Here’s what you can do to be involved

Grafton Wood for nearly 20 years.“Grafton Wood is one of the

largest and most important wood-lands in this part of Worcestershire;its boundaries have remained

unchanged for at least300 years.

“It was so importantfor us to obtain this adjacent land. We areall committed to land-scape scale conservationand this part of Worces-tershire – Feckenham Forest – is one of our target areas.

“Grafton Wood is the stronghold for the Midlands’ only colony

of the rare Brown Hairstreakbutterfly. It is also important for other butterflies such as White Admiral, White-letter Hairstreakand Silver-washed Fritillary.”

And Helen Woodman, reservesteam leader for Worcestershire

Wildlife Trust, added: “We’re reallypleased that, together with ButterflyConservation, we’ve been able tobuy this small woodland, which willhelp to continue our work to protectbutterflies and other wildlife at ourGrafton Wood nature reserve.

“It’s fantastic that both these wonderful pieces of ancient wood-land are under the same ownershipand can act as a giant steppingstone for wildlife to move throughour countryside.”

Management and monitoringVolunteers from both conservationorganisations are closely involvedin the management of the existingreserve and each year monitor thenumbers of butterflies.

Laight Rough is an ancient, semi-natural woodland with species including field maple, hazel, ash,dog rose and blackthorn.

Flora in the wood includes bluebell, primrose, wood melick,hairy St John’s-wort, enchanter’snightshade, greater butterfly orchidand a high density of violets, the larval food plant for fritillary butterflies.

Recent work in Grafton Woodhas also shown just how importantit is for bats – both the rare Bechstein’s bat and the scarceBrandt’s bat have been found here.

Staff and volunteers from bothcharities will work together to improve the new woodland for but-terflies, moths, bats and breedingwoodland and woodland-edgebirds such as redstart, chiffchaff,blackcap and spotted flycatcher.

By Roger Wasley

John Tilt, a key player in securingLaight Rough

Laight Rough woodland is an important conservation area for Silver-washed Fritillary (Mel Mason)

The full-colour book will include

high-quality imagesof all the life stages of all the common

species

the Comma6

Former branch chairman John Tilt has earned a prestigious Outstanding Volunteer Awardin recognition of his immense contribution to Lepidoptera conservation.

Flutter over new butterfly records

Two summer records have sparked interest among Shropshire butterflyrecorders. Pete Boardman, of the Preston Montford Field Centre, near

Shrewsbury, reports that a White Admiral was found in Lloyds Coppice,Coalbrookdale, on 10th July – a first record for this site. The nearest colony isat Dudmaston to the south. A week later, while exploring a section of MortimerForest on 17th July, Catherine Wellings photographed an Essex Skipper –the first record from this part of Shropshire.

Prestigious award for John Tilt

The 60-page report was pre-pared by Mike Poulton for the

Wildlife Trust for Birmingham andthe Black Country.

Two years of data was gatheredand compared to provide a goodlevel of understanding about thebutterfly populations found on thePortway Hill site. The results havealso given an insight into the particular habitats present. This hasopened up opportunities for futurebutterfly habitat management at thesite and has provided a good startfor further population monitoringsurveys in the future.

Sensitive to changeResults gathered show that butter-flies are very sensitive to changesin their environment and changes to management of habitats.

Despite the unseasonal inclementweather conditions experienced for much of the spring and earlysummer over 2,100 butterflies andday-flying moths were recordedduring transect recording at the site

in 2012. This figure comparesfavourably with 2011 and in factshows a slight increase on 2011numbers. The most abundantspecies of butterfly recorded overthe entire surveying season wereRinglet (333 individuals) andMarbled White (304). Six-spotBurnet is the most common day-flying moth on the site.

In his report, Mike says: “For thecontinued success of the butterfliesand moths and the wealth of otherinvertebrates found on Portway Hillit is critical that the open-structuredgrassland habitat is retained in its entirety. To achieve this result, somehawthorn scrub control interventionis necessary to reduce its spreadwhich is threatening to shade out thegrassland in certain parts of the site.The cutting back of bramble shouldalso be implemented in some partsof the site to retain the open mosaichabitat currently found here.”

Other than Common Blue,

A report has been publishedon the findings of a two yearstudy into the butterflies andday-flying moths on theformer quarry site at PortwayHill, near Rowley Regis.

whose numbers were well down in2012 compared to the previousyear, and Green Hairstreak, whichwas not recorded at all in 2012,Mike says the outlook for the butterflies and day-flying moths onthe site is “very positive”.

Annual transect recordingMike recommends that the transectrecording of the butterflies and day-flying moths on this site should con-tinue annually in order to monitortrends and changes in populationsbrought about by future managementwork at the site.

Further surveys for butterflies andday-flying moths should be carriedout more widely across the PortwayHill SINC site paying particular at-tention to Green Hairstreak and anyother species that have so far notbeen seen here such as Dingy andGrizzled Skipper.

By Roger Wasley

Winter 2014/2015 7

Positive outlook for Portway Hill butterflies

Marbled White is one of the most abundant species on the former quarry site (Andrew Daw)

The presentation was made by Butterfly Conservation’s new

chairman Jim Asher at the nationalAGM and members’ day atStoneleigh Park, Warwickshire.

On retiring from his work as anIT specialist, John became wardenof Grafton Wood, a remnant ofFeckenham Forest, and served asbranch chairman from 2011–2014.

Key roleJohn played a key role inimplementing a rotational approachto ride clearance and coppicing tobenefit flora and insects, notablythe Brown Hairstreak.

Grafton, which is jointly ownedby BC and the WorcestershireWildlife Trust, is self-sustaining due to John’s leadership of a weekly volunteer group which putin 2,500 hours last year and sellingwood to cover running costs. John’s record keeping –he is also the branch transect coordinator – hasprovided evidence to show increased Lepidopterapopulations in Grafton. He has a longstanding interestin bird life and Grafton is adapted for other species,including Bechstein’s Bat.

In demandWest Midlands branch chairmanPeter Seal, who succeeded John, said: “Equally, he haspromoted Grafton, giving talks tolocal schools, community andwildlife groups through Powerpointpresentations and the conversion ofhis van as a mobile BC stall. John is in demand for example by the University of the Third Age.Organisations book John’s guidedwalks around the wood, thushelping promote BC.”

As branch chairman, John thentook on a wider perspective, andserved on the National Reserves Sub-Committee. Because of hisprofile as an accomplished naturalistJohn is often sought out for advice onconservation practice. He has alsoforged links with local farmers. Peteradded: “Although he stood down

as chairman, John continues to make an activecontribution to the branch and through his fundraisingefforts has been a prime mover in securing a healthybank balance for our branch.”

By The Editor

John Tilt with his award (Katie Callaghan)

the Comma8

In the Autumn issue we reported on the launchof the Heritage Lottery funded project“Spotlight on the Wood White”.

The project is centred in MortimerForest, focusing on this rare

butterfly as the key species with the aim of engaging and trainingpeople from the local communitiesof Ludlow and the forest fringes tomonitor the butterfly and learn aboutother wildlife, habitats and forestheritage.

Off to a good startThe season went off to a good startwith 18 people joining the Wood

Update on WoodWhite Project in Mortimer Forest

Winter 2014/2015 9

Dates for the diaryThursday 12th February

Dave Green will give a talk on the Wood White.

Thursday 9th April

Julia Walling will give a talk on the Mortimer ForestHeritage Project.

Both talks are for the Ludlowbranch of the ShropshireWildlife Trust and BC members.The venue will be the MascallCentre, Lower Galdeford,Ludlow at 7.30pm, members£2.00, non-members £3.00.

Sunday 15th February

Habitat restoration work partyat Mortimer Forest with theproject team and ForestryCommission wildlife ranger,Alan Reid. Contact Julia on01584 874636 or [email protected]

White walk led by Dave Greenon 8th June. We were blessed with lovely weather, were fortunateto have several sightings of the butterfly in areas not previouslyrecorded and Dave inspired manyof the participants to sign up for surveying work for the season.

On the following Sunday, Daveled a walk at Wigmore Rolls, a forest just west of Mortimer and almost certainly the UK’s top habitat for the Wood White. The

It must be beer o’clocksomewhere

Scarce Swallowtail

day proved to be a very memorableone with at least 60 sightings and many opportunities to watchthe complex courtship display, seemated pairs and to observe egg-laying. It was a great day for people to learn about Wood White behaviour and participantscame away being able to identify

male and female butterflies, findeggs and recognise the larval foodplants.

Dedicated surveyorsEmerging from these two very successful events was a team of dedicated surveyors, who workedthrough the season gatheringrecords from all sectionsof the forest. The findingswere mapped by Daveand we were also ableto identify new areas formonitoring next season.

Another important speciesat Mortimer is the Silver-washedFritillary and Mike Williamsled a walk in July. Silver-washedFritillaries were seen in good numbers and participants wereable to see the differences betweenmales and females at close quarters. Altogether 13 differentspecies were recorded, includingEssex Skipper which was seen forthe first time at this locality. Thosepresent were able to practice their

identification skills by taking part inthe Big Butterfly Count .

The project has attracted interestfrom butterfly and conservation enthusiasts and from people whohave no previous experience in this area. A core team has beentrained in habitat condition

assessment as well as butterfly monitoring and they havegained skills that have enabled them to be involved in working withthe Forestry Commis-

sion’s wildlife habitat man-agement plan. This winter

we plan to work with Ludlow Museum on researching other as-pects of the Forest with the ultimateaim of producing a booklet on thebutterflies and other wildlife to befound in Mortimer Forest and this willbe published next year.

The team will then be looking topass on their learning and skills tonew members in the coming season.

Report by Julia Walling

For all you Merveille du Jour fansyou can now drink the health of thismagnificent insect in beer. Merveilledu Jour Pale Ale is the latest in themoth series of beers produced byour friends at From the Notebook.For each bottle sold a donation ismade to Butterfly Conservation. Goto www.fromthenotebook.co.uk toorder. Other brews are also available.

A Scarce Swallowtail wasreported from a garden inWorcester on 6th July. It waswatched for about five minutesbefore it flew off. This butterfly isan incredibly rare migrant to theUK and does not reach our shoresevery year. The nearest regularbreeding sites for this butterfly arein southern Normandy, Franceincluding in areas of chalkgrassland and scrub along theRiver Seine near Rouen. Thebutterfly lays its eggs onBlackthorn and Plum bushes.

Dave Green leads the Wood White walk in Mortimer Forest

Scarce Swallowtail (Jim Asher)

Mortimer Forest Wood White sightings in 2013 & 2014

The project has alsoattracted interest from people whohave no previous experience in

this area


Could you becomea local butterfly andmoth champion?

The West Midlands branch stall at Ashwood Nursery, Kingswinford,near Wolverhampton (Mike Williams)

The important Shropshire Wildlife Trust’sOswestry Hills butterfly project has beengiven a wonderful boost.

The Trust has been awarded a grant from Waste Recycling Environmental Limited (WREN) which

will fund work on 18 sites in the Oswestry Hills area,including a number of Shropshire Wildlife Trust nature reserves

The aim is to restore and connect species-rich limestone grassland and increase butterfly populationsthroughout a series of core sites, wildlife corridors andstepping stones. Linking butterfly colonies gives them amuch stronger chance of survival and expansion: wherepopulations are isolated, they become weakenedthrough inbreeding and vulnerable to local extinction.

More than 30 species of butterflies have been

recorded in the Oswestry Hills and the restoration offlower-rich grasslands will benefit all these beautiful insects, including Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary,Grizzled Skipper, Green Hairstreak and DingySkipper. Top of the list is the endangered Pearl-bordered Fritillary, which returned to the Shropshireside of Llanymynech Rocks nature reserve after an absence of 10 years in 2012, following their re-introduction on the Montgomeryshire side in the twoprevious years. They live in colonies, mostly in woods

with sunny glades and open rides, seldom flying much more than half a milein their lifetime. Their main Shropshirestronghold is in the Wyre Forest.

Common dog violetsln the Oswestry Hills they are found inmore open areas, thanks to the presenceof common dog violets, the food of theircaterpillars. Violets are a plant of thewoodland edge but also sometimes ofbracken, which mimics a woodland habitat in miniature.

As with all wildlife conservation, theoverwhelming need is to get the habitatright. The Trust has found 18 site ownerswilling to take part in the project, to make

changes to the management of their land that will allowflower-rich grassland to flourish and attract butterflies,bees and a host of other insects. The landowners willbe supported by the project in practical ways, includinghelp with scrub clearance and financial assistance towards the cost of fencing to enable grazing.

Appeal for volunteersNow there is an appeal for volunteers on the groundto look for and record butterflies. People are alsoneeded to take part in practical work parties during the autumn and winter. These will be mid-week volunteering opportunities. The WREN project is the latest phase in the Oswestry Hills butterfly project,which has brought about the restoration of more than17 acres of butterfly habitat.

By The Editor

A mating pair ofGreen Hairstreaks (Andrew Daw)

Big boost for butterflies inOswestry Hills

Like many other wildlife charities,Butterfly Conservation realisedthat, in a world of Government cut-backs and increasing competitionfor money from outside sources, wewould need to become increasinglyself-reliant and raise more of the resources needed to help conserveour butterflies and moths within ourown organisation. The most securesource of income is what is raisedeach year through membership subscriptions and donations andpart of the “vision” (dreadful word Iknow) is to significantly increase ourmembership. We have had somesuccess in doing this and member-ship both nationally and locally isat a record high.

Within the West Midlands, addi-

tional members are also helpful tous, not just in terms of the additionalincome they bring (West MidlandsButterfly Conservation receives asmall share of the annualsubscription paid) but alsobecause some of them atleast may become active volunteers. Weneed more people tohelp us with the vital tasksof monitoring and recordingbutterflies and moths as well as providing practical assistance withconservation work on our local reserves and other sites. A glancethrough this current issue of The Comma will demonstrate thebreadth of our activities and themany ways we can all get involved.

Some years ago, Butterfly Conservation nationallyproduced a strategy for the future called the 2020 vision.

Looking for “the Special One”We are also on the lookout forsome rather special volunteers whocan act as our local champions.This is not a job that comes witha set job description but a rolethat will help us to increase ourvisibility at a local level.

Peter Seal, the Branch Chair-man alluded to this in his editorialin the Spring issue of The Commawhen he wrote that he hoped “tofind a way of operating and engaging at a more local level”.

This is where local championscome in. We need people whoare already members of other networks and local organisations,whether it be the county wildlife

trust or the WI, who can workwith us to raise our profilein the local area. Thiscan be done in various ways: submit-ting an article to the parish magazine,

organising a display inthe local library, running a

coffee morning, opening yourgarden to visitors, or holding aMoth Breakfast. We would love tohear from you. We can help with providing the resources for all ofthese things – just ask.

By Mike Williams

There are countless ways inwhich people canhelp and we would

love to hear from you

From now until the end of March, and asan added incentive for people to join, weare offering free membership of Butterfly Conservation and the branch for a whole 12 months. Special free membershipforms are available which can be emailedor posted out. If everyone could recruit justone new member using this offer it wouldmake a huge difference to our ability toconserve our butterflies and moths.

Free membership incentive

If you would like to join the volunteers, please contact BC's senior regional officer Dr Jenny Joy by email ([email protected]) or call Jenny on 01952 249325

the Comma12

In 2018, in collaboration with MothsIreland, BC willbe publishing a Macro-moth Atlas for Britain andIreland. The majority of moth recorders use light-trapsand, as a result, the many species of day-flyingmoths may be relatively under-recordedcompared to nocturnal ones. Butterflyrecorders can make a huge contributionto the forthcoming atlas by submittingrecords of day-flying moths, such asSpeckled Yellow, and indeed distinctivecaterpillars (e.g. Cinnabar) that they encounterwhile out looking at butterflies.

17.3m moth recordsThe National Moth Recording Scheme, run by BC, willprovide the UK moth data for the forthcoming atlas.The scheme already holds over 17.3m moth recordsand geographical coverage of the UK, ChannelIslands and Isle of Man at 10km resolution is verygood (97% have at least one moth species recorded).

There are only 113 10km squares for which wedo not have any records from the year 2000onwards. However, in addition to these,there are 613 10km squares which weconsider to be under-recorded – theypossess 50 or fewer records of 25 or fewer

species. You could really help by targetingthese unrecorded or under-recorded squares for

moth sightings during your butterfly recording.

Plea for more day-flyingmoth and caterpillarrecording in our regionButterfly Conservation would love butterflyrecorders to record day-flying moths and mothcaterpillars when they are out and about.

However, it is important to note that these may be anartefact of records having not been submitted to theNMRS as yet.

Revealing dataMany butterfly recorders already record the moths theysee along their transects. In 2013, the UK ButterflyMonitoring Scheme (BMS) team extracted moth records entered into Transect Walker software. The dataextraction exercise revealed data for 109,485individuals of 123 moth species, with 13,622 recordsfrom 403 sites. The five most frequently recorded

BC’s surveys officer Zoë Randle

The national picture

species (in descending rank order) were Silver Y, Six-spot Burnet, Cinnabar, Burnet Companion andSpeckled Yellow. These records will be re-patriated toCounty Moth Recorders in due course. Participants inthe Wider Countryside Butterfly Survey are alsoencouraged to record day-flying moths in their squares.

Transect Walker softwareIn the run-up to the forthcoming Macro-moth Atlas forBritain and Ireland all butterfly recorders can help boost coverage by recording moths, whether onbutterfly/WCBS transects, during ‘casual’ butterflyrecording or by specifically targeting areas that areunder-recorded for moths. Your help will be verygratefully received. Records are best submitted toyour local County Moth Recorder on an annual basisby the end of the year to enable incorporation intolocal datasets and ultimately the National MothRecording Scheme.

By Dr Zoë Randle and Richard Fox

Speckled Yellow moth (Pam Parsons)

There are only 113 10km

squares for which we do not have any records from the year 2000

onwards

13Winter 2014/2015

In Worcestershire the main under-recorded 10km squaresare SO56, 76, 83 and 88 and SP04, 05, 06 and 07. Tofind out what 10km squares, or tetrads, are under-recordedin your area or if you wish to venture further afield, pleasecontact the relevant County Moth Recorder - a list can befound on the Moths Count website (www.mothscount.org).

Cinnabar moth larva(Roger Wasley)


Moth records from a Cotswold oasisI suppose really I should begin this shortappraisal of moth recording at WorcestershireWildlife Trust’s Broadway Gravel Pit LocalNature Reserve with a confession…

Despite volunteering as Head Warden/ReserveManager since 1988, I have only really begun to

pay closer attention to moths here in the last two or threeyears. Butterflies yes, not a problem, always featuredregularly in our annual reports, but moths have not beensuch prominent subjects to record.

BiodiversityThis 1.6 hectare sunken oasis is renowned for its biodiversity having a mosaic of different habitats within its boundaries. From rare Slime Moulds toEmperor Dragonflies, scarce migrant bird visitors to Roe Deer, this place has it all. And now, MOTHS!

Sluggish giantYes better late than never on my part because, in 2014,I found Hornet Clearwing on the warm and sunnyafternoon of 12th June. Unnervingly like a sluggish giant wasp I was able get within inches of the creaturewhilst it paid close attention to sprouting green shootsof a Poplar stump. In flight the fat rounded bodydrooped heavily and aerial progress seemed labouredand once flew around me half-colliding with my waist.

I suppose I should now confess thereis no photographic record of thisencounter so I include here my wifeChristine’s shot of larvaeemergence holes found by countymoth expert, Oliver Wadsworth.His attempt to lure with pheromoneswas sadly unsuccessful, but hasverified the discovery as confirmed.

Various habitatsDespite the various habitats on offer the only building on site, thebirdwatching hide, has been thesource of the caught specimens.

Broadway GravelPit Local Nature Reserve (Christine Turner)

These include Willow Beauty, Cabbage Moth, OldLady and Copper Underwing. Out in the open we’vehad Swallow-tailed Moth, Hummingbird Hawkmoth,Scarlet Tiger, Snout, Cinnabar, Silver Y, Large YellowUnderwing and Red Underwing. An older recordwas that of a micro-moth from 26th May 1996, Adelareaumurella, which sported extraordinary long hair-like antennae.

Probably the tip of the iceberg and mostly standardfare, but moths beware… the specimen pot is poisedfor action!

By Mark E Turner

Hornet Clearwinglarvae emergenceholes (Christine Turner)

HummingbirdHawkmoth (Roger Wasley)

Cabbage Moth(Christine Turner)

Old Lady (Christine Turner)

Freshly emerged Cinnabar moth (Roger Wasley)

Red Underwing(Roger Wasley)


Watch out! Tigers about

For many years I havemonitored the butterflieswhich grace the bridlewaynear my home. It is a pathused by lots of locals to walkdogs, ride horses, cycle, playand access local woodlands.

The first part is a road runningalongside Stourbridge Cremato-

rium where the ivy-covered sand-stone wall creates the ideal habitatfor Holly Blue and sun-bathingSpeckled Wood. Further along a gateway leads to the main bridleway which is lined by areasof bracken and bramble. In spring,when the bracken has died back,the conditions seem perfect forSmall Tortoiseshell, Peacock andComma. The first spell of warmspring sunshine attracts these butter-flies from their winter hibernationand the dead bracken plays host totheir prolonged courting rituals.

Dudley Council’s Ewan Chapman and Antony Ravenscroft with work partyvolunteers Iris Sweeting, Wendy Wilkins, Andrew Barker, Richard Southwell,Peter McNee and Patrick Clement (Joy Stevens)

I have watched Small Tortoiseshellfor long periods during thesecourtship preliminaries, but theyalways end up with the butterfliesspiralling up into the air. It’s easy tounderstand the attraction of theseareas, the dead bracken must bewarm and poking through are thegreen shoots of nettle. Again I havewatched the females laying theireggs on this new growth.

A very special urban resourceThus I have felt the area to be a veryspecial urban resource – especiallya few years ago when concernswere expressed nationally about thewelfare of the Small Tortoiseshell.Some areas of the country did not record any of our ‘common’garden butterfly while I noticed no change in the populations along Roman Road/Sandy Lane, a pleasant corridor with a widevariety of trees and flowers – some wild, some escapees fromneighbouring gardens. In spring

there are carpets of celandine andpatches of garlic mustard withOrange-tips and whites followingon from the first rush of Vanessids.By the summer these areas becomesmothered in bracken and bramblebut the butterflies keep coming.

An unusual caterpillarThen a couple of years ago Ispotted among the greenery in thebank on my doorstep, an unusualcaterpillar, which I later found to be a Scarlet Tiger moth larva. Iwas not so lucky in finding any adults that year but the followingyear, 2013, the green plant was liberally infested with morecaterpillars. I was checking up onthe larvae on a regular basis butwas dismayed to find that the local council had devastated the bank, not just cutting the verge butripping out the plants. Fortunately,the bank is quite steep and the plants at the top, in thehedgerow itself, escaped the cull.

Whether the caterpillars hadsurvived remained to be seen but Iwas delighted by a single sightingof the adult in early July.

This spring the bank was coveredin caterpillars – by this point I had eventually identified the plant as Evergreen Alkanet. Here it isinterspersed with nettle, anotherfood source of the caterpillar. Mostseemed to prefer the attractive blue flowers and fedopenly. To avoid thedestruction of 2013, Idecided to write toDudley Council andurge them to at leastdelay cutting the bank untilthe caterpillars had had time to pupate and emerge as adults.Not only that but I threw in a fewsuggestions for enhancing theexisting habitat for all the butterflies.The response was heartening –Dudley Council was interested insetting up a project and an outlineplan was formulated to recognize

the lane as a green corridor andconsider measures of assisting thelepidoptera. Most importantly theyabandoned routine maintenanceplans involving flailing the ScarletTiger bank. This has paid dividendswith many sightings of the adultScarlet Tigers this summer.

Wildflower sowing plan It was too late to implement awildflower sowing plan this yearbut this should happen in 2015 –the aim is to use the traffic island

at the end of Roman Road as a showcase for thegreen corridor. Postershave been placed on lamp-posts and gates,outlining the plan tolocals. In addition, we

are gathering a group ofvolunteers to assist with the

various work party tasks to cut backovergrown areas. For this I have to thank Richard Southwell inparticular for spreading the wordand getting a knot of people readyto start work.

As of mid November, we haveheld our first work party proper

Scarlet Tiger moth (Joy Stevens)

Scarlet Tiger moth larva (Roger Wasley)

when we cleared 2 patches of rank grass near the gate, cut back encroaching bramble andscattered some seed. This work wassupported by Dudley Council in theperson of 2 rangers based atLeasowes, Halesowen who camealong with heavy duty strimmers.Dudley Council also provided bagsfor the cuttings and litter.

As for our poster girl – the ScarletTiger caterpillars are evident onlybecause of the holes riddling theGreen Alkanet. Ewan did manageto find one tiny individual amongstthe base of one plant. We feel thatthe plant and the bank would benefitfrom cutting and the regularmaintenance team from DudleyCouncil will undertake this task in thenear future, not flailing as before butleaving the cuttings to provide coverfor the hibernating caterpillars.

We are just at the start of thisexciting project – green corridorsand wildflower planting in urbanareas are not new ideas buthopefully we can make a realdifference to wildlife in Stourbridge.

By Joy Stevens

I spotted among the

greenery in the bank on mydoorstep, an

unusual caterpillar

Winter 2014/2015 19

Tony’segg-hunt successAbout ten years ago, I read an article onfinding White-letter Hairstreak eggs in thewinter, I thought it might be worth a quick look.

I’ve been living in Stafford since 1996 and, despitewalking the area regularly, had never seen an adultbutterfly. There are a number of reasonably sized Elmtrees in the area (the article suggested that the insectrequires trees big enough to flower), so I thought I’dhave a look. It took nearly two hours to find my firstone, and even then I wasn’t sure until I had the photograph checked by an expert. However, once youget the knack of where they are likely to be, it becomesquite easy. That first winter, I found over 30 eggs!

Fleeting glimpseUntil 2014, I had still only had one fleeting glimpseof an adult butterfly; in August I was very surprised tofind a very worn specimen nectaring on bramble. Several of my ‘good’ Elms have now succumbed tothe dreaded Dutch Elm Disease, but there are still oneor two suitable bits around. Although the leaf was notyet off, I had a quick look in late September and was

lucky within about ten minutes –two eggs on one little twig. Thereis obviously quite a healthy colonyof White-letter Hairstreaks aroundStafford Castle, but the casual observer would never know it.

Worth a lookIf anyone has a bit of flowering Elm of any species nearthem, it is well worth a look for eggs in the winter. Theyare usually laid on thin, clean twigs with a couple offlower buds (round-ended, not pointed). Look on thesunny side of any flowering Elm, ideally one growingalong the south or west side of a wood. The eggs looklike shiny, gun-metal flying saucers. I promise you quitea lift when you find your first one! A training day isplanned for January (see Diary Dates for details)

By Tony Moore

the Comma18

An amazingly detailedfocus-stacked photograph

of two White-letter Hairstreak eggs on Elm

(Tony Moore)

White-letter Hairstreak(Tony Moore)

It took nearly two hours to

find my first one,and even

then I wasn’t sure....

My last transect of 2014 onthe Old Hills, near Malvern,started well with two RedAdmirals nectaring on Ivyflower as expected on the27th September.

Part of the regional BBC TV news programmeMidlands Today was broadcast live fromPrees Heath Common Reserve.

My autumn surprise at Old Hills

BBC broadcast live from Prees Heath

It was 20º C with virtually no wind, but totally overcast, so Iwas prepared for a quiet tail endto the season. However, halfwayalong the first section I was rubbingmy eyes as a White Admiralglided towards me and passedwithin 3m at chest height clearlyshowing the band of pearls acrossits wings. I abandoned the transectmethod (a steady forward pace)and followed as it gracefullyswanned along the path for 30seconds before ascending into anoak tree.

Regular summer speciesThe next day was sunnier and so Irepeated the transect with a hope ofmore sightings. The walk was veryconsistent with a White Admiral in asimilar place flying between oaktrees and basking in the canopy. Iwondered if this was the sameindividual and whether it wouldfind a mate.

White Admirals are recorded inmost years at the Old Hills duringthe typical June-July flight period,but a September sighting isremarkable and suggests that thewarm and sunny Summer of 2014allowed them to have a secondgeneration.

By Dr Simon Roberts

The piece was presented by David Gregory-Kumarand took place inside and outside the newly

restored former RAF control tower.Several hibernating Peacock and Small

Tortoiseshell butterflies and Herald moths werefilmed inside the building during the day and, in theevening, by which time the weather had deterioratedand the rain was coming down in torrents, live mothtrapping was filmed in front of the building, which the BBC floodlit.

Amazingly, a couple of moths entered the trap, perhaps seeking shelter, including a Merveille du Jour. The BBC has now placed the film on YouTube. To watch the broadcast please check out:www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWg8CNjxw9U

By Stephen Lewis

White Admiral seen at LangdaleWood, near Malvern (Mel Mason)

Merveille du Jour mothVolunteer Clive Dyer holding on to one of the TV lightsto stop it being blown over in the gale, with the BBC’sDavid Gregory-Kumar offering encouragement


Keen enthusiast and Butterfly Conservation member Dr Paddy

Matthews lives near Longtown,Herefordshire, in the furthest south-west corner of the West Midlandsregion on the edge of the BlackMountains.

He says: “I saw my firstHumming bird hawk moth aged8 in 1958 and have trapped andrecorded moths regularly since

2005 having amassed about20,000 records.

Full moon“During early August the nights were cold and there was a fullmoon so I didn't use the trap and leftit under a Hazel tree. Somehow, a Vapourer moth caterpillar managed to get in and formed acocoon on an egg box. At first I

One of the great things about moth trapping is… younever know what’s going to turn up!

Articles in the last two editions of TheComma featured the Wood White – abutterfly I had never seen.

Male and flightless female Vapourer mothsmating (Roger Wasley)

thought this was just a small cobweband thought no more of it, but amonth later I found a male Vapourerin the trap. Although a commonmoth, they rarely come to light. Then,to my surprise, there was a veryhappy wingless female sitting on thecocoon! Clearly the male hadscented her and entered the trap andmated, as soon after she was busylaying eggs on the cocoon.”

A first recordOther highlights for Paddy include aSilky Wainscot last summer – a firstrecord for Herefordshire – and a Silurian in 2013 – one of the fewrecords for England. Which onlygoes to prove that you don’t have tolive in a hot-spot to find rarities…

By The Editor

Paddy’s luck turnsup another rarity

My first WoodWhite inHaugh Wood

This Silky Wainscot is a first record for Herefordshire (Paddy Matthews)

The female Vapourer moth layingeggs on her cocoon (Paddy Matthews)

Butterfly ‘oscars’ get your vote

Having recently moved to Herefordshire (only justover the border from Radnorshire) and keen to

explore, I decided to visit Haugh Woods, a few milessouth-east of Hereford.

The wood is 850 acres, owned by the Forestry Commission, and nationally important for butterflies andmoths, with over 600 species recorded. As well as being

a great place to see butterflies, it is also well used foroutdoor recreation by walkers, cyclists and picnickers.For me it’s an opportunity to indulge in my three favouritehobbies: walking with the dogs, observing wildlife andphotography.

First visitI made two visits. The first, on 25th July, was a hot sunnyday and all the butterflies were very active. At the bottom of the “green trail” the path goes along a lovelyopen glade with lots of wild flowers such as Betonyalong the edges. Here I watched some white butterfliesfluttering along about one to two feet above the groundin an unhurried manner, but never quite close enough,or resting, for me to see them clearly. Among the speciesI was able to identify were Brimstone, Silver-washedFritillary and Large and Small Skippers.

Return visitMy next visit, on 9th August, the day was cloudier andcooler. I went to the same place and again saw daintylittle white butterflies fluttering quite delicately alongthe flowery edge of the path. This time I was able tophotograph them when they stopped, and quickly became able to identify them as Wood Whites bytheir distinctive flight.

Across the two visits I saw 14 species of butterflies butthe undoubted highlight for me was to see these lovelyunassuming little creatures in the woodland glades – and I’ll be back in late spring hoping to see them again!

Report and photo by Penny Hurt

The results are now in for your favourite species of 2014 in what hasbeen dubbed the butterfly ‘oscars’.Mike Williams, moderator of the West Midlands Branch Forum on

Yahoo, said: “We canvassed opinion via the Yahoo page and facebook(www.facebook.com/groups/westmidlandsbutterflyconservation) and received various nominations including Ringlet, Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell and Essex Skipper.” Butterfly of the year, after receiving themost votes, was Essex Skipper; the most improved performance of the yearwent to Small Tortoiseshell; while Small White earned the wooden spoon.

Don’t forget to choose your favourite butterfly when voting opens later this year. Visit the Yahoo page for details.If you are not yet a member of the forum, please contact Mike Williams at [email protected]

Essex Skipper topped the poll

Penny’s first WoodWhite in Haugh Wood

Wenlock EdgeAt one of the Moth Nights I metTony Jacques, our county recorder,he told me about a place alongWenlock Edge where Wall Brownbutterflies could be seen. Liz wentto reconnoitre.

Lea Quarry Path (SO590981),owned by the National Trust, is astony limestone path that runsalong the edge of a quarry,sheltered and south facing. It isonly a 10-minute drive from wherewe live in the Ironbridge Gorge.We arrived about 9.30 in the

morning and there, waiting for us, were ten Wall butterflies,posing on Scabious and Hawkbit.We also saw twenty SpeckledWood and as we turned for home a Clouded Yellow flew in

and settled on someKnapweed.

The BogIn September Liz suddenly addedanother butterfly to our list; shewanted to see the Grayling. Weknew where to find them so we set off to The Bog Visitor Centre(SO357978), which is a greatplace full of information anddelicious cake. Unfortunately wewere just too late to see them, butthere were Small Coppers andSmall Tortoiseshells still aroundand one more Wall.

We have had a really greatsummer. I know, we missed theDark Green Fritillary, but it’s at thetop of our list for this year!.

Report and photos byChristine Littlewood

LLoyd’s CoppiceWe were just congratulatingourselves on crossing anotherspecies off our list and discussingwhere to go next when a WhiteAdmiral flew into Lloyds Coppice(SJ685033). This is Liz’s patchwhere she records regularly. Sheimmediately rang me and over the next few days we haunted thepath through the Lloyds. Liz saw itagain but I didn’t, I just don’t haveLiz’s mojo. A few weeks later Lizsaw a Silver Washed Fritillary flyinto the same Lloyds path. I didn’t

see that either, but what aspectacular butterfly it is.

Rough Bank Reserve My daughter lives in Gloucestershireand while I was visiting her, theRough Bank Reserve (SO914087)held its opening celebration. Icontacted Sue Smith anddrove down to join a veryfriendly and knowledgeablegroup of people. What awonderful site this is, I wouldadvise anyone to go and see it.The Bank itself is a large expanseof steep sloping grassland full ofwild flowers. All the blues arethere; that afternoon we saw theBrown Argus, Chalkhill Blue(not on the list) and the beautifulAdonis Blue. What a jewel of abutterfly it is.

Of course I rang Liz and toldher that I could not possibly explainthe brilliance of the Adonis, shehad to come and see it for herself.She didn’t argue.

We had a list: Wood White,Silver-washed Fritillary,

Dark Green Fritillary, Wall Brown,Adonis Blue and White Admiral.

I thought, like Patrick, we wouldhave to travel far and wide, but no!Apart from a quick foray intoGloucestershire and Herefordshirewe found everything in our homecounty of Shropshire. Some wereunder our noses and two flew in tovisit us.

Wigmore Rolls The Wood White was easy, wejust looked in The Comma andunder ‘Dates for your diary’ therewas an invitation from Dave Green to visit Wigmore Rolls(SO392692) and see the WoodWhites just over the county border.

We knew that the Wood White was a rare butterfly and so,

on the day, asked about ourchances of actually seeing one.Dave Green was completelyconfident, he assured us we woulddefinitely see several. He was right,we saw males, females, matingpairs, there were dozens! What aday, we came away replete, withphotographs.

Titterstone CleeThe same system worked for theWall Brown. Mike Williams wastaking a group to Titterstone Clee(SO597778) to see them, so wesigned up. What a spectacularplace the Clee is, dramatic andwild. However, when we arrived itwas not ideal butterfly weather, itwas blowing a gale and rainingintermittently but we put on ourboots, zipped up our waterproofsand off we went. I was doubtful thatwe would see our target but Lizdefinitely has a butterfly mojo… andthere they were, looking as batteredand windswept as we were, but

present. We went scrambling uprocky slopes to get close to them.There were three, perhaps four,difficult to photograph, but all in all a successful day.

Bannister’s CoppiceI had been told years ago by a man I met briefly at a meeting,Steve Dalton, that there wereSilver-washed Fritillaries inBannister’s Coppice (SJ619031),just a few miles away. It was ablistering hot day so the shady paththrough the wood was a relief. Aswe came to a small sunny clearingthis large, vivid orange and blackbutterfly glided over our heads andsettled on some brambles a fewyards away. As we watched openmouthed it was joined by another.They wouldn’t allow us to come tooclose once they had settled but theyhad a definite flight path. If westood in the right place they wouldzip over our shoulders on their way to urgent business.

On Shropshire ’s doorstep…

Clouded Yellow on knapweed at Lea Quarry Path

Wall Brown at Lea Quarry Path

Chalkhill Blue

Adonis Blue at the new Rough Bank reserve

ee

Last Spring my good friendand neighbour, Liz Rogers,and I, embarked upon amini Patrick Barkhamenterprise… We wanted tosee butterflies we hadnever seen before.

He was right, we saw males, females, matingpairs, there weredozens! What a

day....


Brisbane was very dry and just coming out of winter. There were no butterflies to be found in the

city, but we took a trip out to the stunning BotanicalGardens to see if anything was about. The gardens are brilliantly curated, with almost all plants having identifying markers. I quickly found a couple of newspecies (for me!) – a male Cycad Blue, the only one Isaw, and large numbers of Plumbago Blues. This lastis quite unmistakeable, having an underside unlike anyother Lycaenid. There were a few Monarchs floatingaround, Common Crow and one rather beaten upHairy Line-blue.

NoumeaAfter the conference was over, we flew to Noumea (the capital of New Caledonia), expecting to find'Hicksville'. We were pleasantly surprised when we arrived at a bustling city of 100,000 souls, with manyhotels and excellent French restaurants. Good wine washalf the price of Australia – a distinct plus! The island was not as 'tropical' as I had expected, beingquite cool (16-23ºC). Most wild areas are covered with 'foret seche' or 'dry rainforest', which sounds distinctly tautological to me. This is a unique habitat,which I had not seen before.

The first butterfly to be found was a CommonCrow, flying around blossoms in the central square.

We took a car up to the local nature reserve andsaw our first Glasswings – a delightful, delicate littlebutterfly, which proved quite tricky to photograph. Wewere also treated to the sight of a Ulysses Swallowtail,

Winter 2014/2015 2524 the Comma

Many of the paths in the reserve, which is jointly

owned and managed by ButterflyConservation and WorcestershireWildlife Trust, have become quitenarrow and even the main bridle-way, which normally a vehicle cango up quite easily most of the way,has become overgrown. This winterthe tasks are even more importantthan usual.

Many tasks aheadThe Sunday volunteer work partiesbegan in October and will end inlate March or early April. Therefore,

the volunteers have a limited num-ber of days to do the many tasksahead. Fortunately, there are othergroups that come to work in thewood during the week such as theRoving Volunteers. Last year saw anunfortunate decline in the number ofvolunteers to join the Sunday workparty, but it was very pleasing towelcome four new people to the firstevent mainly due to posters beingplaced in the local area.

Taster dayOn 2nd November there was a “taster day” in the wood and

Due to the wet spring and hot weather during a great dealof last summer the growth in Monkwood Nature Reserve has been enormous.

The Sunday work party volunteers in action improving the habitat forbutterflies and moths (Mike Williams)

hopefully a few more volunteers willnow be joining the work parties.

2014 butterfly transectThe 2014 butterfly transect wasundertaken by reserve managerGeorge Groves, Philip Adamsand Patrick Linturn. Easily themost prolific butterfly on any oneday was the Ringlet. Numbersgenerally were rather disappoint-ing, even on good days, perhapspartly because of the poorweather early in the year. Not surprisingly no one saw a WoodWhite. Unfortunately, these havenot been seen in the wood for thepast four or so years, however,there is an abundance of the food-plant in the wood.

Report by George Groves

Monkwood manager's pleafor more volunteers

Branch calendars sell outThe 2015 West Midlands branch calendar, featuring a stunning selection of colourful butterfly and moth imagestaken by members, sold out well before Christmas. For the second year running, the photographic competition and calendarwere a popular and great success, and raised funds for the branch.

Branch calendar sells outagain!

CONTINUED ON PAGE 26

Common Crow

Plumbago Blue

Glasswing

I spent most of last August in the Antipodes,courtesy of my clever wife, who gave apaper at an international linguisticsconference in Brisbane. We decided to makea holiday of the trip and arranged to visit New Caledonia while we were out there.

Butterfly encounters in Brisbaneand New Caledonia

the Comma26

occulting shining metallic blue and black, as it poweredpast – unfortunately, without stopping.

BourailOur next stop was near Bourail, where my first outingproduced a sparklingly fresh Meadow Argus – a reallylovely insect. The area here was very dry and the commonest butterfly was the Common Grass Blue.Also very common was the Small Grass Yellow. Thesewere about half the size of the Common Grass-yellowand were much more approachable. Oddly, this butterfly does not appear on the New Caledonia list!The current thinking is that it is an illegally introducedspecies. If so, it has certainly done very well in a shorttime – they were all over the place. Incidentally, this IDhas been absolutely confirmed by Far East experts.

Wandering through the grass, I spotted a small Lycaenid that looked different. It proved to be a

Two-spotted Line-blue – a neat little butterfly with an unusual underside in that the forewing is distinctlyorange, and the hindwing pale grey-brown. This difference is very marked in the field, but does not seem to show in the textbook illustrations. It is alsocalled Acacia Blue, Double-spotted Line-blue, Kasis Blue, and Double-spotted Blue. One certainlyneeds to know the scientific names of stuff out there!

Isle of PinesOn the way from Bourail to Noumea, for our 20 minuteflight to the Isle of Pines, the driver stopped for gas. I was out of the car like a ferret to see what I could find.There was a beautiful male Silver Forget-Me-Notflying along the grass verge. I'm confident of this ID,despite the diagnostic costal spot being hardly visible.Although very faint, it is in the right place, close to thepost-discal band. Unfortunately, I couldn't hang aroundlong enough to get a really good upper shot, but it'sstill a stunning butterfly.

The Isle of Pines has a much more tropical feel than

the rest of NC, despite being further south, It haslush green vegetation and, not surprisingly, lots ofpine trees. We were surrounded by forest, whichhad nice wide pylon tracks – sunny and perfect forbutterflies. Had there been any sun! Sadly, most ofour three days were cloudy and/or raining. Duringone short sunny spell, I saw a couple more UlyssesSwallowtails but they vanished without pause. I didmanage to find the lovely Caper White – it looks asif it should be a should be a Delias species! Whilstphotographing this last, I got chased off by a veryfierce looking islander, who took exception (entirelyreasonably) to my being in his bit of forest. Goodjob it wasn't the 19th Century – he’d probably haveeaten me!

Back to BrisbaneBack to Brisbane to find that it had been raining formost of our ten days away. Everything was muchgreener, so we had another day in the Botanical Gardens. A number of Lemon Migrants were

whizzing around a flowering shrub (if anyone can ID this from the pix, I’d be delighted to know – it wasa real butterfly magnet). Migrants are usually verydifficult to photograph, but they were so keen onthis shrub that they became simple to approach. Ialso saw a Yellow Albatross and my first Hesperid,a Chrome Awl. The only slight annoyance waswhen my wife and I were separated for a couple of minutes. I returned to find that she had beenwatching a Yellow Admiral sitting on a branchabout 4 ft off the ground, with its wings widelyspread... Of course, it was gone when we wentback to the place – ggrrrr!

Despite it being the wrong time of the year forbutterflies, it was an eventful and interesting trip.

Report and photos byAntony Moore

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 25

Caper White

Lemon Migrant

Yellow Albatross

Silver Forget-me-not upperside

Chrome Awl

Small Grass YellowSilver Forget-me-not underside

Two-spotted Line-blue

Two-spotted Line-blue

Meadow ArgusCycad Blue

Winter 2014/2015 27


Dates for your diary

Big Butterfly CountFriday 18th July – Sunday 9th Augustsee www.bigbutterflycount.org

Brown Hairstreak egg huntSaturday 31st January, meet at 10.00am, atGrafton Flyford Church car park just off the A422Worcester- Stratford road (GR: SO963557). Contact: Simon Primrose on 07952 260153 or e-mail [email protected]

Brown Hairstreak Open DaySun 30th August 11.00am-3.00pm, meet at Three Parish Hall at Grafton Flyford for morning walk followed by refreshments at the village hall (GR: SO963557). Contact: John Tilt on 01386792458 or e-mail [email protected]

Coppett Hill Work Parties Sunday 25th January, meet at 10.00am at theTriangle, Coppett Hill (GR: SO639895), approachover Dry Arch, for bracken management to benefitPearl-bordered Fritillaries. Contact: [email protected]

Ewyas Harold Common Work Parties Saturday 24th January, Saturday 21st February,Saturday 21st March, Saturday 18th April. Meetat 10.00am at the northern Cwm Hill end of EwyasHarold Common adjacent to the top cattle grid (GR: SO382302). Approach from Abbey Dore off theB4347 at GR: SO384306. Contact: Ian Hart on01981 510259 or e-mail [email protected]

Grafton Wood Butterfly WalkSun 19th July meet at 2.00pm, at Grafton FlyfordChurch (GR: SO963557). Guided walk. Targetspecies are Silver-washed Fritillary and White Admiral.Tea and cake at the village hall afterwards. Contact: John Tilt on 01386 792458 or e-mail [email protected]

Grafton Wood Work PartiesGrafton Wood work parties are held on Wednesdaysand continue until the end of March. The Sundaywork parties continue on the second Sunday of themonth until March. Meet at 10.00am at GraftonFlyford Church car park just off the A422 Worcesterto Stratford road (GR: SO963557). Contact: John Tilt on 01386 792458 or e-mail [email protected]

Monkwood Work PartiesMeet on the first Sunday of the month at10.00am in the reserve car park off the SintonGreen to Monkwood Green road (GR: SO803603).Contact: George Groves on 01905 620721 or e-mail [email protected]

Mortimer Forest Work Party Thursday 15th February, meet at 10.00am at High Vinnalls car park (GR: SO474733). Lunchtimebarbecue. Leaders: Julia Walling and Mike Williams.Contact: 01584 874636

Moth Breakfast Sunday 19th July, meet 8.30 am at Phepson Farm near Himbleton (GR. SO941598). Part ofWorcestershire's Butterfly Bonanza weekend. Leader: Mike Southall Go to www.phepsonfarm.co.uk for full details.

National Moth RecordersThe 5th National Moth Recorders’ meeting will beheld on Saturday 31st January at the Birmingham and Midland Institute, central Birmingham.Registration fee £7.50 payable on the day. Advanced booking is essential, to book your placeplease contact [email protected] or 01929 400209

Penny Hill Quarry Work PartiesSunday 22nd February and Sunday 1st March,meet at 10.00am at the entrance to the landfill siteoff Pudford Lane, Hillside, Martley, Worcs.

(GR: SO752613). It is planned to clear vegetationaround the bottom pond, among other tasks. Contact: Mike Williams on 07802 274552 or e-mail [email protected]

Prees Heath Common Work Parties Wednesday 21st January, Wednesday 18thFebruary, Wednesday 18th March, meet at10.30am on the access track opposite the Steel Heathturning off the A49. Contact: Stephen Lewis on 07900 886809 or e-mail [email protected]

Trench Wood Work PartiesMeet every Thursday at 9.30am and on the fourthSunday of the month until the end of March at10.00am in the reserve car park (GR: SO930588). Contact: John Holder on 01905 794854 or e-mail [email protected]

West Midlands Branch AGMThe AGM will be held on Saturday 7th March at Birches Valley Forest Centre, Lady Hill, Rugeley,Staffs, WS15 2UQ. Speaker: Stephen Lewis, PreesHeath Warden. Assemble at 10.30am and theformal business starts at 11.00am.

White-letter Hairstreak Egg Hunt Saturday 24th January, meet at 10.30am atStafford Castle car park (GR: SJ 90332206). A trainingevent on how to find the eggs of this elusive butterfly. Contact: Tony Moore on 01785 609236 or e-mail [email protected]

Wood White talkWest Midlands branch member David Green will givea talk on the Wood White and its conservation to BCmembers and members of the Shropshire WildlifeTrust’s Ludlow Group at 7.30pm on Thursday 12th February at the Mascall Centre in Ludlow. Contact: David Green at [email protected]

Wyre Forest work partiesSunday 18th January, meet at 10.00am at start of oldrailway line at bottom of Dry Mill Lane, Bewdley (GR:SO773764). Sunday 15th March, meet at 10.00amat Earnwood Copse car park on B4194 Bewdley-Kinletroad (GR: SO744784). Sunday 29th March, meet at10.00am at Earnwood Copse. Lunchtime barbecueContact Mike Williams on 07802 274552 or e-mail [email protected]

To ensure that Branch members and newcomers know what is happening in our region, event andwork party organisers should e-mail full details of upcoming events to the editor of The Comma at

[email protected] and to web-master David Green at [email protected]

Hurricane puts dampeneron show displays

The branch display during a break in the wind andrain (Richard Woolley)

Sunday 10th August dawned and with it arrivedthe remnants of Hurricane Bertha! Mike Williams

and his intrepid crew, including Jan Taylor, RichardLangley and Richard Woolley arrived at the Far Forest Countryside Show to set up the Butterfly Conservation stall. We managed, with others, to puta roof over our heads while Bertha gave us a little respite from the downpour. The ground was extremely muddy but, at this stage, it was not toowindy. We had sheep for company on the one sideand a wood worker on the other.

Mike carefully put a selection of moths into adisplay container. We never found out what most ofthem were so interested punters were pointed in thedirection of Mike’s field guide!

Break campThe morning, although damp, was not unsuccessfuland we sold several Wyre Forest butterflyidentification leaflets and gave away some oldcopies of The Comma. After lunch it dried up andthe sun came out. Unfortunately, it also started to blowand keeping literature on the table plus the moths waswell nigh impossible. The advertising boards startedto buckle so we were forced to ‘break camp’ ratherearlier than intended. Nevertheless, we believe wehave gained a new transect recorder. We were ableto look around the show in turns and see what wason offer. Let us hope the weather is better this year.Many thanks to Sally Pendergast, John Iles and

their crew for their help and company.

By Richard Woolley


The Sunday work party volunteers in action improving the habitat forbutterflies and moths (Mike Williams)

Habitat management work at three Telford& Wrekin Council sites has resulted in thereturn of the Dingy Skipper butterfly to landwhere it has been absent since the 1990s.

Two and a half years of habitat management at thesites was funded by £10,000 awarded by the SITA

Trust Enriching Nature fund and has been undertakenby Telford & Wrekin Council in partnership with ButterflyConservation and Shropshire Wildlife Trust using localcontractors and volunteers.

High priority speciesThe Dingy Skipper is one of the UK’s rapidly decliningbutterflies and is a “high priority species” in the WestMidlands branch Regional Action Plan. But the workswill also benefit a range of other invertebrate species.

Albion Hill: one of the scrapes created through theproject and the subsequent colonisation by Bird’s-footTrefoil – larval food plant of the Dingy Skipper (Mike Williams)

Dingy Skipper’swelcome return

Suitable areas of habitat for the species were createdby removing trees and scrub to reduce shading inmeadow areas and areas of bare ground were createdto encourage Bird’s-foot Trefoil which is the favouredfood plant of the Dingy Skipper.

Dingy Skipper returningAnnual surveys of the sites have been carried out by trained volunteers supported by Butterfly Conservationand Telford & Wrekin Council. It was with great excitement that volunteer surveyors recorded Dingy Skipper returning to its former sites in 2014 as a resultof the project.

Dr Jenny Joy, Senior Regional Officer for Butterfly Conservation, said: “I’m delighted to see the SITAfunded project on the Dingy Skipper butterfly in Telfordhas been so successful. As a direct result of this work thebutterfly has colonised two new sites where there is nownew breeding habitat.

“One of these sites – Albion Hill – lost the Dingy Skipper in the early 1990s and I have visited it on manyoccasions since then but never seen it. Finding the butterfly on this site was therefore especially memorableand full credit should be given to Telford & Wrekin Council for the work they have achieved through this project.”

Report by Mike Williams

Dingy Skipper (Patrick Clement) Committee Members and Officers

Chairman Peter Seal [email protected] 01905 426398

Vice Chairman & Conservation Officer Mike Southall [email protected] 01299 251467

Treasurer Ron Hatton [email protected] 01242 673923

Branch Secretary Joy Stevens [email protected] 01384 372397

Regional Officers Dr Jenny Joy (Senior Regional officer) [email protected] 01952 249325Rhona Goddard [email protected] –

Link Trustee Neil Thompson [email protected] 07736 948341

Branch Recorder Nigel Stone [email protected] 02476 335189

Transects John Tilt [email protected] 01386 792458

Reserve ManagersEwyas Harold - Ian Hart [email protected] 01981 510259Grafton Wood - John Tilt [email protected] 01386 792458Monkwood - George Groves [email protected] 01905 620721Prees Heath - Stephen Lewis [email protected] 07900 886809Trench Wood - John Holder [email protected] 01905 794854

Conservation OfficersWorcestershire - Trevor Bucknall [email protected] 01905 755757Herefordshire - Ian Hart [email protected] 01981 510259

Moth OfficersBham & the Black Country - David Jackson [email protected] 01902 344716Herefordshire - Robin Hemming [email protected] 01568 797351Worcestershire - Mike Southall [email protected] 01299 251467

County LeadersNorth Staffordshire - John Bryan [email protected] 01782 541870Central Staffordshire - Robert Winstanley [email protected] 01889 576768South Staffordshire - David Jackson [email protected] 01902 344716Herefordshire - Dean Fenton [email protected] 01568 611575Malvern Hills - Mel Mason [email protected] 01684 565700

Brown Hairstreak Champion Simon Primrose [email protected] 07952 260153

Committee MembersVicki Liu [email protected] 07731 924822Steven Williams [email protected] 07974 152081

Publicity and Marketing Officer Mike Williams [email protected] 01299 824860

Newsletter Editor Roger Wasley [email protected] 01242 603765

Web site coordinator David Green [email protected] 01922 452238

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A staggering 855 eggs –that’s the total number ofBrown Hairstreak eggs foundso far this season inWorcestershire by our loyalband of ‘streakers’.

Weekly Thursday searcheswere underway as early

as 2nd October with a trip to the electricity sub-station near Feckenham, where National Gridhad commissioned some black-thorn management and fence protection following our visit lastwinter. Their admirable work hascreated a lot of new habitat for theBrown Hairstreak and we wererewarded with a higher egg count(124) than in 2013.

The streakers’ next target wasUpper Hollowfields Farm where wehad been invited to search by theowners, prior to them finalizingplans for rotational hedge flailinglater in the winter. This farm is amagnificent advert for what can bedone to support and encourage all

types of wildlife on a farmlandenvironment, and we were amazedto find over 400 eggs in the areaswe searched.

Saturday 29th November sawthe first of our three formal timedcounts at Grafton Wood. The areawe searched was the Orchard andadjacent hedgerows and, althoughour count of 176 eggs was downon the 264 found in 2013, we areconfident that with the creation oflarge tracts of new and highly-suitable nearby habitat, within thewood itself, we will at least equaland probably beat last year’scombined count.

Enthusiastic co-operationThere was still time before Christmasfor two more Thursday searches.The first of these at Morton StanleyPark in Redditch, where we havebeen recording small numbers of eggs for the last three winters. In response to our advice, andtogether with the enthusiastic co-operation of Redditch Council,some much-needed blackthorn

management had been carried out there by their regular group of volunteers and this had a directimpact in enabling us to find 60 eggs within the park, more than doubling last years’ total.Especially pleasing was the findingof six eggs on newly grown suckersin the area where the managementwork had taken place. A report ofeggs in a brand new area ofRedditch will be followed up in theNew Year

Our final Thursday search for2014, prior to us retiring to the pub for our traditional (and well earned!) end-of-seasonChristmas lunch, took us to two Worcestershire Wildlife Trustreserves. The recently acquiredBaynhall Meadows revealed seven eggs and nearby HumpyMeadow three more, rounding off an encouraging first-half of the 2014/15 egg searchingseason.

By Simon PrimroseBrown Hairstreak Species Champion

Closing in on1000 Brownie eggs!!

Egg-hunters extraordinaire at Grafton Wood, from left: Andy and Jean Young, Steve Horton, Hugh Glennie, Pauline Jennings, Simon, Mike Williams, Peter Seal and Colin Grey (Roger Wasley)

regional magazine of west midlands butterfly conservation · 4 the comma winter 2014/2015 5 branch...

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