Suffolk ArgusThe

The Newsletter of the Suffolk Branch of Butterfly Conservation

Spring 2011 Volume 50

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The Suffolk Argus

Amale Silver-washed Fritillary in a Suffolk wood – July 2010 (page 10) Photo by Rob Parker

A Flavour of Rhodes – Large Wall Brown and Lesser Fiery Copper (page 25)Photos by Matt Berry

Small Eggar larva Lackey larva Brown-tail larval nest (page 9)Photos by Tony Prichard

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ContentsSuffolk Branch Contacts 4

Editorial 5Purdis Heath Restoration Project 6

Brown-tail moth 9Silver-washed Fritillary 10

Accounts 11Social Media 12

Wider Countryside Butterfly Survey 12Ano Paroia, Greece 13

Kerkini diary 14Walberswick 19

Butterflies: A Very British Obsession 21Too Late to Decide 22

Earthwatch 22Silver-studded Blue update (France) 23

A Flavour of Rhodes 25Wall Monograph 26

New MembersWe welcome the following new members who have joined the Branch and we lookforward to meeting them at our events this year.Mrs D Berry IpswichMrs I Dalziel SaxmundhamMr R and Mrs C Fay BecclesMiss FS Jones Bishop’s StortfordProfessor M Kendall Bury St EdmundsMr MD Nowers IpswichMrs VJ Palmer BecclesMr S and Mrs A Parnell & Family EyeDr M and Mrs B Payne Helston, CornwallMs CB Raven HalesworthMiss O Simpson Bury St EdmundsMr J and Mrs R Walker BecclesMr N and Mrs J Wilcox & Family Ipswich

Balancing the ScalesThe wing of a Pearl–bordered Fritillary is portrayed in an art quilt by Marie Stewart. Thequilt, measuring 84cms by 127cms, was exhibited at the International Festival of Quilts,NEC, Birmingham inAugust 2009 and the Suffolk Craft Society Exhibition at Aldeburgh inSummer 2010.

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Suffolk BranchContacts

The Suffolk Argus is published by the Suffolk Branch of Butterfly Conservation. Theopinions expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily those of Butterfly Conservation orthe Branch.

© 2011 All rights reserved. For more information, see:www.suffolkbutterflies.org.ukButterfly ConservationCompany limited by guarantee, registered in England (2206468) Registered Office: ManorYard, East Lulworth, Wareham, Dorset, BH20 5QP Charity registered in England &Wales(254937) and in Scotland (SCO39268)

PresidentHoward Mendelc/o The Natural History Museum,Cromwell Rd, London SW7 5BDTel: 0207 938 8782

ChairmanMike DeanCoach House, Ixworth,Bury St Edmunds IP31 2HLTel: 01359 230292email: Michael.Dean2@ virginmedia.com

Membership SecretarySusan SidleFive Gables, The Ling, Wortham, Diss,Norfolk IP22 1STTel: 01379 643665email: ssidle@btinternet.com

TreasurerGraham SimisterThe Old Bank House, Wickhambrook,Newmarket CB8 8XGTel: 01440 820471email: graham.simister@btinternet.com

SecretaryJulian Dowding84, Clapgate Lane,Ipswich IP3 0RETel: 01473 436096email: julian.dowding@ntlworld.com

Conservation Officer (Butterflies) and CountyRecorderRob Parker66, Cornfield Rd.,Bury St Edmunds IP33 3BNTel: 01284 705476email: robparker@waitrose.com

Conservation Officer (Moths)Tony Prichard3, Powling Rd., Ipswich IP3 9JRTel: 01473 270047email: tony.prichard@btinternet.com

Programme and PublicityMatt BerryTel: 07599 243026email: matt.berry1@sky.com

Newsletter EditorPeter MaddisonBarnmead, Fishpond Rd,Waldringfield,Woodbridge IP12 4QXTel: 01473 736607email: prmaddison@yahoo.co.uk

Regional Officer, Eastern EnglandSharon Hearle216, The Street, Kirtling,Newmarket CB8 9PDTel: 01638 731648email: shearle@butterfly-conservation.org

Committee MemberStella Wolfe

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EditorialPeter MaddisonThis has been a particularly cold and drearywinter - a time in which our thoughts mighthave turned from butterflies and moths tofleeces, scarves and snow shovels. But MattBerry and JulianDowding, in particular, havebeen thinking about butterflies - Silver-studdedBlues…. and thickwinter fleeces too!

In this newsletter Julian writes about thePurdis Heath Restoration Project in whichhe and Matt have immersed themselvesthroughout the planning and the practicalstages. This has been a collosal undertakingand together with help from numerousindividuals and organisations the winter’swork has been completed. It is with hugeenthusiasm that we look to a butterfly-filledfuture.

Rob Parker writes about the surprisingdispersal across the county of the Silver-washed Fritillary, but in his monograph oftheWall we can only shudder when he notesthe dramatically reduced distribution of thisonce common species. Your recording of theWall is requested in particular this year.

*****This is newsletter number 50, a significantnumber I tell myself and justification foropening the pages of The Suffolk ArgusVolume 1. Published in January 1994, thefront cover held the title ‘Branch Launch’and in the article that followed, the occasionon the 30th October 1993 and the aims of theBranch were recorded. Topics such as ‘LateButterflies’ and ‘A Guide to ButterflyWatching’ made interesting reading, but twoheadings in particular caught my eye, andthe news within surprised me with theirresonance for today. The first, written byAndrew Phillips (Chairman), concerned‘Purdis Heath scrub clearance’.

‘Why would over thirty people turn out on afreezing Sunday morning in November [1993] tohack down birch saplings on a piece of apparentwaste ground on the Eastern outskirts of

Ipswich? Well they did, and they achieved farmore than expected. In fact we cleared – andfaggot bundled – well over an acre of land thatused to be the favoured breeding area of what isnow the strongest remaining colony of the Silver-studded Blue (Plebejus argus) left in Suffolk.

This delicate little insect is fast disappearing fromSuffolk and it would be no exaggeration tosuggest that on present trends, it could be thetwenty-second of the fifty species of butterfly thatused to live and breed in our county to becomelocally extinct.’

The other article entitled ‘The future of ourwoodland’ explored the government’sproposal to sell-off Forestry Commissionland to private investors. One of theconclusions of the article was ‘Markets mustbe regulated and at the very least private ownersmust be prevented from destroying known[wildlife] sites and encouraged to manage andcreate more wildlife-friendly areas.’Oh yes….Hear, Hear to that!

In the news today Forestry Commissionland sales, and the County Council’sdisposal of Country Parks have beenproposed. In the east there is the planningapplication for a new town of 2000 homes tobe built at Martlesham, and the prospect ofan application for a massive industrial estateto be developed within the SuffolkSandlings on the disused airfield atBentwaters. Their hinterland will beaffected hugely. Wildlife must not suffer.We must be concerned, we must beinvolved.

*****At the beginning of February, as I write thiscolumn, we are having a mild spell. Flowerbuds on hedgerow elms are swellingnoticeably. Larvae of the White-letterHairstreak will soon be active! Peacock,Orange-tip and Brimstone flicker throughmy mind’s eye. Not ghosts, I hope, butimages of an abundant season to come.

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Purdis Heath Restoration ProjectJulian DowdingPurdis Heath Site of Special ScientificInterest (SSSI) is a fifteen hectare fragmentof heathland lying on the eastern fringe ofIpswich. Since the Countryside and Rightsof Way Act 2000, this privately owned sitehas become an increasingly popular place tovisit for many people, including dogwalkers, hikers and naturalists.

During this time, the Silver-studded BluePlebeius argus population at the site hasundergone a dramatic decline in numbers.In the 1980’s, over two thousand butterfliesinhabited the greater part of the heath butlast year, numbers could be counted on onehand. The extent of suitable habitat at thesite also contracted through this period inspite of efforts by conservation groups to tryand help. Such work focused on theremoval of Gorse and Birch scrub, whichwere crowding out and shading the shortvegetation and open ground needed bySilver-studded Blues for breeding.Furthermore, the butterfly has a highlydeveloped relationship with black Lasiusants, and is dependent upon Bell HeatherErica cinerea as a nectar source at Purdis.However, the concentrations of both ant andplant have diminished. In light of this andfollowing a report by Dr Neil Ravenscroft in2009, to assess the status of the butterfly andits habitat at a suite of Suffolk sites, ButterflyConservation called a meeting in October2010, to try and address the problem thatthis priority BiodiversityAction Plan speciesis facing at Purdis. Interested parties wereinvited to formulate an emergency plan ofaction, with Butterfly Conservation leadingthe project under consent from NaturalEngland. Those present were unanimous inagreeing to the following more radicalmanagement:

• Scrape off Gorse litter remaining fromprevious scrub clearance plots, back tothe soil mineral layer, to encourageheather regeneration from the seedbank and reduce soil compaction andencrustation by turf and mosses.

• Increase areas of heather forageharvesting.

• Aim to increase areas of bare groundfor ants which are needed by thebutterfly.

• Continue scrub removal.

• Approach site owners with view tosecuring long-term management of thesite by means of a DEFRAHigherLevel Stewardship agreement.

• Increase population monitoring.

Before any of this could be done, thepresence of Anglo Saxon remains nearbynecessitated a professional archaeologicalevaluation to assess whether any groundworks planned might turn up further relics.A T-shaped investigative trench was dugusing a JCB under the close inspection ofarchaeologist John Newman, (see photos).All that was discovered were the remains ofa presumed WW2 bonfire! Furthermore,because of the need to try and engage withthe local community, BC volunteersthroughout the winter period installed aseries of site notices. These informed peopleof our proposals and the plight of thebutterfly. To these ends, good use was alsomade of the social networking sites ‘Twitter’and ‘Facebook’ and of local radio.

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Ground works were carried out duringwinter and a desktop biological audit of thesite was also undertaken. Suffolk BiologicalRecords Centre, county recorders andspecialists were invited to submit recordsand comment on the emergency plan. Thiswas to ensure that the planned work wouldnot be disadvantageous to any flora andfauna beyond the Silver-studded Blue, forwhose benefit the habitat was beingrestored. Many people commented that thework should in fact be generally beneficialbut it also became apparent that the site wasa little under recorded and that it couldbenefit from further investigations. Toaddress this, joint field trips have beenarranged by Butterfly Conservation andSuffolk Naturalists’ Society for May 8th andAugust 13th, and a moth night is alsoproposed for August 20th. During the Mayevent there will be the chance to practiseSilver-studded Blue recording skills in timefor increased populationmonitoring later onin June and July (see our Events card orwebsite for details).

The audit did reveal two new and rarespecies: a Liverwort,Microlejeuna ulicina anda moss, Ulota coarctata. Both of these wereon an oak north of the track, which bisectsthe site.

Given the amount and nature of work to bedone it is good to be able to report thatpractically all of the scheduledmanagementhas been completed, and all of this in lessthan 3 months. Much of the heavy worknecessitated using a JCB whereas the forageharvesting of heather was completed with aRytec mower towed by a tractor. Everythingelse was carried out by willing volunteers(see photos).

Throughout the project, BC has been

fortunate to work alongside a number ofdedicated specialists and volunteers, notleast among them, GeorgeMillins of SuffolkAmphibian and Reptile Group and zoologistMarc Woolnough. Their vigilance inattendance, particularly whilst heavymachinery was being used has helpedminimise any negative impact uponhibernating reptiles such as ViviparousLizard Zootoca vivipara and Slow WormAnguis fragilis, both of which are BAPspecies and are known to inhabit Purdis.They have also worked tirelessly utilisingmaterial arising from ground clearance, suchas Silver Birch brash and Gorse stumps, inthe creation of habitat piles at the edges ofthe site (see photo). These will providerefuge and basking sites for reptiles, andshelter and nesting sites for mammals andbirds, such as Hedgehogs -also BAP species- and Robins which are known to inhabitPurdis. Marc and George hope to beconducting further reptile surveys on sitefrom March onwards.

Our work has also been supported by NeilSherman from the Ipswich Golf Club. Neilhas been able to help in the past with theforage harvesting of over mature heatherareas and this year has helped with someGorse stump removal. All of the heather‘arisings’ have been utilised by hisemployers to re-seed new areas of the golfcourse, thus creating similar heathlandhabitat in the vicinity. This can only be agood thing.

Greenways Countryside Project underJames Baker and Dave Fincham kindlyhosted its annual Purdis ‘Megabash’ eventon 22nd January. It was attended by aroundfifty volunteers who came from Greenwaysthemselves, Ipswich Wildlife Group,Butterfly Conservation and Access to

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Nature. Yet more volunteers were simplymembers of the public who had seen ourPurdis posters or had heard about it on ourFacebook and Twitter pages, or through theadvertising campaign on BBC Radio Suffolkand Ipswich Community Radio. All of theseworked tirelessly removing Gorse and scrubfrom the site, using hand tools such as bowsaws and loppers.

Generous funding for the work came frommoney raised at two events: an open day atScotland Place Farm, Stoke by Nayland,owned by Tracey Hayter and her family, andanother at Priors Oak,Aldeburgh, owned byTrudie Willis.

Mention must also be given to the followingindividuals in appreciation of their work inconsultation and site assessment: NickBlacker the ant specialist, David Mason ofthe Suffolk Wildlife Trust, Monica O’Donnell from Natural England, Dr NeilRavenscroft of Wildside Ecology, whowrotethe 2009 report on the Silver-studded Bluebutterfly on the Sandlings, Sarah Poppy, theconservation archaeologist from SuffolkCounty Council, Carrie Willis who helpedplot the site of the trench and GrahamMatheson, representing the site owners.Thanks are due to all those mentioned andto you, our members, for providing theincentive to keep going.

In spite of such goodwill and the amount ofwork done, we cannot afford to be blaséabout the future given the critically lowcount of the butterfly last year. We are underno illusions that the work will supply aquick fix to the problems facing the butterflyat Purdis but we will be lookingoptimistically this year to see how the sitedevelops and intensively monitoring theremaining population. Specifically we will

be hoping to find:

• Heather regeneration along the forageharvested link into the old flight areas

• Germination of seedling heathers(hopefully Bell Heather Erica cinerea) inthe JCB scraped areas.

• Increase in ant activity

• Continued presence of butterflies

Additionally wewill be casting an interestedgaze over the archaeological trench to seehow it develops ecologically.

Although the site is privately owned, it ishoped that the land can be brought into a 10year DEFRA Higher Level Stewardshipagreement. Failing this, some other solutionwill have to be sought. Without long-termsecurity it is hard to see how the Silver-studded Blue butterfly and other rarespecies can survive here. Lookingstrategically and even more optimisticallyinto the future, one wonders what couldhappen were the heathland sites ofMartlesham, Purdis, Bixley, Ransomes andPipers’ Vale, linked up to providecontiguous habitat for the Silver-studdedBlue and other characteristic Sandlingsspecialists. Birds like the Dartford Warbler,Woodlark and Nightjar would all surelybenefit, as would butterflies like the Wall,Small Heath, Grayling and a myriad othercreatures.

Please get in touch with us if you wouldlike to find out more, or help us in thisproject.

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The Brown-tail mothTony Prichard

The Brown-tail moth Euproctis chrysorrhoeais a rather innocent looking white moth anda common sight in moth traps across thecounty. The moth gets its name from beingwhite all over apart from the tip of theabdomen, which is covered in brown hairs.Themoth would remain largely unknown tothe general populace if it were not for itshairy caterpillar having a habit of sheddingits long hairs, which can cause irritation andrashes when they come in contact with skin.The species has had a largely coastaldistribution in the past but over the lastfifteen years has been establishing itselffurther inland. Its distribution was almostexclusively restricted to east Suffolk but nowcould be expected to appear in most areas ofthe county.

In the last few years I have received anincreasing number of queries about thecaterpillars of this moth as they experiencelocal population explosions. The caterpillarsare stripping their foodplant, wandering offin search to find new food and this can bringthem into closer contact with their alarmedhuman neighbours. It is not officiallyclassified as a pest species so I understandthat local councils are not legally required todo anything about them. I did read aboutthem on a few council web sites beingdescribed as voracious eaters of shrubs anda pest because of this, however I would saythat they are no more voracious eaters thanmost caterpillars. They are more readilynoticed because they live in a group and thefeeding damage of many caterpillars isconcentrated in one spot.

The moth is single-brooded with adultsflying in July and August, although inSuffolk the vast majority of adult records arefrom July. The eggs are laid in a batch on awide variety of trees and shrubs,particularly blackthorn, hawthorn, bramble,sallow, dog-rose and other rosaceous shrubsand trees. Hatching in September the youngcaterpillars create a small communal weband spend a short period feeding up beforehibernating for the winter inside their toughsilken web.

The Small Eggar Eriogaster lanestris andLackey Malacosoma neustria are a couple ofspecies that have hairy caterpillars, formsimilar larval webs and could be confusedwith Brown-tail larvae. They both appear tobe currently in decline and may be at riskfrom being eradicated due to mis-identification as Brown-tail larvae. Thelarvae of the latter species are readilydistinguished from the other two species byhaving two orange spots down their backabout two-thirds along the body from thehead.A further species that may arrive in thecounty at some stage is Oak ProcessionaryThaumetopoea processionea - a classified pestspecies whose communal larvae have hairsthat can cause severe irritation. This specieshas established itself at sites in west Londonand currently appears to be resistingattempts to eradicate it.

I would be interested in receiving anyrecords of Brown-tail larvae particularlyfrom west Suffolk as I suspect the species ismore widespread than our records currentlysuggest.

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The Silver-washed Fritillary was present inSuffolk in the 1940s, but became scarce by1959, and had not been seen until recently.In 2006 it had a very good year in thesouthern counties of UK, and dispersedwidely. We had three sightings in Suffolk,one of which was at ThebertonWood, and itwas believed that these may have spreadfrom the re-introduction site nearCoggeshall in Essex. Perhaps some of themmay since have bred in Suffolk. In 2009, Iwas surprised to discover three in a privatewood near Stowmarket.

On 20th July 2010 I re-visited that wood. Tomy delight I found no less than eleven andplenty of violet in what I had considered arather small and unpromising site forbreeding. Assuming no-one is releasingthem (the owner says not) this is veryencouraging for a spread of the species. Thewood in question is small, but has plenty ofviolet. The same afternoon, I went on toPakenham wood (TL9367) to check on L.camilla (just one very tatty one). In the sameglade, I was amazed to find one male A.paphia on the thistle. Ten minutes later,another appeared, and some impressive skyclimbing courting flights went on.

Since then, singles have been reported fromsites spread widely around the county andthe 2010 totals reached a minimum oftwenty four Silver-washed Fritillary seen inten Suffolk sites by more than thirteendependable observers. Most of these weresingletons andmost were photographed. Sixof the localities are woods with violets,where there is some chance of naturalcolonization. The sites are: Stowmarket(private wood), Pakenham Wood, Privatewood north of Pakenham, Kettlebaston,Dunwich Forest, Theberton Wood (seen by

observers watching Purple Emperors),Beccles Common Wood, Minsmere,Cransford, Bradfield Woods

In the same timeframe, it has been found infifteen locations in Norfolk, some close toSuffolk (co-incidentally, also a tally of overtwenty Silver-washed Fritillary).Meanwhile,the re-introduced colony in Essex isflourishing, and appears to have spread,having reached RSPB’s Stour Wood on theSuffolk border.

I am of the opinion that the very hot days inJuly triggered dispersal, and that thesesightings are of a natural spread, in someways similar to the dispersal of WhiteAdmiral, also in July. These sightings fromEssex, across Suffolk and well into Norfolk,were identified early because they were sounusual. Later in the season, most countieswhere Silver-washed Fritillary is morecommonplace noted that 2010 had beenanother good season for the species, withstrong numbers at known sites and dispersalto new locations too.

Keeping tabs on the presence or otherwiseof Silver-washed Fritillary becomes apriority for 2011, and observers everywhereshould visit any suitable woods in July -particularly those where they were seen in2010. They are powerful, majestic fliers andmay be spotted from a distance, but they arealso fond of thistles, so getting close enoughfor a photograph is not too difficult. Take alook at your reference books now, to makesure you can separate A. paphia from otherfritillaries, and the males from the females -look for the scent scales along the veins onthemales - if you are lucky enough to see theupper surface of the forewings. (See photoinside front cover.)

The Return of the Silver-washed Fritillary,Argynnis paphia.Rob Parker

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Spring 2011

Butterfly Conservation Suffolk BranchIncome and Expenditure for the yearended 31st March 2010

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The Suffolk Argus

Anyone familiar with the online social media websites Facebook and Twitter may beinterested to know that we have recently set up our very own Suffolk Branch pages.Interestingly, we’re the first Butterfly Conservation group to do this, thus making us a bit ofa trailblazer where this technology is concerned, Lepidoptera-wise at least!

We decided to use the sites as they are another way of allowing us to communicate withmembers and the wider public (or potential members as I like to think of them!). The sitesmake it fairly easy to share news and information, or to engage in the simple act ofsocialising online. A key benefit is the speed with which news can be shared.

We’ve already had a positive experience from using the sites. Several volunteers cameforward to help with conservation work at Purdis Heath after seeing our information online,and we’ve gained at least one new member after they saw the half price membership offerbeing promoted on our Twitter page. If you would like to visit the pages the addresses are:

www.facebook.com/BC.Suffolk www.twitter.com/BC_Suffolk

Suffolk branching out into social mediaMatt Berry

Wider Countryside Butterfly SurveyFuture funding for the national survey has been confirmed and soon participants will bereceiving details of this year’s survey. Additional volunteers are most welcome to join theteam of butterfly surveyors. Details can be obtained from our Branch co-ordinator, PeterDare Tel: 01502 47801 or peterxema@aol.com .

In 2010 twelve Branch members and three BTO members took part in the surveying of 18squares. Detailed species counts are not available yet but the first impression is of lowernumbers than in 2009 - with August counts being especially poor.

Editorial copy dateContributions for the Summer edition of our newsletter are very welcome and should besent to the Editor, Peter Maddison, no later than Sunday 22nd May 2011.

Any piece of writing considered to be of interest will be published and we also welcomeline drawings, prints and photographs.

Contributions (preferably electronic) can be sent to the address on page 4 or by email to:prmaddison@yahoo.co.uk

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Pull back the shuttersFragrance of stephanotisScenting the air.

Sparrows are chirpingWith what we scarce call a songSubtle in their world.

Rough layers of brickGaps between the weathered tilesNesting birds rejoice.

Beneath the long grassA fragmented green lizardJust an eye flickers.

Above the mud patchA cloud of bright butterfliesBlue sky comes to earth.

Dappled green sunlightSilvered rush of clear waterAwhite horse grazing.

Seemingly lifelessThe high snow covered mountainsThen a raven croaks.

The clouded yellowLands on a bright buttercupBathed in summer’s glow.

So obvious the nestsOf village storks on tall polesNo one will harm them.

And you rememberThe mystery of nightingalesEverywhere unseen.

These haiku were written during the Branchholiday to Greece, last year.

Although butterflies and birds were the mainfocus it was an area rich in wildlife of manykinds. The title is that of the village where westayed for the week.

Ano Paroia, Greece: Ten HaikaiRichard Stewart

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Thursday 10th JuneWe had decided the night before on a 7.30breakfast and 8.30 departure, so I had a busymorning washing the bus and shopping sothat we could depart on time. We drovecross-country from Vironia to Serres, whichwas a time-waster, as we got slightly lost onthe poorly signposted roads. The main roadwould have been quicker. We joined it atSidirokastro, passing the quarry with itsnesting rollers, one of which we sawperched on a wire as we drove past. Serresproved to be a big and busy town, and wemade the mistake of driving right throughthe middle of it. However, it wasn’tparticularly slow, and we eventuallyemerged the other end and started ourascent to the ski resort at Lilias.At our first stop we found a small butflower-rich meadow that was full ofbutterflies, from clouded yellows to anabundance of ilex hairstreaks. Geoff caughtan interesting blue that (some hours later)was identified as a baton blue. A Balkangreen lizard, posing on a tree trunk, made agood photograph.We continued our ascent, and soon startedto climb steeply, coming out of the pine treezone into open, grazed country, with thejuniper bushes pruned by the goats. As afew clouds were gathering we continued tothe top car park, the last part of the drivepassing through beech woods. We parked inthe empty ski car park (we didn’t see asingle personwhile wewere there), and thenexplored the grassy and flower-rich skislope, with its abundance of violets. The firstnew butterfly was a small tortoiseshell, andthere were also several painted ladies and

peacocks, plus our old friend the nettle-tree.Dull-looking coppers proved interesting:sooty copper. We also saw several smallcoppers. Woodland ringlets – a handsome,chocolate-brown butterfly – were common.There was a good selection of fritillaries, andpearl-bordered was added to the list, afterbeing netted. Rob also captured one that wasclearly slightly different, and this proved tobe our first Glanville fritillary. Queen ofSpain was probably the commonest fritillary.Birds were few. Coal tits sang from the pines,along with chaffinches and wrens and acuckoo, while I also heard a firecrest. Ablackredstart was also new.We had our lunch here, enjoying once againthe luxury of running water next to ourpicnic site. The temperature was a cool59degF. After lunch we dropped down arelatively short distance and explored aforestry road. This looked unpromising atfirst, but soon opened out into a flower-richclearing, with mullein plants the dominantlarge species. I netted a pair of grizzledskippers, and we saw several northern wallbrowns, a species that had been new for usat the previous site. I saw a single black-veined white, while mountain small whiteand large white were common, along with avariety of fritillaries. Then Sheila gave ashout for a butterfly she thought lookeddifferent, and Rob duly managed to captureit: a clouded Apollo, and one of our maintarget species. Though we all admired it inthe net, it was highly uncooperative whenreleased, fluttering off and only stoppingonce, very briefly. It was never seen again.Its flight was much like a large white, andnot a black-veined.

Kerkini, Greece 6th to the 13th June 2010Part II of the highlights from David Tomlinson’s diary.

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We continued down the mountain, enjoyingthe glorious scenery. Our next stop was in anopen area. Here I saw a grayling land on theroad, but took my eye off it. When I tried tofind it for Rob I had lost sight of it, but itflushed, flew off rapidly andwas never seenagain. While I led most of the group awayafter a most impressive first-year goldeneagle, Rob was busy with his net andeventually caught a fine tessellated skipper,a lifer for him. It was a very large andhandsome skipper. When released it flew offsome distance, but I managed to mark itdown and so we found it again and Peterand I managed to photograph it successfully.The young golden eagle we watched wasdive-bombed several times by a buzzard,giving an interesting comparison in size, asthe eagle dwarfed its attacker. A singinghoopoe also gave great views, while othernew birds for the trip included wheatear,stonechat, linnet and mistle thrush.It was now time to go home, so wereluctantly climbed back into the bus and setoff down the mountain, watching thetemperature climb as sharply as wedescended. We found a much better routearound Serres, and I glimpsed another rollersoon after we had left the town.As we drovenorth towards Bulgaria the car thermometerregistered 90degF, but it was down to thelow 80s when we arrived back at Viglatoras.

Friday 11 JuneWe started our day by driving up the hillbehind the village, starting at the church. Aherd of horses, many of themares with foals,had just been moved off when we arrived.Though no new butterflies were found,there was a good variety of species to see,including several wall browns. Just belowthe church was a patch of rough groundpopular with tortoises, and I counted seven

in view at once. Wemade a second stop on apiece of rough ground, dominated by dwarfelder, just outside the village. Again, no newspecies, but plenty of butterflies, while Robnetted a very pretty small elephant hawkmoth, with its wonderful pink colouring. Ienjoyed good views of pallid swifts racingoverhead.Our next stop was at the stream that runsinto the lake south of Kerkini village. It wasnow feeling very hot, with the temperaturealready in the low 80s. I found, as promised,penduline tits, with an adult male showingwell, then two freshly fledged juveniles, oneof which I photographed. We glimpsed acouple of times a fast-flying butterfly thatmay well have been Freyer’s purpleemperor – the willow habitat was just right– but the insect was so fast I failed to keep itin the binoculars for more than a fraction ofa second, so no positive ID was made. Ascarce swallowtail sauntered by and gaveeveryone great views, and we also saw agood variety of fritillaries, including silver-washed andmarbled. A thermalling flock ofwhite pelicans was pleasing to see, and alesser spotted eagle also gave a good view.We continued a mile or so south to the edgeof the marshy area, and here walked alongthe track between the poplars and the fieldsof maize and rape. Before setting off wewatched spoonbills, and saw both little anda single great white egret. A storks’ nest withseveral well fledged chicks also held athriving Spanish sparrow colony. Goldenorioles called continually, and several wereseen, while a very cooperative lesser greyshrike let everyone who wanted to admirehim. Again, there were lots of butterflies,including southern white admiral, butnothing we hadn’t seen before.It was now approaching lunchtime, so wedrove back north to the man road, then

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along to Vironia, before turning up to thepicnic site near the church. As soon as westopped I spotted a soaring raptor thatturned out to be a golden eagle. I madelunch under an elm tree, complete withwhite-letter hairstreaks. Here the numerousbutterflies coming down to the stream werethe chief interest, and several of us enjoyedsome genuine butterfly watching, asopposed to butterfly hunting. Apart fromthe numerous nettle-tree butterflies bothsouthern white admirals and silver-washedfritillaries were coming in, joining hundredsof thirsty bees at the water’s edge.A friendlyhound joined us for lunch, and withoutpestering us enjoyed the various goodies Ithrew his way, including the spam savedfrom lunch a couple of days before.The temperature was now in the high 80s,but the nearby trough with its running coldwater was a delight, and most refreshing.Before leaving I spotted a fine black-earedwheatear with black throat, looking verypied, high on the cliff, and we had good butdistant views through the scope. The easternrace of black-eared wheatear often looksblack and white.After lunch we tried to drive up themountain, but finding the right road proveddifficult, as the maps are imprecise. Westopped at the roadside café to ask, and achap called Pedro told us to follow him. Weduly did, and he waved us on up themountain, warning us to be careful of thebends. We drove past a derelict militarycamp, then climbed steeply on a dirt road. Istopped the bus probably half way up, as theroad looked somewhat perilous, with steepunguarded drops. It wouldn’t have beenmuch fun to have met a vehicle coming theother way. We did see one lorry come downthe track, but that was the only movingvehicle.

However, the butterflying was satisfactoryat our stop. I was lucky to have a great viewof a Cleopatra that flew round me for sometime, attracted to thyme. Ilex hairstreakswere hugely abundant, and the populationin these hills must be measured in millions.We also saw a swallowtail, lesser spottedand Queen of Spain fritillaries, and manypainted ladies, the latter all fresh and smart.Rob caught a white butterfly which, after,very careful examination, was pronouncedto be Krueper’s small white, a localisedspecies in the Balkans and not easy toidentify.That was the end of our butterfly huntingfor the day. On the descent I dropped myTilley hat out of the bus when I stopped tosee a black-eared wheatear, and I wastedtime by driving back to collect it, thoughGeoff and I did see the pair of wheatearsagain when we went back to fetch it.We ate dinner – salad, then calamari risotto– in the garden.

Saturday 12 JuneA great day to finish the holiday. After ourusual 7.30 breakfast we left at 8.30, with ourfirst stop Mandraki. As I had seen largecoppers here in both previous years Ithought that wemight do so again, though Idon’t think that Rob shared my optimism. Itwas a little early for butterflies when wearrived, to be greeted by the usual chorus ofgreat reed warblers and singing orioles. Thefirst find was a small copper, but as wewalked along the track behind the marshPeter spotted a likely candidate. I caught itwith the net and, yes, we had a large copperin the bag. It was admired by everyonebefore being released, but then behavedimpeccably by perching and even openingits (slightly tatty) wings.Rob complemented this triumph by

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capturing our first Lang’s short-tailed blue.The tail is indeed very short, but noticeableif you look hard enough. Two or possiblythree lesser spotted woodpeckers alsoshowed well, feeding close to us on almostbare branches, while the last memorablesighting here was of two juvenile pendulinetits.We then climbed back in the bus, pausingbriefly in Vironia to buy bananas. AtSidirokastro we turned off the main roadtowards the hills, passing our picnic sitefrom Wednesday, and the area where wehad found the first yellow-banded skipper.We spotted a likely lookingmeadow – reallya patch of untilled ground, filled withthistles and flowers – which I thought worthturning back to inspect. It proved to be themost productive patch we worked all week,producing around 35 species. A number ofblues were puddling on a damp, bare patchof ground close to the road. Most wereChapman’s blues, but Marie spotted abrighter individual among them that wassoon identified as a turquoise blue, a quitestunning little butterfly. We later saw twotogether at the same site. Another newbutterfly was the unremarkable Hungariangrizzled skipper, while both commongrizzled and yellow-bandedwere also notedhere. Numerous banded demoiselles flewabove the river.Several species of fritillaries were flyinghere, including silver-washed along theroad, where the riverside vegetation waslusher. I had a comma perch on me severaltimes, while the only red admiral seen herelanded on the driver’s seat of the bus.Eastern Bath whites were common, whileBalkan marbled white, ilex and white-letterhairstreak were also noted. The pleasurecame not only from the variety of butterflies,but their sheer abundance. However, it was

now very hot, so even walking in the bakingsun was hard work. Birds were few. Abuzzard flew over, cirl buntings sang alongwith the inevitable nightingales.We had one more stop before lunch, againby the side of the road. An interestingcapture here was a Croatian hummingbirdhawk, while the butterflies included acouple of species we hadn’t seen earlier,including marbled white. I made themistake of venturing off-road and gettingmy socks filled with the dagger-like grassseeds that are difficult to remove and can bequite painful. I saw a woodlark, whilenightingales serenaded us, as usual. A pairof ravens also flew over. Geoff saw somesizeable-looking blues flying here: largeblues? He didn’t have a net.It was now lunchtime, and we wanted bothshade and water. The tiny village ofKaridochori provided both, and we ate inthe village square under the shade of a pairof plain trees, with the constant chirrupingof Spanish, house and tree sparrows. Robdid a quick recce after we had eaten andfound a promising track, leading away fromthe village, descending sharply to a dampstreambed with tall poplars, then a dryhillside behind with lots of thyme. Therewere fritillaries, hairstreaks and blues tolook at on the first part of the walk, and Isaw a brimstone fly by. Shortly after we hadcrossed out of the shade of the poplars I sawa big blue butterfly that I was convincedwasa large blue. Richard and I watched it racingaround, but it was very active and we soonlost it from sight. Fortunately it came backagain a few minutes later and was skilfullynetted by Rob: it was indeed a fine, freshmale large blue. After being admired byeveryone it was released, but despite Rob’sbest efforts to persuade it to perch it flew offfuriously, so wasn’t photographed.

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A little while later Richard and Marie saw afemale large blue egg-laying, but no otherswere found, despite an extensive search.Another new butterfly here was large wall,again captured by Rob. This completed ourhat trick of European wall butterflies. Icaught a fine male silver-studded blue,while mallow and marbled skippers werealso noted, along with both swallowtails. Itwas hot work with the thermometernudging the upper 80s, but most rewarding,while it was an attractive landscape in whichto look for butterflies. A handsome Balkanlizard orchid (Himantoglossum caprinum) wasadmired and photographed.As we walked back to the square a juvenilegolden eagle (possibly the same bird as onThursday) gave great views as it soaredoverhead, mobbed at one stage by a kestrelthat looked tiny in comparison. Back in thevillage square a grayling was seen, but itwas one of a duo that are almost impossibleto separate. Quite what the locals made ofthis group of English (and one Scottish)people looking at butterflies will remain amystery.With our day’s butterfly total up to 50species we turned for home, stopping inSidirokastro for a well earned ice cream.Unfortunately the ice cream shop failed toopen, though we did get good views of cragmartins as compensation. We stoppedinstead in Vironia, and enjoyed our icecreams here, a treat to the group fromGeoff.It had been a bad day for snakes, and wesaw about 10 squashed in the road. Alllooked as if they were the rather plain largewhip snake, the commonest species here.Apparently Greek drivers will go out oftheir way to try and run snakes over, so themortality rate of snakes on roads is veryhigh.Or final stopwas back atMandraki. With thetemperature still close to 90 it was very hot.We failed to find any snakes, or more largecopper butterflies, but a trio of juvenile

Dalmatian pelicans was tame andapproachable and interesting to see. I saw asingle drake pochard that was new for thelist – in the winter 20,000 winter here. As weunloaded the bus back at the hotel a Levantsparrowhawk flew low overhead, chased bynumerous outraged swallows and martins.It was a much better view than our previoussighting.We had our last dinner in the garden onceagain. The mousaka was excellent, while acouple of bottle of rosé went down very wellafter such a hot day.

Sunday 13 JuneWe had an 8am breakfast and aimed at a 9.30departure. It was a hot and humidmorning,so I packed all the bags and then had ashower, as the sweat was dripping off mybrow. After saying farewell to Stelios it wasabout 9.50 when we finally left, travellingfirst down the west side of the lake, pastpygmy cormorants, herons, egrets andgrebes, and then west towards Thessalonica.The road was quiet all the way until we hitthe ring road, which was packed with carsheading for the coast. This probably added10 minutes to the journey time, but wearrived at noon. I dropped everyone off,then filled the bus upwith fuel and returnedit to Hertz. Only one bird of note seen on ourjourney: a black stork soaring over the foreston the first part of themotorway. It was a hotdrive (86degF at the airport) and the airconditioning struggled to keep the vehiclecool.Our bird total for the trip was 117 species,while the final butterfly tally was 75. I was alittle disappointed we didn’t find morespecies of butterflies, but I don’t think thatwe missed much, and it’s impossible to findbutterflies that aren’t flying. My highlightswere the fritillaries, the large blue and thelarge copper and the exquisite southernwhite admirals.

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This was the last outdoor meeting of our2010 programme, it seemed only fiveminutes since our first one in April. Onchecking my ‘archives’ I was surprised tofind it was five years since our last walkhere, in September 2005.

Having listened to a rather pessimisticweather forecast the previousevening, I was pleased to see atotal of ten people (plus a dog)meet at the NewdelightWalks car park, betweenWestleton and Blythburgh.This area forms part of theWalberswick NationalNature Reserve and ismanaged by NaturalEngland.

The plan for themorning was to walkalong the sandy trackleading from the car parktowards Westwood Lodge. On asmall area of heather at the start aGatekeeper, Small Copper and Graylingwere noted, also a Silver Y moth, MigrantHawker dragonfly and a lizard.

It soon became obvious that due to themostly cloudy conditions combined with afresh S.W. wind, we were not going to see agreat deal, only Gatekeeper and SmallCopper were observed. Ten days previouslywhen Beryl and I were checking out thiswalk, we had seen two White Admiral, oneRed Admiral, one Grayling, one Speckled

Wood, one Large Skipper and two Green-veinedWhite, all nectaring on the flowers ofa single Privet bush. No luck this time!

Probably the most interesting item, broughtto our attention by Gill Perkins, was that ofa Thorn Apple, a plant which I personallyhad not seen before. Simpson’s Flora of Suffolkquotes it as widespread but sporadic in

appearance and more common in EastthanWest Suffolk. The seeds may

remain dormant in the soilfor a number of years –this plant was growingadjacent to a recentlyinstalled timber post.We duly returned to ourcars to then drive on toHoist Covert car park, on

the outskirt ofWalberswick,for picnic lunches, to befollowed by our afternoonwalk.

Fortunately by now the weatherwas much improved with somegood spells of sunshine andgenerally well broken cloud, quitewarm and humid in spite of the fresh

and blustery S.W. wind. Initially our routefollowed the western edge of Hoist Covert,the path then turned to take us across EastSheep Walk with its patches of heather.Here Small Copper were themost numerousbutterflies with approximately 8 – 10 noted,also seen were single Small Tortoiseshell,Gatekeeper, Holly Blue and two SmallHeath. We now crossed the B1387 road toenter, and then cross, Walberswick

Walberswick area 21st August 2010Alan Johnson

Red Admiralby Beryl Johnson

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Common, with only Small Heath noted.

At this point most of the groupopted to return via a ‘shortcut’ to their cars, leavingjust two of us (plus thedog) to continue on the finalstretch of the walk. This pathtook us along the route of the oldnarrow gauge Halesworth toSouthwold railway line, parts ofwhich support a colourful displayof heather and gorse, although since our lastvisit in 2005 the gorse has smothered muchof the heather. This section produced RedAdmiral, Gatekeeper, Small Copper andLarge White.

On reaching the site of the old Walberswick

Station, our route turnedin a southerly directionto follow the edge of thecommon back to thevillage. Here, areas ofinvading bracken had beenremoved to allow theheather to grow back andseveral Common Blueand Small Heath wereseen. Returning along

the road to the HoistCovert car park our final sighting was of asingle Holly Blue. The total number ofspecies recorded during the day was ten butnone in any great numbers, this compareswith fifteen species recorded on 4thSeptember 2005.

Provisional Atlas of the UK’s Larger MothsThe reprint of the Provisional Atlas of the UK’s Larger Moths is available now. The first printrun sold out in a matter of weeks during the autumn of last year. This exciting publication(the first of its kind for almost 30 years) can be yours for £20 (plus £5.00 post and packaging).

The British and Irish moths: an illustrated guide to selecteddifficult speciesThe Guide, written for the Moths Count project by Martin Townsend, Jon Clifton and BrianGoodey, has 91 spiral bound pages and contains over 130 colour illustrations. The aim ofthe Guide is to make available information on the identification of difficult macro-moths,beyondwhat is currently available in the field. 72 larger moth species (plus their subspeciesand forms) are included. The Guide provides the next step for those wishing to makedefinitive determinations of difficult moths such as ear moths, dark/grey daggers, copperunderwings and the November Moth group. As such, much of the Guide is focussed ongenitalia characteristics, although there are discussions of other characteristics such as wingmarkings. The recommended retail price is £20, but it is available at a special initial offerprice of £15 plus £2 post and packaging to UK addresses.

Both books are available from Butterfly Conservation:(http://www.butterfly-conservation.org/text/27/shop.html or 01929 400209) and fromspecialist retailers. All proceeds received by Butterfly Conservation will be used towardsongoing moth recording.

Holly Blueby Beryl Johnson

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Butterflies: A Very British ObsessionA review by Richard Stewart

This one hour television programme inDecember 2010 was a rare treat. Avariety offilm techniques, includingmultiple imagery,time lapse and slow motion,portrayed the beauty, freedom,elegance and history ofwhat narrator ImeldaStaunton describedas ‘powerful symbolsof hope andtrans format ion ’ .The commentarywas largely accuratethough saying wehad ‘an incrediblevariety of over fiftyspecies’ ignored ourpaucity compared to nearbycontinental nations. I particularlyenjoyed several flight sequences andmetamorphic time-lapse studies, theincredible life history of the Large Blue andthe delight of our next generation inwatching hand held butterflies slowlyopening their wings. The programme didnot, however, differentiate between ournative species and exotics inside butterflyhouses.

Another plus was looking at behaviour inindividual species, from Mountain Ringletthreatened by global warming to Graylingcourtship in a railway yard atWakefield andthe Purple Emperor’s grisly ground feedinghabits, narrated by Matthew Oates with hisusual successful mix of humour and deepknowledge. The main weakness, to me, wastrying to cover too much. For example therewas butterfly dancing, the Notting Hill

carnival, butterfly tattoos and a butterflystreet artist, all interesting but taking timebetter used to extend the short coverage ofbutterfly gardening, and no mention of

transect walking. One section couldhave been deleted, since it

purported to tell uswhere Painted Ladiescome from, somethingknown for manydecades. The inclusionof Martin White, fromWorksop, a multiplebutterfly introducer,was I suppose justified,

though he was portrayedmore as ‘the people’s

lepidoptera champion’ ratherthan looking at unanswered

concerns about his stock, knowledge ofspecies, knowledge of habitats wherereleases were made and if he had thelandowner’s permission. There was nomention of the manywell researched officialreintroductions, in fact the words ‘butterflyconservation’ only occurred twice in onehour, neither referring to the actualorganisation. Can you imagine a similarprogramme, about the current health ofBritish birds, without mention of the RSPB?

I still enjoyed it, marvelling at the agility offrogs catching feeding Painted Ladies andthe winter wood mouse, after a tasty mealbut dissuaded first by the hibernatingPeacock’s hissing then its owl-imitatingflashing of its large eye spots. The woodmouse literally turned tail and raced away.

Purple Emperorby Douglas Hammersley

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Too Late to DecideRichard StewartWhen my poem ‘Decisions’, about what todo if you found a rare butterfly in a spider’sweb, was published last year, I did notexpect such a quick and personal sequel. Onthe 10th August 2010 the only Painted Ladyin our garden suddenly came out of aconifer, where it had been sheltering fromthe rain, and flew into a spider’s web whichhung outside my upstairs study window. Ihad watched the garden spider, impressedat how it bundled up small flies and howexpertly it mended the web. While we weredebating what to do, the spider decided forus. By the time I was back in the study thebutterfly had stopped struggling and wasbeing quickly wrapped in sticky threads,resembling a cocoon, with the spider

eventually being seen behind it. Then theconnecting threads of the web under and toboth sides of the web were snipped off, theprey at one point literally hanging by asingle thread. The gap in the web strainedfrom circle to tight oval but held as thespider slowly hauled its prey higher up,eventually disappearing from view in thesoffit above the window. The whole processtook about ten minutes.

Later I measured the damage: four inchesacross, eight inches high to mend. This wasdone within forty-eight hours. It probablywould have been completed more quickly,but no doubt the garden spider wasenjoying a much larger meal than usual.

EarthwatchBruce Halls writes about a butterfly project in VietnamEarthwatch is a worldwide conservationcharity that specialises in taking up localresearch projects. Volunteers are recruited towork at information gathering with scientistswho are already preparing evidence ofimportant wildlife areas, to obtain or reinforcegovernment protection.

I have been on nine of these expeditions as avolunteer over the last sevenyears, all ofwhichhave been immensely enjoyable andworthwhile, and in some cases have producedvery specific results.

InOctober 2007 Iwas lucky enough to secure aplace on the ‘Butterflies ofVietnam’ expedition,in TamDaovalley north ofHanoi. Earthwatchalways supplies copious details of theconditions to be met on any expedition,including climate, diet and accommodation,

which varies greatly from simple tents tohouses. In this case we had a spacious,comfortable out of season guest house for ourmixed age and sex group of ten plus staff andscientists.

Every day of our nine days there, except oneday of horrendous thunderstorms, we wereout walking the surrounding mountaintracks to identify and count the literallyhundreds of butterflies present and theircaterpillars and pupae. Working withEnglish speaking local scientists was veryuseful and informative and I feel I made asmall contribution to the real conservationof an important group of insects whosedistribution is indicative of our changingworld.Earthwatch details can be found atwww.earthwatch.org/europe

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On Monday 8th March 2010, when the airwas freezing cold, we decided to go to thebaths at Saint Thomas to have a warm soak.During Sunday evening Claude rang to saythat the randonnée was cancelled becausesnow was forecast. As it was raining at thetime I thought no way will it snow, but itwould not be pleasant in the rain. I lookedout in the middle of the night and Claudewas right, large flakes were drifting down.In the morning we had 50 centimetres and Iwas just able to get out for our bread, thanksto a four-wheel drive. It snowed all day andby evening we had a good metre on thetrack to the road. We were not able to getout the next day until the vineron hadcleared the way with his J.C.B.

We eventually managed our Saint Thomastrip on the 19th of April, it was cold butbright and sunny. We parked at the bathsand as we climbed above them we lookedback to see the steam rising from the warmwater. When we got up to the place wherewe had seen the Silver-studded Blues lastyear it looked completely bare, not a sprig ofheather in sight, so I wondered what wouldhappen to the butterflies later in the year. AsS.N.C.F. were having a day or two of strikewe were able to stand on the line to takephotos of the bridges. We had a three hourswalk up to the farming village of Planés andhad our lunch on a sunny bank out of thewind. After a gentle walk of just over anhour we spent a relaxing hour in the watereasing our muscles, rounded off by a quickbeer before the drive home.

On the 28th of June we set off to repeat ourLittle Yellow Train randonnée of last yearbut one week later. This year the weatherdid not look too good but we set off in goodheart. We saw several freshly emergedApollos in somewhat wooded areas on ourway up to Saint Thomas. Climbing upabove the baths we soon started to seeApollos, they were inmuch greater numbersthan last year and much more active,chasing each other around instead of as thebooks say ‘drifting gently above the flowermeadows’. There was no chance of anyphotos this year. When we reached theSilver-studded Blue area it was covered byvery short flowering bell heather. Apolloswere still chasing about above our heads butjust above the heather there were lots ofmale Silver-studded Blues. I walked aroundthe heather looking for females and I sawseveral fast moving brown butterflies flyingaround, but all turned out to be GrizzledSkippers. I rejoined the males in search fora female until just as I was about to leave Ispotted a very fresh, lovely brown female,the ants had most likely only just left. Fromthese observations it seems that bothApollos and Silver-studded Blues were atleast two weeks later than last year.

Wemoved off with thoughts of eating lunchwhilst sitting in the sunshine on the RomanBridge. When we got there the cloud hadblotted out the sun. By the time I hadpoured out my birthday Banyols it wasspitting with rain and by the time they hadsung Happy Birthday it was beginning to

Silver-studded Blue updatePyrénées-Orientales

James Mann

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pour down, so we ate our lunch under thebridge, with rain streaming down on eitherside. Within an hour the rain haddiminished to odd spots so we set off againunder a threatening sky and with no morebutterflies to be seen. My hopes of seeing aQueen of Spain Fritillary and taking a photohad vanished in the rain. The rain held offand we were able to enjoy another aspect ofthe mountains. Today there were no openwaggons on the train for our return journeybut the ride in and out of the tunnels wasjust as exciting. I still felt sad about notseeing a Queen of Spain.

On the 30th of August we decided that ourrandonnée would be to the Rock de France,which is on the Spanish border and sportsthe aerial for Spanish Television in theborder area. It was rather windy on theFrench side so we went just over into Spain

for our lunch. After eating I was partakingin a siesta when Gehart gave me a nudgeawake and said to look at this as he put hiscamera under my nose. When I got my eyesinto focus I could see a brown butterfly on ayellow flower and when I asked where itwas he pointed to a spot about five metresaway. I got out my camera, crossed myfingers and crept to where Gehart hadpointed, and there, still basking in the sun,was a Queen of Spain Fritillary waiting forme to photograph it in its homeland. So,despite my disappointment in June I havemanaged to photograph a Queen of Spain.During the summer we have found severalother areas of bell heather but not at theright time of the year. These areas will bemonitored in hopes of finding further Silver-studded Blue sites.

Rhodes, Greece, is the largest island of thearchipelago called Dodecanese. It is muchcloser to Turkey than mainland Greece andis in fact the most south-easterly part ofGreece. I am lucky enough to visit quiteoften and would like to share a little of whatI know about, and have seen, of thisbeautiful place.

The majority of the island’s population(approximately 100,000) reside in the townof Rhodes, at the northern most tip of thisspearhead shaped landmass. The rest of theisland is scattered with small towns andvillages and is sparsely populated. I wouldimagine that the two things people will mostlikely associate with Rhodes are the bronze

statue of Colossus, one of the SevenWonders of the Ancient World which wasbuilt there, and the island’s renown as atourist hotspot. Colossus has long sincegone, destroyed by an earthquake in 226 BC,but the bronze connection continues thanksto the tourists who try to emulate hisbronzed looks by basking on one of Rhodes’many warm sunny days, of which there aretypically 300 or more a year! If the lovelyclimate, great food and warm friendlypeople aren’t enough to entice a visit, thenread on as I hope to reveal a little more aboutwhat this island has to offer, especially interms of natural history.Much of the natural landscape of Rhodes ismade up of pine forest and garrigue, which

A Flavour of RhodesMatt Berry

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is a type of low, soft-leaved scrub and plantcommunity in the Mediterranean. A lot ofthe island’s wildlife reflects its geographicalposition southwest of Turkey in the easternAegean Sea, with quite a few eastern orTurkish species present. There are also anumber of endemic species. These includeseveral plants such a rare white peony‘rhodia’ which is a subspecies of Paeoniaclusii, or a yellowish-green FritillaryFritillaria rhodia. Interestingly, there’s aunique population of Fallow Deer on theisland that was proven genetically distinctless than 10 years ago. Sadly they are a raresight in the wild and have suffered due topressure from hunting. The local populationare unaware of their value, showing thatthere is a need to raise awareness andunderstanding of conservation on the island.

There is also an interesting form of thewhite-banded Grayling; in fact it’s a sub-species, known as Pseudochazara antheleaanthelea. So far it has eluded me but I aim totrack it down this year with a hike to one ofthe island’s mountains where it is said to befound. It’s possible to see several otherbutterfly species without a special trekthough and there are in fact a number ofspecies in and around the town and villagesthat can be seen whilst taking a leisurelystroll. These include Lesser Fiery Copper,Large Wall Brown, Lattice Brown, ScarceSwallowtail, European Swallowtail, Long-tailed Blue, Clouded Yellow, EasternDappled White, Aegean Meadow Brown,Black-veined White, Mallow Skipper, Two-tailed Pasha, Painted Lady and RedAdmiral.

The medieval old town which is the largestinhabited one in Europe is aWorld HeritageSite. It is a ‘must see’ destination and hometo the Grand Master’s Palace, the Street of

the Knights, a labyrinth of atmosphericcobbled streets, and much more. I’ve neverforgotten my first visit; it was so evocativeof the past and of the famous Knights of St.John that continued there for 213 years thatI quite expected to stumble upon The GrandMaster or one of his knights around almostevery corner! Wildlife can also be seen here;a ramble around the dry moat surroundingthe town’s fortified walls reveals butterfliessuch as Scarce Swallowtail and severaldifferent Whites, and various kinds ofLizards can be observed scurrying aroundthe walls themselves.

One of my favourite butterflies found on theisland is the Lesser Fiery Copper Lycaenathersamon. At one of the small sites I visit, Ican often enjoy seeing peak numbers of upto 40 or 50 of these in the meadows. At thesame spot, it’s possible to see some specialbirds too - SardinianWarbler, Black Redstart,Golden Oriole and Bee-eater, to name but afew of the highlights!

If you’ve never been to Rhodes or aretempted to visit and enjoy a relaxing holidaythat mixes wildlife with culture, then youmay like to know that I hope to lead a weeklong guided tour there later this year inMay.As a competent wildlife photographer Iwould also run workshops - for examplephotographing butterflies.

Please get in touch with me if you wouldlike to find out more. I can be reached viaemail at matt.berry1@sky.com or on07599243026.

Also, to see a few photos from Rhodes,follow the link and then open the ‘Rhodes’folder.http://www.flickr.com/photos/matt-berry/sets

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WallLasiommata megera

StatusThe Wall, or Wall Brown, has been allocatedto the BAP category of “Research Only”, inrecognition of the inadequately understooddecline of this formerly common resident.Over the past 30 years, it has lost 38% of itsUK distribution, following a similar patternto the Grayling, and becoming more coastal.In Suffolk, it is no longer found as a gardenbutterfly in the centre of the county.

DistributionThe Wall has become lost from centralSuffolk in the same way as the Grayling. Itstill flourishes on coastal wilderness sites likeOrfordness, and is still found in smallnumbers in the northwest of the county,along embankments beside the Lark andLittle Ouse, for example. However, it is nowbecoming an unusual sight for most people.The maps below contrast the 5 years of theMillennium survey with the most recent 5-year period (in which 997 squares weresurveyed).

EcologyThe Wall is becoming rather choosy in itshabitat preference, and is now unlikely tobreed on areas of scruffy grass along fencelines and in unkempt gardens. Its favouredlarval host grasses include Tor grass, FalseBrome and Wavy Hair-grass, species thatgrow in the wild, open places where it lives.It will not tolerate mown lawns or fertilizedpasture.The adult butterflies bask on bare soilembankments in the sun, and individuals

are short-lived, typically just a week or tendays. It has two generations, flying in Mayand again in August. The progeny of thissecond generation pass the winter as tinylarvae.

MonitoringThe Wall has all but disappeared from thetransects at Minsmere and the Fynn Valley,so only North Warren remains as a regularmeasure of the health of our populations.Sadly, the omens do not look good, as therecent decline has been abrupt. Counts ofcasual and garden sightings merely serve toconfirm the deteriorating situation. The 2010distribution map shows Wall in only 4% ofthe tetrads surveyed. The Suffolk Naturalists’Society is running a single species survey in2011. Selected tetrads will be checked at themargins of where the Wall has been fadingaway.

ConservationButterfly Conservation has sponsored apostgraduate study of the causes of thedecline of theWall. No practical conservationmeasures are being taken in Suffolk, butsafeguarding the sites where it is still foundseems important. Given the progressivedeclines at protected sites like Minsmere andNorth Warren, it is clear that effectivemeasures will not be easy.

TailpieceThe Wall is a sun-loving butterfly that likesto bask on rocks or south-facing walls. Thusit often lives up to its name.

Rob Parker Conservation Officer (Butterflies)and County Recorder

The fifth in a series of monographs onSuffolk’s seven BAP butterflies

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Spring 2011

The Wall from an unusual angle by Douglas Hammersley

Purdis Heath Restoration Project

Archaeologist’s trench Forage harvesting heather

George Millins builds ananimal refuge