News and Features

Since 1976 over 25 million butterflies have been counted on transects organised by the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme. Each year they publish a report of the preceding years data.

The full UKBMS report for 2017 has just been published recently.

It shows that 1,723,016 butterflies were recorded in 2696 different locations.

The summary uindicates that:

The year as a whole was rather warmer than average for the UK, the 5th warmest since records began in 1910. It was the equal-warmest spring on record (with 2011), with the highest June temperatures since 1976. Rainfall was around average, though April was notably dry, whilst June to September were all rather wet. It was a slightly sunnier than average year, especially during the spring.

Transect walks were completed on 226 days from 7th March to 27th October including on every day of the formal recording season (April to September). The peak day was the 17th July when 335 walks were made.

2017 was a better year for butterflies than 2016. 38 of the 57 species assessed (two thirds of the total) showed an increase compared to 2016, eighteen showed a decline and one showed no change.

Despite this, 2017 still ranked well below average being the seventh worst in the 42-year series. The observed annual increases were largely expected given that 2016 was one of the worst years on record (4th worst).

2017 started fairly warm, and as a result most species (88%) were out earlier than in 2016 and the series average (1976-2017). However, over the shorter-term, most species appeared later than the recent 10-year average (2007-2016).

Over the summer, sunshine levels were slightly below average and rainfall levels considerably above average which is likely to have had a negative impact on the index figures. The knock-on effects of last season (which was the 4th worst on record) are also likely to have contributed to lower butterfly numbers than would otherwise have been the case.

Mean butterfly abundance on transects peaked in week 13 (end of June), four weeks earlier than the long-term average (end of July).

A PDF copy of the report can be downloaded here (2.6MB).

Jonathan Crawford

Over a hundred members of the Sussex branch of Butterfly Conservation attended the Annual General Meeting at Cypress Hall, Burgess Hill yesterday.

The event marked the handover of the Chair from Nigel Symington to Jess Price. During Nigel’s tenure individual branch membership has increased in numbers from 1100 to almost 2000. Key events during his leadership included publication of the Atlas, the restoration of our reserves at Park Corner Heath and Rowlands wood and the return of the Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary to Sussex. Nigel has been tireless in his efforts to support the activities of the branch and his energy and enthusiasm will be sorely missed. Fortunately, our loss is Head Offices gain as he assumes the role of national treasurer at Butterfly Conservation.

We also lost Clare Blencowe and Dan Danahar, who are down as committee members after many years of service. Their contributions will be greatly missed.

The first speaker of the day was Paul Waring, author of the “Field Guide to the Moths of Great Britain and Ireland” and many other books. He spoke about his lifelong interest in Moths and made some very interesting points about recording and publishing findings.

Steve Wheatley, Butterfly Conservation Senior Regional Officer for the South East then presented Neil Hulme with a Richard Lewington original drawing of a Drab Looper moth, which was a present from head office to show their appreciation of the work he did leading the Fritillaries for the Future project, which concluded at the end of March 2018.

After tea and a raffle, which between them raised £466.31 Michael Blencowe gave a whistle-stop tour of the amazing butterfly year that was and still is 2018.

A big thank you is due to all those who helped organise the event and all those who attended.

Jonathan Crawford

Taking a side step away from my work on our 'Elms for Adur Hairstreaks' project at Lancing College in West Sussex, I'm delighted to share with you all that on behalf of Sussex Branch, I've been involved in another project, in Seaford, East Sussex, envisaged and lead by the Seaford Tree Wardens, titled 'Elms for Armistice'.

Who are Seaford Tree Wardens?
Seaford Tree Wardens are volunteers. The Wardens work with Seaford Town Council who provides a small grant towards the trees they plant and raise the rest of the money needed through donations from residents. The Tree Wardens work closely with local residents who help plant and care for the trees. As well as organising planting days twice a year, The Tree Wardens hold regular ‘Tree TLC’ sessions. The planting days and TLC sessions are fun, communal events where everyone is welcome to join in.

104 men and boys are listed on Seaford’s war memorial as having lost their lives in World War One. Planting a tree is a traditional way to remember a loved one and to commemorate the Armistice Centenary the Seaford Tree wardens are working in partnership with the community to plant 104 trees. It is hoped that the trees will be a fitting memorial to Seaford’s WW1 war dead. Furthermore, residents of Bishopstone village will be planting 9 memorial elms to remember the nine men and boys from Bishopstone village who died in World War One.

In recent years Seaford and Bishopstone has increasingly seen the surviving elms starting to succumb to Dutch Elm Disease. The disease has proven to be difficult to control in the area and sadly, more of the mature elms will be lost. I've assisted the Seaford Tree Wardens in selecting new trees, looking at the most suitable disease-resistant elm cultivars for planting at various sites, whilst also aiding in site visits, to establish the number of trees and the planting distances with which each site can take.

On behalf of Sussex Branch, I'm delighted to share that as part of my elm propagation work for the branch, we have donated 8 European White elm (Ulmus laevis), hand-grown from seed towards Elms for Armistice. Photos attached. They were sown in my greenhouse in Spring 2017 and by summer this year, all had reached over 1.5 meters tall, the tallest whip being just over 2 meters in height. During this growing season, the elms doubled up as a larval food source for 9 Comma caterpillars.

With targeted efforts from the Seaford Tree Wardens, in combination with the knowledge I gained on my earlier White-letter Hairstreak surveys in Seaford in partnership with the Sussex Wildlife Trust and sightings from our Sussex Branch members and participating local residents, some of the elms will be planted around known White-letter Hairstreak colonies, this will provide the butterfly with new habitat with which they can colonise. The Seaford Tree Wardens, notably Margery Diamand and Diana Windley have carried out this extraordinary work, planning, contacting and gain permission for planting. Planting sites encompass schools, churches, open green spaces and private gardens in Seaford and Bishopstone Village.

How can you help?
There are lots of ways to get involved in the Elms for Armistice project, tree planting and wildlife activities in Seaford. You don’t need any special skills, nor do you need to be physically strong. Planting will take place between late November and the end of Februaury next year. Please contact for more information: website www.seafordtreewardens.wordpress.com or email seafordtreewardens@outlook.com

People can donate towards the project, regarding the cost of the trees and planting materials by visiting: www.gofundme.com/elms-for-armistice

Join the search for the White-letter Hairstreak butterfly in Seaford during June/July 2019, email me, Jamie Burston, White- letter Hairstreak Species Champion, at: storm_of_elements@hotmail.com

The Elms for Armistice project is organised by Seaford Tree Wardens, Butterfly conservation – Sussex Branch, Sussex Wildlife Trust, and the South Downs National Park Authority with support from Seaford Town Council, Lewes District Council and East Sussex County Council.

Publicity of the project: https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/16695384.seaford-to-remember-its-104-war-dead-with-planting-of-elm-trees/ and http://www.haven-news.com/News.aspx?OBJ_ID=5708636

More about Seaford and World War One:
www.roll-of-honour.com/Sussex/Seaford.html and www.seamig.org.uk/war.htm

Jamie Burston

I announced in the Autumn Newsletter that I would, after 6½ years, stand down as Branch Chair.

I am very pleased to tell you that at our recent meeting, in accordance with Branch Rules, the committee voted to elect Jess Price, our current Hon Treasurer, as my successor.

Jess Price
© Miles Davies, Sussex Wildlife Trust

Colin Gibbs, presently Social Media manager, will succeed Jess as Hon Treasurer of the Branch.

Colin Gibbs

The formal handover of these posts will take place during our Branch AGM in Burgess Hill on 17 November.

Tim Squire as Branch Secretary, I’m delighted that there is such a strong and experienced team to lead the continued success of the Branch.

Nigel Symington

Following the Elms for Adur Hairstreaks project article, produced in our latest branch Autumn Newsletter (which you can download here), please do get involved in the exciting volunteering opportunities the project has to offer, helping to conserve the White-letter Hairstreak through habitat creation and connectivity.

Join the volunteer contact list, by emailing: storm_of_elements@hotmail.com

This will allow us to contact you directly with details of upcoming Elms for Adur Hairstreaks project activities and allow us to set out volunteer conservation work parties based on the number of people who show interest.

Follow the latest Elms for Adur Hairstreaks project news on social media: #TeamE4AH

Jamie Burston

In all 24 people took part in Grayling monitoring this season, meaning that we probably have better records in 2018 than for any other year. The results at Deep Dene indicate that Grayling numbers are worryingly low and possibly at their lowest point ever. The season was short because of the low numbers whilst the hot weather which meant that the few Grayling there were ran at full steam every day without respite until their batteries wore down. Cloudier conditions would have extended the season.

The unexpected good news is that a single male Grayling was spotted and photographed on Lullington heath in late August. Because it is the females of this species that tend to migrate, this leads to the tantalising notion that perhaps a vestigial colony of this elusive butterfly remains on Lullington Heath. What is clear is that in 2019 we will be looking to extend the Grayling monitoring onto Lullington Heath, with all the challenges that that entails.

The low numbers at Deep Dene mean that there are not enough butterflies to initiate a captive breeding programme in the near future. The way forward will be to concentrating on nursing Deep Dene back to being a better environment for Grayling.

Neil Hulme of BC Sussex has already met with the landowners, the National Park and Natural England, all of whom are highly supportive of the Grayling project. The immediate effect was the portioning of Deep Dene by electric fences and the introduction of ponies from Sussex Pony Grazing and Conservation Trust, to feed on the invasive tor grass.

Meanwhile the SDNP led by Tim Squire will be running a series of work parties on Deep Dene through the winter to carry out mattocking. We will be advertising these on our website.

BC Sussex have committed £10000 (largely from Atlas sales) to a joint bid with the National Trust in a project which will provide £70000 for a four-year Grayling recovery project. We should know if the bid is successful just before Christmas. If we are unsuccessful then we are determined to seek funding elsewhere or use the resources that we have available to protect the Grayling.

Looking forward Neil Hulme has identified a number of sites close to Deep Dene suitable for Graylings which we will hope to introduce them too in the next four years. Beyond 2023 he has identified many other sites in both East and West Sussex which have potential as Grayling habitat.

I would like to say thank you to all those who took part in Grayling monitoring this year. I would also like to thank the landowner, Duncan Ellis, Tim Squire of the South Downs National Park,The Sussex Pony Grazing and Conservation Trust and Neil Hulme for their rapid and purposeful efforts on behalf of the Grayling at Deep Dene.

Jonathan Crawford

In order to comply with our obligations under our Countryside Stewardship management agreement, heavy machinery will be operating in Rowland Wood on 18, 19 and 20 October. They will be mowing rides to ensure that the vegetation is in optimum condition for breeding butterflies, especially fritillaries.

For safety reasons, the wood will be closed to the public on those days.

The public footpath which runs North-South through the reserve will be unaffected by this notice.

Nigel Symington

We've been so pleased to see the successful reintroduction of the Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary butterfly at our Park Corner Heath and Rowland Wood reserves as part of the Fritillaries for the Future project. The numbers seen a year on from the reintroduction are very promising and we've already seen lots of egg-laying females this year. To mark this moment, we've put together a behind-the-scenes video telling the story of the conservation work behind this success.

It's thanks to a huge number of dedicated volunteers, that we are all now able to enjoy the sight of Small Pearls back in the south east of England. Of course, we now need to make sure that all this hard work pays off in the long term, and the key to this will be the continuing woodland management and fundraising efforts of our volunteers for years to come.

Colin Gibbs

A large, introduced, but naturalised population of Black Hairstreak has been discovered in Sussex

Black Hairstreak
David Cook

David Cook has discovered a large population of Black Hairstreak in Sussex, at the Ditchling Common Country Park. This species has never occurred naturally in Sussex, being restricted to the clays running between Oxford and Peterborough, but a very large group of colonies developed in Surrey during the second half of the 20^th century, following a 1952 introduction (much of the habitat was ultimately destroyed).

Black Hairstreak
Neil Hulme

Following the sighting of three elderly, late season specimens last summer, a survey has been underway this June to determine the significance of these sightings and the status of the species locally. The presence of a large population (maximum day counts up to 98) has now been confirmed, extending over at least 1.3km of suitable habitat at Ditchling. The species may have spread to other areas within this landscape.

The history of the Surrey introduction indicates that the spread of even large, healthy populations may be a very slow process, moving at only c.1km per decade (Thomas & Lewington 2014). The size and spread of the Ditchling population suggest that it was established long ago.

It is entirely feasible that this species has remained undetected for this long while, due to its very small size and unobtrusive appearance, elusive habits, short flight season and the typical pattern of boom-and-bust which renders it almost invisible in some years, even on the best sites. This year the species has appeared in unprecedented numbers across its natural homeland, probably reflecting the advantageous conditions for larval and pupal development through May.

The male butterflies are using English Oak as 'Master Trees' and both sexes descend to sit on Bracken, both to sunbathe and feed on honeydew. Although the condition of the males deteriorates rapidly, many females (slightly larger and more orange-brown on the underside) are still hatching and a patient search should reveal these.

The best area to observe the species is the corridor of Blackthorn centred on TQ33441813, but the butterfly can be found on almost every suitable stand of the plant within the country park.

Black Hairstreak
Neil Hulme

Congratulations to David on making such a momentous discovery. We are pleased to announce that Sussex has a new resident species; the Black Hairstreak is here to stay.

Notes:

The Black Hairstreak is protected under Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (for sale only).

Ditchling Common is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), notified as such in 1986; it is illegal to introduce species to a SSSI (once designated as such) and illegal to collect on a SSSI without consent from Natural England.

It is highly recommended that releases of all-but-common species (back to the site from which early life cycle stages may have been collected for educational purposes or scientific study) conform to the 'BC Code on Introductions and Re-introductions 2010'.

Please report any sightings of this species away from the confines of the Ditchling Common CP.

Neil Hulme