A Butterfly Emergency

 Butterfly enthusiasts throughout the county, and nationally, had suspected for weeks that this summer was going to be one of the worst for our Lepidoptera, and the release of the data for this summer's Big Butterfly Count has confirmed our suspicions. Butterfly numbers in the East Midlands throughout the count were down by a staggering 45% compared to last year. Virtually every species suffered a decline, some of them quite dramatically. Only three species actually showed an increase.

In total 4163 people submitted 6841 counts in 2024 between the 13th of July and the 4th of August. The average number of butterflies and day-flying moths per count in the region was 6 (7 nationally) compared to 11 in 2023.

The most recorded butterfly in the 2023 summer count was the Red Admiral, and numbers were maintained right into the autumn months where vast numbers were seen feeding on Ivy flowers. This species failed to maintain its position at the top in 2024 after suffering a whopping 88% decline in comparison to last year. The Small Tortoiseshell butterfly continued its rapid decline in numbers with an alarming 82% fall in numbers year on year, and the ever present Comma was down 63% on last year.

The Ringlet, which had a relatively poor year in 2023 bounced back with an increase of 92% in comparison with last year's count, and that other summer stalwart, the Marbled White, continued its expansion throughout the region with a massive 447% increase. 

Male and Female Marbled White. (447% up on 2023)
Photograph by Richard Jeffery

The top 4 butterflies in the region in this year's Big Butterfly Count were as follows:

1.    Large White        7427 (-38% on 2023)

2.    Small White        6970 (-46%)

3.    Gatekeeper          6279 (-41%)

4     Meadow Brown  4983 (-14%)

The full set of results for the UK can be found on the Butterfly Conservation website.

The Large White. The most recorded butterfly in
the 2024 Big Butterfly Count
Photograph by Richard Jeffery

  The burning question that arises here is, what is actually causing this dramatic decline in our county butterflies? There are many contributory factors involved, but the three key ones are Climate Change, habitat loss and the overuse of harmful pesticides. 

It goes without saying of course that Climate Change is a global issue and it is well documented that human activity is directly responsible for the accelerating rise in global temperatures, and for the subsequent unstable weather patterns. As I write there are forest fires in Portugal and much of eastern Europe is suffering damaging floods. The last year has proved to be wetter than normal and the wet autumn, winter and early spring would have undoubtedly contributed to the reduction in numbers of our butterfly species. Species that overwintered as larvae and pupae may well have drowned or rotted in extreme damp conditions. As the main flight periods for many species approached we experienced fewer sunny days, with grey skies accompanied by very keen winds. Not ideal conditions for butterflies at all.

Since the Second World War we have lost 97% of our wildflower meadows, and seen vast swathes of land turned over to intensive agriculture or housing. It is important here to note that the area of gardens we tend around our homes equates to a larger area than all of our nature reserves put together. This is where we can all help. 

What exactly can we do to help our butterflies and subsequently other species too? The first, and most important, thing we can all do (well done if you already have) is to ditch the sprays. Avoid using any form of pesticide or herbicide to allow the natural balance of pest versus predator to re-establish. Grow plants that provide nectar and also plants that will host larvae too. Try to include a few native wildflowers in your borders and containers. Make the switch to growing your plants in Peat Free composts. Encourage your neighbours to do the same. To learn all about gardening for butterflies please use the following link to take you to the gardening section of the Butterfly Conservation website. 

https://butterfly-conservation.org/how-you-can-help/get-involved/gardening

One other way you can help is to lobby your local MP and tell him/her that you are worried about the lack of butterflies (and moths, bumblebees, wasps, ladybirds and so on). Butterfly Conservation has also drafted an open letter to the new secretary for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Steven Reed MP) calling on him to declare a 'Nature Emergency' and to bring about an immediate ban on harmful neonicotinoid pesticides and BC asks each and every one of us to sign it and share it with all family, friends and colleagues. 

Our butterflies do not have a voice. We can speak and act for them. PLEASE SIGN this letter as soon as you can. To add your name to the list please follow this link:

https://butterfly-conservation.org/emergency

I would like to close by reminding you all that our butterflies are pretty resilient. Given the right conditions they can and probably will bounce back. A good spring and summer in 2025 would certainly help immensely, but small actions carried out by each and everyone of us now can make a huge difference. PLEASE do whatever you can to prevent this 'emergency' getting any worse.

Many thanks.

Richard M. Jeffery

Butterfly Recorder for Leicestershire & Rutland

Off The Wall

 The month of May sees the emergence of the first brood of the Wall Brown (Lasiommata megera), usually at the end of the month, but in favourable years it can be mid-month. The mild spring this year meant that I recorded my first Wall on my butterfly transect at Bardon Hill Quarry on the 13th May, two weeks earlier than last year. Mine, however, was not the first sighting in the county this year. Matthew Merkin spotted a solitary Wall at Lyndon, Rutland Water two days earlier on the 11th. This is a significant find as the species was last recorded in the area back in 2004.

Wall in NW Leics.   Photo by Richard Jeffery

The Wall gets its name from its habit of basking on dry-stone walls, rocky outcrops and stony places, and prefers areas of short grassland with open bare patches. It is found in used and dis-used quarries, and also on old railway embankments and farm tracks.

Wall have been regarded in recent years as a species of altitude and coast with a large void in the centre of England where the butterfly has not been recorded for many years. This is believed to be due to the effects of the warming climate. The Leicestershire population has, for quite some time, been recorded within an approximate 2km radius of Bardon Hill in the north-west of the county. Bardon Hill is the highest point in the county at 279m above sea level. Outside of this area the next viable population is found in the Peak District in Derbyshire.

Wall Distribution Map 2022 showing range confined to
2km radius of Bardon Hill

To give you some idea of the drastic decline in the Wall population in VC55, historical records show that the 10 year period pre-millenium (1990-1999) was the peak in the species' distribution and abundance with records being received from 227 tetrads (2km x 2km squares) in the counties. The following 10 years saw that number more than half with records coming from only 106 squares. The most recent 10 year period to be assessed (2010-2019) shows an even more dramatic decline with sightings limited to a mere 26 squares. The last four years has worryingly seen that downward trend continue.

A Wall was recorded in a garden in Holwell village just outside Melton Mowbray, only a short distance from the L&R Wildlife Trust reserve, Brown's Hill Quarry, and this, combined with this week's sighting at Rutland Water suggests that the species may be expanding its range eastward. Maybe, just maybe, that downward decline has halted and we may now be witnessing the beginning of an upward turn in the Wall's fortunes in the counties.

I am planning on visiting as many sites as possible where Wall are known to be present and also sites where Wall have been recorded historically (since the year 2000) as the butterfly may be vastly under recorded. I would like to call on anyone who wishes to help in the search for Wall to get in touch to discuss this further.

For anyone who has never seen a Wall Brown and would like to I can recommend visiting the following sites:

Bardon Hill Quarry, Charnwood Lodge and Warren Hills.

For anyone who would like to visit other sites where Wall have been recorded in recent years and may still be present, I would suggest the following:

Altar Stones, Beacon Hill, Billa Barra, Bradgate Park (by Old John), Mount St. Bernard Abbey and Breedon on the Hill (by the church).

Other sites where I believe Wall could, or maybe should, be present are:

Cademan Wood, Croft Quarry (Old Hill), Brown's Hill Quarry, Ketton Quarry and Morley Quarry.

It's only by getting out and about during the flight periods that we can get a good idea of the status of the Wall Brown in Leicestershire and Rutland. The first brood are on the wing from mid-May to mid-June, and the second brood from the end of July to early September. Any help would be gratefully received and much appreciated.

I will post an update at the end of the season.

Richard M. Jeffery

Butterfly Recorder for Leicestershire and Rutland

The Importance of Butterfly Recording

One question I'm often asked is 'why do we need to record butterflies and moths?' There are several reasons why we do but I would generally reply:

i) They are sensitive to climate change and habitat loss.

ii) Their fortunes directly affect other species directly up the food chain.

iii) They are thus regarded as Indicator Species and reflect the current status of the local natural world.

iv) They give us great pleasure and encourage us to get out and enjoy our local wildlife.

Orange Tip - male. Photo by Richard Jeffery

We are fortunate in the UK to have a vast database of butterfly records documented over many decades. Looking back at historical records shows just how the fortunes of our lepidoptera have changed over the years. Most of the reports that have been compiled in recent years tend to use the mid 1970's (1976?) as the baseline, giving us almost 50 years of data as a comparison.

There are also many private collections of butterfly display cases of species collected, pinned and mounted in the first half of the 20th century that have now ended up in museums and county offices. Of course, this practice is totally frowned upon these days especially with most species in a dramatic state of decline. One of the unintentional benefits of this outdated practice is that we now have a vast bank of material that can be used for DNA comparison. 

Butterfly nets and collecting pots have now been superseded by digital and mobile phone cameras to aid with identification.

How do we go about recording butterflies? Are there different methods of recording for garden butterflies and wider countryside butterflies? How are these butterfly records submitted and how are they used?

Starting closer to home, counting and recording butterflies in our own gardens is just as important as recording out in the wider countryside. Providing the right nectar plants will encourage butterflies to visit our gardens, and the addition of suitable larval food plants (generally UK native wildflowers) should encourage them to breed. 

The easiest way of recording and submitting garden butterfly records is via the Garden Butterfly Survey platform created by Butterfly Conservation. By signing up and registering your garden it is a simple process to log in and enter any butterfly sightings as and when you see them. There's no need to keep paper records or compile Excel spreadsheets. Use the link below to register and you will be ready for the forthcoming butterfly season.

https://gardenbutterflysurvey.org/

Small Copper on Veronicastrum album  
Photo by Richard Jeffery

Venturing further afield, you will encounter butterflies on your daily walks and on site visits to local parks and nature reserves. So, how do we record these? I would recommend one of two ways of recording and submitting any butterfly records seen outside of your garden.

The first is to record all of your butterfly and moth sightings in Leicestershire and Rutland on NatureSpot. This invaluable resource is THE place to record all things flora and fauna in the county, and currently boasts over 7800 recorded species on the database. There are species galleries too to aid identification. 

The second is for all species recorded OUTSIDE of the county, and for this I would recommend i-Record. The app can be installed on your mobile phone to allow you to record your sightings in real time, and you can also use the i-Record website on your PC or laptop.

Please follow the links below for both websites.

https://www.naturespot.org.uk/

https://irecord.org.uk/

One of the most important methods of recording butterflies is the fixed route butterfly transect. A butterfly transect is carried out weekly throughout the main butterfly season (1st of April to 30th September) and follows a predetermined fixed route. Recording takes place in favourable conditions on warm, calm and preferably sunny days, generally between the hours of 10.00am and 16.00pm. Recorders can work as part of a team on a rota basis and would usually visit the site once a fortnight or once every three weeks. Joining a team allows each recorder to monitor butterflies throughout the changing seasons. 

All the data recorded is submitted to the County Recorder (i.e. myself) and is also entered directly onto the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (UKBMS) website. This data ultimately forms part of the regular State of Nature Reports and is used to formulate future conservation plans. Anyone who wishes to take part in this rewarding scheme can use my email address below to contact me and I will help you to either join a team on an existing butterfly transect or help you to set up a new transect in an area where there currently is not one. 

Richard Jeffery email address: winrich168@btinternet.com

https://ukbms.org/

Wall Brown on Bardon Hill
Photo by Richard Jeffery

There are many avenues to explore in butterfly recording and there is one to suit anyone who wishes to investigate and record our local butterflies. Some recorders are quite happy to record the butterflies and other wildlife in there own garden, others prefer to get out and about in the local countryside. Many become addicted to recording and will do both. 

The work that is carried out by Butterfly Conservation relies heavily on Citizen Science and the huge number of volunteers that submit thousands of records each year. Anyone can join this happy band of recorders and can record as often as time allows. All records are equally important, whether it is of the rare species in the county or the wider countryside butterflies that we all encounter. 

This is an opportunity to help our butterflies (and moths) and to make a difference on many levels; personal, local and national. To quote a well known supermarket; Every Little Helps.

Richard M. Jeffery

Butterfly Recorder for Leicestershire & Rutland

Could I see a butterfly in the depths of winter?

With the arrival of the winter solstice daylight is at its shortest and the nights their longest. Many of us feel hemmed in by this increasing darkness and yearn for the longer days of spring and summer. 

Withdrawing indoors, one can be forgiven for thinking that the butterfly season has already come to an end, but there are a few species that overwinter as adults in the UK and some individuals can and will take advantage of the occasional mild, sunny day to top up on any available nectar. These hardy annuals are the Brimstone, Comma, Peacock, Red Admiral and the Small Tortoiseshell butterflies.

The Brimstone.

The Brimstone can have a life-cycle that reaches up to 10 months long, with new adults emerging from late June to early August, and thus over-wintering as adults. Favoured haunts for hibernation are dense bushes of Holly, Ivy or Bramble where they can shelter amongst the foliage, and it is imperative that any pruning or tidying up of these shrubs should be left until late winter or early spring when the adults are on the wing. Adults that do emerge during the winter months will look for early flowers on Dandelion, Primrose, Cowslip or Bugle, and may even look at garden plants such as Hyacinths.

               The Comma.         

                           

The Comma also has a lengthy life-cycle similar to that of the Brimstone. Adults can often be seen in late autumn and even early winter taking advantage of late season flowers and fallen fruits such as blackberries, grapes and plums. They will then move to nearby wooded areas to seek out hollow trees, fissures in bark and sheltered branches where they will hibernate for the winter. The butterfly can be encouraged to over-winter in gardens by creating log-piles in a dry, sheltered spot protected from cold winter winds. Adults can often be seen basking in the winter sunshine on favourable sunny days.

                                                                          The Peacock

The Peacock also over-winters as an adult, with the breeding period usually running from early May to late June, and adults emerging from late June to late July. This species has to be one of the most easily identifiable of all our native butterflies with the prominent eye markings on the upper wings. The underside of the wings is, in complete contrast, almost jet black and this helps prevent predation in the winter months as the butterfly will hibernate is outbuildings, underpasses and even hollow trees. Like the previous species, Peacocks can often be seen basking on sunny winter days. Adults will generally emerge from hibernation in March.

                                                                    The Red Admiral

The Red Admiral has generally been regarded as a migrant butterfly with just a few adults over-wintering in the UK. It is now thought that more adults are spending the winter months here as a result of the warming climate. The main breeding period begins in late spring, but numbers are supplemented by migrants from mainland Europe, with adults emerging throughout August and September. My findings have led me to conclude that this species is probably the hardiest of the five. My last butterfly sighting of this year is of a single Red Admiral in our front garden on the 23rd of November. My latest ever sighting was of another singleton on the 30th of December in 2014.

                                                                 The Small Tortoiseshell

The Small Tortoiseshell butterfly could, and sometimes does, out-compete the Red Admiral for the crown of either last or first butterfly of the year, especially if the temperature is warm enough to wake them from hibernation. The butterflies usually emerge towards the end of March or in early April depending on the weather. Adults will often hibernate in nooks and crannies in garden sheds, garages and outbuildings, and may occasionally be found waking up inside the home. If one is found indoors, avoid the temptation to place is directly outdoors unless it is a warm sunny day. It would also be a good idea to leave a door or window of a shed or garage open to allow the butterfly to find a suitable spot to go back into hibernation. 

There is a saying that the only thing that is predictable about our weather is that it is unpredictable. All five of the above species are opportunists and you could see any one of them on a warmer, sunny winter's day. If the weather is favourable, then do keep yours eyes peeled because you may be lucky enough to spot one. 

Could I see a butterfly in the depths of winter? There is every chance that you could. If you do, then please let me know.

Richard M. Jeffery

Butterfly Recorder for Leicestershire & Rutland

Wild Spaces - Making Space for Nature

It has been widely reported that the UK is one of the most nature depleted countries in Europe, and like many, I am deeply upset how this has been allowed to happen so rapidly in my lifetime. 

Since the 1970's almost 80% of our butterflies and numerous species of moth have gone into decline as a result of habitat loss, changes in agricultural practice, the overuse of pesticides and herbicides and climate change brought about by human activity. Alarmingly 50% of our butterfly species are now Red Listed.

Since the end of the Second World War we have lost 98% of our wildflower meadows and mile upon mile of native hedgerow. 

We have to halt this decline immediately and help nature to recover. It can be done. Nature is resilient and can prosper again if only humanity would realise that we are part of it and not superior to it.

To this end, Butterfly Conservation has launched its Wild Spaces project to make space for nature and to help it recover. 

What are Wild Spaces?

A Wild Space is one where butterflies and moths can complete their lifecycles. In other words a space where they feed, breed and shelter.

A Wild Space should be completely organic with NO pesticides or herbicides. Plants sourced should come from nurseries and garden centres that grow them in peat free composts. Wildflower seeds and plants should be sourced from growers as close to home as possible for local provenance. 

A Wild Space can be as large as Community Woodlands, School Grounds, Allotments and Village Greens, or as small as Street Verges, Gardens, Patios and Balconies. This really is a project that everyone can embrace and parents and grandparents should encourage children to be as active as possible in this scheme. They are, after all, future custodians of the natural world. I wouldn't be where I am now without the encouragement of my father and grandfather.

Of course, creating or adopting a Wild Space will benefit far more than butterflies and moths. Many other invertebrates, pollinators, birds and mammals will also reap the benefits.....and so will you. 

You will encourage more wildlife into your own little patch, you will get to know more about our native plants and you will begin to realise that they are not just weeds, and you will be in touch with the natural world throughout the seasons. Just 20 minutes in the presence of nature has a massive beneficial effect on ones mental well-being, and that has to be good.

To help you set up and register your own Wild Space visit the Butterfly Conservation website using the link below. To quote a leading supermarket chain; Every Little Helps. 

https://butterfly-conservation.org/wild-spaces

Best regards,

Richard M. Jeffery

Ivy and the Admiral.

 Ivy has to be one of the most maligned and misunderstood plants we encounter, but it is, without doubt, one of the most important autumn flowering plants around.

The arrival of autumn sees many of the summer-flowering plants of both garden and hedgerow start to produce seeds and fruit. This bodes well for birds looking to build up fat reserves to help them through the winter months, but what of the insects that are on the wing during the early autumn months? 

One of the most nectar rich plants that actually begins to flower as summer morphs into autumn is Ivy. Often regarded as too vigorous with an unfounded reputation for causing damage to walls and trees, Ivy supports a whole host of insects looking to refuel on a sunny day.

On the 25th of September I was drawn to the garden wall at the far end of the garden by the irregular movements of what I thought was a single Red Admiral butterfly. The wall is covered in several varieties of Ivy, but it is the native Ivy, Hedera helix, that was the subject of the attention of said Red Admiral. Bathed in sunshine, it proved to be host to 11 Red Admirals gorging on the nectar produced by the numerous flowers, and these were accompanied by 3 Comma butterflies and dozens of Ivy bees (Colletes hederae), wasps and various species of hoverfly. 

I was transfixed for quite some time by this autumn spectacle, and despite a few sporadic sunny intervals in the days since this encounter, it has never reached this level of activity again to date. 

It definitely is worth stopping on a sunny October day to investigate any established flowering Ivies be they on garden walls, climbing telegraph poles, scrambling through hedgerows or using larger trees for support. You will not be disappointed.

Richard M. Jeffery

Hello and Welcome....

 Welcome to the first edition of my new Blog celebrating the butterflies, moths and general flora and fauna of Leicestershire and Rutland.

Here I hope to share details of sightings of butterflies in the county, plus any general information and discussion topics relating to butterflies and our local wildlife. For this reason I would welcome any input from readers. Please feel free to let me know of any significant sightings you've made, any topics you would like to discuss and also any questions you would like answering.

Hopefully we can raise the profile of our local Lepidoptera.

Best regards,

Richard