After a warm winter  April turned  cold, very wet and dull and everything just about stopped and it was near impossible to transect walk all month. By May  there were already  losses  among our spring species being  down a third in numbers.  June brought Arctic winds, a complete reversal of  the Hot June of 2023 when nine  species reached all time highs here and across the UK.  For the  first two weeks of this June  temperatures  were 8’C cooler than  in 2023 around  a frigid  9’C  with  only 5 good days of sun at the end of the month.  The  first three weeks of July had  the same theme of  cool and damp with 5 warm sunny days at the end. Transect walking for many  was very difficult.  The  persistence of the cold and damp over such a long period had a devastating effect with numerically two thirds of our butterflies in the critical later stages of their development; mortality was very high. It was  also one of the longest June  ‘Lulls’  lasting from late May to the beginning of July. When the main flight  season did arrive it  was  slow to build up  and there was no usual peak. Better weather in August helped  save the second generation and very unusually numbers actually went up at the start of September.

  Losers

        For many species it was a triple whammy after  the heat and droughts of the previous 2 years and  last July’s poor flight period this year made it a perfect storm. Overall, annual numbers were down 41% against the average and 45% down on last year.  Half our species were down more than 50% and a quarter down more  than 70%. The Lycaenids, Vannesids and the Fritillaries were amongst the worst affected. Many transect walkers did not see  a single Common Blue, Small Copper, Holly Blue, or Brown Argus until late into their 2nd broods..  Four of our long term declining species Common Blue, Small Heath, Small Skipper and Green-veined White  had  their worst year ever recorded. 

The Winners and less bad losers 

      Northern Brown Argus  had an exceptional year up near 50%  Other species bucking  the trend were Brimstone and Marbled White. The  damp  loving Ringlet on many limestone/dry sites  were up a half  while on most wet sites they fell by a half.  However if it wasn’t for Ringlet holding up the overall numerical losses, this year would have been significantly worse. It often happens when Meadow Brown has a very poor year, like this one, Ringlet does proportionally better, and vice versa in a warm year. 

It has all happened before… many times.    

It was our worst year since 2016 but nearly as bad as 2009  when numbers  were  down 50%.  2024 comes after a run of 6 relatively good years since 2018  along with  rapidly rising temperatures including 2 of our hottest summers which were followed by two of our best butterfly years in 2019 and 2023. It is  likely 2024 was a blip

Bishop Monkton s followed the county pattern with Gatekeeper, Comma, Holly Blue and Brimstone really booming doubling up on any previous good year even so the lack of whites and poor showing of the other Vanessids meant numbers were a tad down although Peacock showed the first signs of recovery. As at  similar sites  Small Skipper showed a good increase

Another poor year down  a fifth.  Small Skipper bucked the trend with an increase but as with the majority of sites Large Skipper was well down. Brimstone  was seen for first time since 2017 and  has seen an increase in general. Whites bucked the trend in being up while over teh county they were down but with a big intersite variation.  In cntrast Orange tip not so good  here while on the  majority of sites was up. As with many sites Brown Argus returned in force to many sites after a absence  and Holy Blue had an exceptional year exactly in line with trends elsewhere. Small Copper down as was this year's  county pattern. Red Admiral was well up  as elsewhere but  Small Torts and Peacock were less than half  which is the pattern on most sites. Comma was up  which is on trend with the county. Speckled Wood although up on last year was down against 5 y Average while most sites exceeded the average strongly. Gatekeeper had a very strong showing throughout the county as it did here.  Meadow Brown and  Ringet  were down while on most sites they were slightly and consistantly up.  

Overall the site follows county trends apart from the Whites and Browns.

A rather poor year compared to the recent past but inline with earlier years. 

Only Large White had a exceptional year possibly from surrounding crops.  

The Golden  Skippers had a particularly  poor year 

All the Vanessids were very poor as elsewhere however  Small Tortoiseshell was down only slightly and the best of the bunch  while on  most sites it has continued  to boom as it did last year.

Wall Brown, Gatekeeper  and Holy Blue absent this year

There are no big changes just a small decrease in 2020 with numbers fairly stable year on year recently.  In this  somewaht shaded grassland  Ringlet and  the Whites are predominant and showed increases.  Peacock numbers have considerable variation with a boom in 2019. Large Skipper had a poorer year.  Small Tortoiseshell  was highlight for 2020 seems to be on a boom after a rise  in recent years.  The occasional visitor highlights  were  Wall Brown,  Common Blue and Small Copper . Migrant Painted Lady was absent and Red Admirals well down.