Broad Heads Farm

NYM National Park

Private site with limited Public Access

Site Details 

Recorders:  Steve & Cath Bushell            Distance: 1805m               Walk Time: 1hour       Altitude 217m

Located near the southern edge of the Dalby Forest it has areas of unimproved limestone grassalnd and bracken and is known as a site for Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Sections:

Results 2023

County wide 2023 results reflect  the 2022 and  2023 spring drought with Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock nearly halved for the second year against their 5 year average. Red Admiral arrived in force in July and took advantage of soft nettle growth of the rains and had their best year ever. Drought sensitive species on thin soils were badly hit,  particularly Dark -green Fritillary and Northern Brown Argus but also Ringlet, Green-viened White and Small Heath.  Less drought affected species along with the hottest June on record built even more on gains last year leading to Comma, Brimstone, Holly Blue and most Browns  having a fantastic year reaching all time highs. A increase of 9% overall was mostly due to sheer numbers of Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers ment 2023 nearly pipped 2014 as best year in modern times.  Most noticeable was the large differeces between mositure retaining mineral soils of the valleys and thin, dry limestone or sandy soils. A large number of damp grassland, hedgerow and woodland  dominated sites benefitted hugely with 3 sites seeing more than 50% increase . A smaller number of thin, chalky, sandy or craggy sites did badly some down up to 25%.

A much better year at Broad heads Farm than last and numbers just above average but the biggest loser was Peacock which has been universally poor now for 2 years. Very disappointing no small pearls were seen this year. as have Fritillaries elsewhere on dry sites. The other species tend to follow the county trends above with a few exceptions like Brimstone. here numbers were well down while across the county they nearly doubled. Comma here was exceptional but this has been the case in other woodland edge habitats and has risen over teh last two years to this its best year ever.  Great to see the steady rise of Marbled White which is mirrored across the county.  

Transect reports

Results 2022

A poor year  due partly from  county wide loss of Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock but alos  poor numbers of teh browns, we can expect teh extreme heat to be largely responsible . Most other species did well. 

Results 2021

A  good year for Small Tortoiseshell and peacock  as in  most of Yorkshire it boomed. The silver -washed Fritilary arrived in teh area in 2019 and continues to spread  and marbled white had a very good year and has also spread. The browns alos had a good year in most localities. Good to see the Small pearls have a good year.