Flatts Lane, 

Eston Moor

Redcar and Cleveland Council

Site Details

Recorder Norman Potter        Distance:  5411m    Walk time: 1.5-2hrs

Owned by Redcar and Cleveland District Council this woodland is interspersed with areas of scrub, sadly diminishing due to the growth of hawthorn thickets and the planting of trees. Beyond this area to the east, the steeply sloping hill is bracken covered. Eston Moor was originally heathland but this is disappearing under birch, gorse and bracken since management  ceased several years ago Throughout the site are signs of the industrial past; ironstone mining on the hills and brickworks . Some of the paths follow the old railway lines which served these industries.

.














Sections: 

S1 starts in Neutral unimproved grassland  but in climbing to S2 becomes broadleaved woodland reverting to acid grassland in S3 and  through woodland  and rides of S4 onto heather and scrub of S5 S6 is a quarry pit and bare ground and S7 it changes back to the expanse of Eston Moor and heathland  and acid grassland . Back near the start we head out east through teh country park towards the old brickworks  at teh end of  S8 and return via S9The heathland of S5 is  favourite for many species including  Ringlet , Meadow Brown and the Whites .  S7  moorland  is prefered for Small Heath, Wall, Small Copper and the Vanessids. S4  wooded areas seems to have gone through rapid change  loosing its grassland substantially since 2016 as reported above while previously this was  equally important section as S5.

2024 Results

 Countywide, 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

Eston Moor results are very similar to the county average  and its worst year since  starting in 2014.

It only exceeded its average with large Skipper and Orange Tip. The only other species to do proprtionally les bad was Peacock which on almost all sites improoved with recovery after two years of drought 

Transect reports 2020

2023 Results

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%.

Flatts Lane is following a fairly steady decline, halving over a decade, and this year follows that trend with only a very few species following the county trend and booming mostly Meadow Brown.  One of biggest declines is in Small Skipper that has dropped from hundreds to low teens and is of concern that teh habitat has changed fundamentally.  Here Wall Brown follows the county trend of Increasing and although almost everywhere thsi year it decreased here it increased !  Great to see the Grayling back in numbers not seen for nearly ten years. The Vanessids have been very poor for 2 years now following the county wide crash but hopefully after this wetter summer we might see a resurgence next year with usually Peacock leading the way. 

2022 Results

A good year with a big jump of 22% in numbers overall  but with some big winners and losers as in many  transects this year. The Skippers and Whites other than the Orange Tip were   losers and only the Comma amongst the Vanessids showed a slight increase compared to big loses for both Tortoiseshell and Peacock, as on all transects.  However, the Speckled Wood showed a strong increase which was nearly universal across Yorkshire which recouped most of the losses so far. Wall also had a good year with a 8 fold increase over last year  and double the average.  Apart from the Small Heath,  which had a universal poor year, the real winners which boosted the years total were the browns in particular Ringlet

2021 Results

An average year and only 3% down from the 5 year average  with 2018 and 10 being exceptionally good it was isgnificantly better than 2020. The trend with the golden skipers continuews to be going down with lareg skipper hanging on The whites had a good year  with orange Tip in particular having a very good year. In addition Small Coppter and common blue were both up . The  Small Tortoiseshell boom continues. but teh othe Vannessids did poorly. The damp loving  Speckled Woods and Ringlets both had good years and compensated for many of teh losses in teh other species.   The other browns did rather poorly including surprising Small Heath

2020 Results

 2020 Showed a small decrease with a dull wet summer.  However,  the  White's,  Small Tortoiseshels and Small Copper showed  increases . A drop in the grassland species  of Meadow  Browns and Small Skipper and the disappearance of Large skipper could be due to the drought conditions of spring 2020.   The reduction of  S4 grassland species is very noticeable  as the habitat becomes less favourable. Wall Brown is maintaining its numbers while Small Heath shows a slow increase