Embedded Files
Site Details:
Site Details:
Recorders: Chris Wood and team Distance: 1439m Altitude 105m Walk Time: 1hr
Sections:
Sections:
S1 commencing in the SE corner of the car parks goes south along the lane and then across the grassland slope and Meadow Browns mostly and then Red Admiral near the wooded area.
S2 we enter more shady grassalnd alongside woodland and Ringlets occur in some number near the river which is favoured by Orange Tip .
S3 is similar but on the sunnier south side of woodland and Ringlet are common in the damp grassland.
S4 returns to deep shade pathway
S5 skirts the river bank and an occasonal Orange Tip and a few Ringlets
S6 back into woodland is too shady and has nothing.
S7 to the west of the water garden is has some natural grassland on the slopes and is good for Meadow brown and Ringlet in equal number. S8 descends back into the woodland.
S9 enters the open Deer Park and yields better numbers of Ringlet and Meadow brown and Small Skippers.
S10 road hedgeline mostly Speckled Woods
Results: 2024
Results: 2024
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
Fountains suffered a good deal more than the county averages perhaps because both the vanessids and Browns did so badly here . In line with the county Peacock bucked this conclusions and is showing a strong recovery after the drought years and orange tip held up well. The most noticeabel absence is Small Tortoiseshell scoring zero and is yet to show any signs of recovery unlike Peacock. This is possibly because it has two generations the first being badly hit in April's grim weather.
Results: 2023
Results: 2023
County wide 2023 results reflect the 2022 Heat and 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 moisiture 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%.
Fountains Abbey total numbers were down this year and likely reflects the drought and heat of 2022 with Ringlet and Small Tortoiseshell were well down as they were countywide sufficient to push numbers negative. Meadow did extremely well like everywhere but not enough to couteract the above losses Following county trends Brimstone was up along with Comma booming.
Results: 2022
Results: 2022
10% down on last year ut mostly due to to reduced numbers of Ringlet. It was a year of big winners and equally big losers. Both the golden Skippers were down as they were on most sites along with the Whites. Comma increased 5 fold but the Tortoiseshell suffered some big loses across the county hibernating in June and failed to have a second generation. Peacocks in some areas suffered even worse but not here. Speckled Wood and Wall both had good years across the county.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse