Butterfly Conservation Yorkshire

Nosterfield Quarry NR

West Tanfield

Owned and manage d by The Lower Ure Conservation trust

Site Details

Recorders: Emma Higgs, Nik Mitchell, Mark Milligan, Matt Beadman, Ian Pritchard, Helen Hays , Ashleigh Overall, Rose Gaynor Distance 3052m Altitude 41m Walk Time 40mi

Nosterfield Nature Reserve is 150 acres of wet grassland and open water situated between the rivers' Ure and Swale. It is the underlying magnesian limestone and its associated aquifer which makes the location special and one of the best wetland grasslands in North Yorkshire. There is a dramatic rise and fall in the water levels, associated with the natural water table and rainfall, resulting in typically 2.5 m per year. Sand and gravel were produced from a former quarry here until the late 1980s. It was designated a reserve in 2001 and is the only Local Nature Reserve (LNR) in the Hambleton District.

Sections:

S1 is an old fields system with the usual grassland species and Orange Tip

S2 has by far the highest counts and is partly woodland edge and abounds with Ringlet, Speckled Wood and a few Vanessids particularly Red Admiral and occasional Holy Blue and Orange Tip

S3 we pass between the two lakes with exposed Limestone and good number of Brown Argus Brimstone Comma and even Small Heath and Wall are seen.

S4 also has Brown Argus and Brimstone S% is similar with small counts

S4 is good for grassland species and damp areas favour Green viened white an dringlet

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

Nosterfield Quarry was close to the county average. Vanessids were particularly badly hit. Ringlet as at Main managed to double on last year as Grasslands recovers and Brimstone improved which did happen elsewhere

TRANSECT REPORTS

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%.

Nosterfield Quary pretty much follows county trends although overall numbers were up significantly more than county average. The Biggest winners and losers were amonst the browns. Drought sensiitive Ringlet saw a very big decline while Meadow Brown and Speckled Wood so equally big rises along with Comma and Brimstone accounting for much of the numerical rise. Brown Argus had a dramatic improvement as did Common Blue, building on last year.

Results: 2022

Total counts are somewhat down this year by 24% and we can guess the drought and heat has had quite an affect. Our dryer sites certainly seem more affected thatn woodland or mineral soils. However the trends show a good degree of similarity with the rest of Yorkshire. In many sites all the whites were down but the Orange tip was pretty universally up as here. Its good to see the White letter Hairstreak and Small Coppers this year while they were absent last year. Brown Argus on Rockrose did not have such a good year and the drought seems to be the major factor. In contrast on many sites the migratory Cranebill form had an exceptional year appearing on many new sites in addition. Great to see Common Blue for the first time. Holly Blue as with all sites had a boom year although the summer generation was somewhat lower.

The vanessids had a universally poor year apart from Comma that bounced back to have one of its best ever years. We think that poor nettle quality in the heat and drought caused them not to produce a second summer gneration and opt to go straight into hibernation. Comma in contrast prefering shady nettles had a huge summer generation and then a smaller second generation.

Amongst the browns Meadow Brown was up as on many sites but the more damp loving Ringlet on this site was quite a bit down.

Results: 2021

Its great to have such a good start with Brown Argus recorded in large numbers on a lowland site which is almost unheard of so the Rockrose has established well and this species is using it in preference to Cranesbills which the migratory form of Brown Argus much prefers. Its also great to see both Wall and Small Heath; both species are making a bit of a come back with Small Heath in particlar booming in teh last few years and Wall appearing in low numbers in many more locations in lowland north of York.

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