Shadwell
Roundhay Leeds
Site Description
Recorders: Neera Johnson Distance 1200m Walk Tiime approx: 45mins
The route follows the footpath north from the Leeds ring road and the exit from Roundhay Park and finishs at the village. The beck feeds the lakes in roundhay
Sections:
S1 follows the beckside northwards and is very shaded so favoured by Green-viened White, Speckled Wood but alos White-letter hairstreak are seen on Elms here. S2-3 is improved Hay flield with low counts
S4 skirts the side of a less improved meadow and yield plenty of Green viened whites but also Gatekeepers and Large Skipper. S5 is similar as is S6 which is the favourite for Orange tIp and Small White and Ringlet
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%.
Roundhay Shadwell has seen a consistant rise in overall numbers across the years and this year was by far the best. Hedgerows in the wider countryside seemed to see some of the largest increase reflecting these area benefitted much from last years heat but less from the extreme drought. Even so quite a few species were down including drought sensitive Ringlet and Green-viened White . Gatekeeper and Meadow Brown accounted for most of the gains but not forgetting Comma boomed along with Red Admiral and Small Skipper.
Results 2022
This site stands out with a massive increase in numbers near 40% and over 60% up on last year. we see some huge increases in our common grassland species particularly Meadow Borwn and Ringlet. Skipper numbers remain low but much better than last year. Large White like most locations is well down. Small white in certain locations has had an exceptional good year but is very patchy . orange tip and Brimstone were down unlike other sites where both were somewhat up . Holly blue boused back after and absence of 2 years very similar to other locationsPeacock was half and numbers in teh summer were very poor indeed. Small Tortoishell numbers were extremely good early on but only two were seen after teh end of june while Peacock none were seen after mid may . Comma although absent from emergance after hibernation had a very good summer generation but then disapeared, this pattern among the vanessids was repeated on many sites indicating heat stress and poor nettles. Speckled wood was 3 times last year and this matchs teh county trend as did teh rest of the browns gatekeeper boomed nearly doubling.
Results 2021
Small skipper has gone absent for 2 years now although Large skipper is maintaining its numbers . Brimstone is also not been sighted for 2 years. Similar to elsewhere Large White is down but Small and Green viened whites are well up reflecting the damp summer. Unusually Orange Tip is down where on most transects they were up. Peacock showed a strong increase also in contrast with most sites. Comma is well down similar to elsewhere. Speckled Woods are also down somewhat and the browns usually the most common species are well down.
Overall the lowest counts for some years and 11% below the average.