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

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. 

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. 

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.