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

Strensall had an average year although many more species were down than up illustrating  it has suffered in teh extreme heat and rought of 2022.  It follows county trends only in parts with the boom in  Gatekeeper, Green hairstreak and Red Admiral.  The Gatekeeper boom compensated for the loses amongst all the other browns; even the Meadow Brown was down  here when countywide it had its best year ever almost doubling.  Possibly the best indicators of the affects of the extreme heat and  drought is the almost complete loss of both Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell with only 3 insects seen while just 2 years ago  there were near 200!  Some of the species that  often thrive  in the short term 'space' created following fires or extreme drought took advantage with Common Blue and Small Copper having good years

 This site suffered with the drought and as with elsewhere the Small Skipper did  poorly while Large skipper at least recovered on last year back to normal. The whites had a poor year  although Small White in many places was welll up on last year.  Brown Argus as with everywhere else had a boom year particularly the later generations  dispersing from agricultural areas.  Holly Blue also boomed as it did universally. All the vanessids really suffered but Peacock the most with a very poor summmer generation that disapeared almost as soon as it emerged. The Small tortoiseshell boom with our warm wet summers has finished with a bust. Marbled White held on and Meadow Browns and Ringlets were up on a good year last year . Small Heath was down as it was in many localities but still good. 

2020 seems to be a better than average year with the highest scores so far over the 4 years the transect has been in operation which is encouraging. There are a few loosers In particular Marbled White and Speckled wood common Blue and gatekeeper but this has been seen on other transects which may be down to teh drought in spring 2020. In contrast the winners were Small Skipper , large Whites Peacock and Teh Small tortoiseshell had a boom year.