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

Three Hagges  overal numbers were somewhat down but this was not uncommon on  dryer sandier sites that suffered more in the 2022 extreme heat.  Like almost all downland sites one of the main contributing factors was the very poor performance of Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell which  were badly affected by the heat with the later even failing to have a second generation. Overwintering numbers of both species were also poor and a dry start and a very hot June this year has ment 2023 was  an even worse year. There are signs in the uplands  and north of the Vale of York that Peacock has started to come back. Hopefully after this wet summer we might see some recovery next year.

The site also has a good deal in common with teh overall County  species trends. The drought sensitive species were hit worse with Ringlet, Orange Tip and Green-viened white down.  The big winners were once again Brimstone, Comma, Gatekeeper, Speckled Wood and of course Red Admiral all of which had their best year ever here and of the county.  On the sandy sareas it also suited Common Blue and Small Copper which returned almost to their 2019 peak. 

Always brilliant to see a new species with Chris spotting an Essex Skipper. Well Done.

The beginning of the season was atrocious with cold, often wet weather right  up to June which resulted in very few butterflies seen but also missed walking weeks.  It also created a big delay in the start of the main summer season by up to 2 weeks. Both May and June were almost months without butterflies even with the better June weather. Transect walkers across the country became quite concerned.  However when it did start, the bounce back was good!!  Also,  species recovered well in their  second generation. The bad effects of  the spring were particularly pronounced on our hibernating species  that held out  till May but then succumbed before laying an egg.  The few that made it through  were then a month  late.  

Stand out species were first Small Tortoiseshell and then Gatekeeper but also Orange Tip and Brown Argus did better.  As you can see from the trend analysis most of the losses were among  the Skippers, Whites  Blues and Vanessids while the Browns had a fabulous time! The less numerous species seemed to suffer the most  but this follows similar trends throughout Yorkshire.  It was our poorest season so far, numbers being near 8% slightly worse than the Yorkshire average. Everywhere grass growth was strong this year and  the sward height was much higher than normal and less floral as a result of competition. It is worth pointing out  the  previous three dry warm springs which had become a pattern since 2018  went firmly in reverse in 2021 with a very weak undulating  jet stream causing alternating weeks of   cold arctic air being  dragged south  and then warm Spanish plumes being dragged north! Yorkshire seemed to live directly under this crazy switch with both Scotland and parts of the Dales , southern UK  and  particularly Europe getting a better summer.

The standout success of the year was Dingy Skipper  appearing now to be breeding  just south of the pond  and Brown Argus  also breeding although this species tends to be migratory . Large Skipper had a bit of a boom  year while the trend over Yorkshire was strongly down(-25%) while in contrast Small Skipper  was the opposite and had a bad year while in Yorkshire there was little change. The reasons for this are unknown although the weather remains chief suspect  although there could be a management element.  Brimstone was down as they are elsewhere in Yorkshire and the new generation was a disaster so we should expect next spring   to see  reduced numbers.  The cause we suspect is the poor spring and being heavily predated by hungry birds.  The  2 cabbage whites after a bad start had  a  good finish  but Large White  was down 5% and Small White  well down 40%  which follows the Yorkshire trends down 5% and 27% respectively . Green-veined White was average -3% and Yorkshire  was also unchanged.  Orange Tip had a  better than average year  even with the weather during its flight season  up 8% and in Yorkshire up 25%.  Small Copper had a very poor year -45% as did the Common Blue  -43% and numbers continue to fall  for the third year.  However the Yorkshire trends  are also down over the same term.  Neither Holly Blue or Purple Hairstreak were seen this year although numbers are always very low. In Yorkshire Holy Blue had a disastrous 1st generation but rallied  on the second but was  down on all transects! The Dark Green Fritillary was not seen this year and although not near as good a year as last its movement north continues and it remains Yorkshire's  fastest expanding species using the magnesian limestone ridge's woods and meadows as its  pathway.  

Amongst our Vanessids  Small Tortoiseshell stands out again as it does elsewhere in having a second if not an even better year than last up 42%  and in Yorkshire up near 90% even with last years boom. There were very high numbers on the second generation. Peacock and Comma were average although the second generation of Peacock was a disaster as it was throughout Yorkshire.  The trend for Yorkshire's Comma is also  down.   Red Admiral was  down 50%  and  follows the  Yorkshire trend and we only saw numbers right at the end of the season.  Amongst the Browns, the headline is Gatekeeper had an exceptional year up19% and in Yorkshire up 66% and Marbled White was seen again so we know  it is testing the site for suitability!  Both Meadow Brown and  Ringlet, by far the most numerous species,  were average,  although both species were quite late emerging. 

2021 had the potential and we began to believe it was going to be a disaster... it wasn't! However we  should expect spring 2022 to reflect lower numbers entering hibernation particularly Peacock.  

 The Meadow’s highlight in 2020 was the appearance of the Dark Green Fritillary seen on several occasions but not recorded on the transect. This species was also the highlight of Yorkshire with large numbers recorded and individuals turning up in gardens and appears to going through a migratory phase. In addition the Dingy skipper reappeared on several occasions plus a pair of Marbled Whites were seen by Chris Abbott. The summer downpours in the woodland meant the trees were washed clean of their honeydew, the major food source of some of our canopy dwelling species like the Hairstreaks and they revealed their presence for the first time at low level and occasionally, very unusually, taking nectar. Several Purple Hairstreaks were seen in Bomber wood . The large Wych Elm in the corner of the meadow did not yield any sightings. 

  Eight species were significantly down even after making some adjustments for the missed weeks. This is likely the effects of 2019 heat on survival of eggs and larvae and the absence of Painted Ladies which were recorded in good numbers in 2019.There was also a significant drop in Red Admirals which are also migratory. Comma and Peacock were down we think due to nectar shortage as this was not the case elsewhere. Small Copper joined Large Skipper with rather low numbers. Common Blue had a disastrous year. Gatekeeper was also down somewhat which could be attributed possibly to 2019 heat or the 2020 spring drought while its caterpillars were feeding up. 6 species showed an increase. Most notable was Small Tortoiseshell numbers were hugely improved returning to much more normal levels after several bad years. Nationally a similar picture was seen with some areas showing large gains but southern England continued with poor figures. This is thought to be much more to do with its parasites. Whites showed similar gains here and elsewhere. It was also better news amongst the Browns (apart from Gatekeeper). Meadow Brown had a super year and made up the numbers lost from the other species plus a lot more and are largely responsible for the larger total of butterflies reported. It achieved 4 weeks of numbers greater than 100 individuals compared to just 2 weeks in 2019. Looking at how individual sections of the transects faired we can see section 3 stands out ( that is the walk along the eastern boundary) and abounded in Browns. The main meadow sections of 1, 2 and 4 were similar but the agricultural field numbers were well down. Bomber wood had sustained nectar and was a solid performer through the season with the richest range of species much like Bishop Wood and numbers were similar in the other sections