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

Walton was compared to the last 5 recorded years 2011-2015, so a good while ago, plus the route has been substantially changed and the park  has gone through considerable changes over that time particulalry with tree growth and the maturing of many of the grassalnds let alone scrub growth.  So its good to report numbers are rather similar to the historical data overall. Particularly important is we see a very  large improvement in the one threatened species on the site namely Small Heath which is widespread across the site.  In contrast across the county it had a bad year as it is rather drought sensitive so there is much to look forward too with this species as was the continuing presence of Dingy Skipper which although slipping off the red list is still a scarce species nationwide.  Comparing against the county wide figures we  see similar trends with  improvements in Meadow Brown and particularly Gatekeeper.   Peacock and Small tortoiseshell have had two really bad years so we should no be surprised at  the poor performance here. A cooler summer this year shoudl begin to see a revival next year. Brimstone, Holly Blue and Brimstone all had record breaking years across the county to their best year ever which i think we can also see here.  Next year we should be able to see even better how the park is faring and Im very hopeful with the habitat improvements which are ongoing.  The site is right for the return of Wall which is spreading down from the north.