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work done at Eyarth

December 2021: Winter management work is underway at BC’s Eyarth Rocks Reserve near Ruthin. Thick Bramble and Bracken has been cleared to allow violets, the foodplant on which caterpillars of the Pearl-bordered Fritillary depend, to flourish in the spring. Tree and scrub clearance from limestone pavement is ensuring the preservation of this rare habitat and woodland coppicing below the cliff is providing a succession of open space and varied structure.  Vegetation clearance is also underway along the Public Rights of Way, and other well-used access routes on the reserve, to ensure that they are easily accessible, enabling visitors to enjoy this very special place.

 

Dark Crimson Underwing - Koen Thonissen
Dark Crimson Underwing

Nov 2021: The Wales Moth List has been updated for 2020. It seems the first lockdown didn't adversely affect recording effort in 2020 as 114 new county records were received, six more than in 2019. Six species were new for Wales: Dotted Fan-foot (Montgomeryshire), Dark Crimson Underwing and Shining Marbled (both Monmouthshire) and the micro-moths Caryocolum kroesmanniella (Denbighshire), Acleris abietana and Evergestis extimalis (both Monmouthshire). The Caryocolum is a woodland species and likely an overlooked resident; the rest are likely to be immigrants or wanderers from English populations but could become established in Wales in the future. Read more and find the full list on the Wales Moth List page

Oct 2021: Big Butterfly Count 2021 sees lowest ever number of butterflies recorded in Wales. The average number of butterflies and moths per count in Wales was down by 6% on 2020 figures. More counts - 5,911 - were submitted in Wales, a 36% increase on 2020, but it seems that there are fewer butterflies and moths around to be counted. This is likely to have been due to the exceptionally warm March followed by the very wet May this year affecting mainly the double-brooded species, so fewer were flying in August. Of the Wales 'Top 10' counted, the biggest drops were for Small Tortoiseshell at -36% of the 2020 count and Speckled Wood at  -34%. The biggest gain was Ringlet, up 119% on 2020. Click through for the full table of results in Wales.

National Lottery Heritage Fund logo Welsh & English

Aug 2021: The Wales Green Recovery Project has been successfully completed, funded by the National Lottery. It includes five new leaflets, in English and Welsh - fresh visitor guides to our Reserves and guides to managing some of Wales’ most important habitats for butterflies and moths: