Brown Hairstreak Bulletin 120
Dear Brownhairstreakers,
Here we are then……about to kick-off another Brown Hairstreak flight season!
Reports of sightings have come in from some of the more southern English counties over the last week or so – the first from Dorset, on 20th July – so I would anticipate that the first Worcestershire sighting will be any day now.
Looking back over the last twelve months, things have been fairly quiet. Summer 2015 adult sightings in Grafton Wood were notably higher than usual, and gave rise to plenty of optimism for the forthcoming winter egg searches. However, once those winter searches had been completed, they proved somewhat disappointing with the numbers of eggs found – albeit with a small number of exceptions – substantially down on previous years, and well below the 10-year average. I don’t think this represents any need for concern though as I believe it simply illustrates annual fluctuations and was most likely due to weather patterns and/or predation cycles. One very positive point to come from the searches however, was the discovery of many more eggs inside the wood itself, rather than on the surrounding hedges outside. This proved that the butterfly has responded very well to all the excellent management work that has taken place within Grafton over the last few years to open the wood up and cut down old blackthorn thickets. This in turn encouraged the blackthorn to regrow and produce lots of nice young suckers that are so favoured by the Brown Hairstreak.
As you are all obviously only too well aware, this summer has so far proved something of a disappointment, weather wise! A lot of species are emerging late and numbers of almost all of them are well down on usual. When the weather is cool and cloudy/rainy, larvae do not feed as readily as they do when it’s warm and sunny. This means they take longer to develop and, as it is at this stage that they’re at their most vulnerable to predators, they tend to have higher losses. That said, Paul Meers found a well developed Brown Hairstreak larva at Feckenham Wylde Moor on 25th May, which is about right in terms of timescale. Fingers crossed therefore for the forthcoming flight season!
The annual Brown Hairstreak Open Day takes place at Grafton Wood, on Sunday 28th Aug. Please come along if you can, it starts at 11am at Grafton Flyford Church Hall, and is always a fun and exciting event and a great chance to meet other butterfly enthusiasts. There are also delicious refreshments available in the village hall, after we’ve walked down to and explored the wood. The Open Day forms part of the annual ‘Pershore Plum Fayre’ and we are grateful to Wychavon Council for their help with producing publicity material and advertising for the day.
In the meantime, a quick reminder to everyone visiting over the next few days and weeks - the ‘orchard hedgerow’ is out of bounds and should be avoided. It is not on a public footpath but is on private land. However, the Brown Hairstreak is very widespread within the wood itself and can literally be seen anywhere! To aid visitors, there are now signposts and maps showing the best areas to find the Brown Hairstreak. And please write up any sightings in the Reserve Notebook which is to be found on the BACK of the notice boards at the main entrance to the wood.
Finally, a reminder of the regular work parties that take place in Grafton Wood. Conservation days are held virtually every week, on a Wednesday, and once a month on the second Sunday of each month. The weekly work parties are just about to start (10th Aug) and the monthly ones will begin soon. Further details are available from reserve manager: John Tilt (@email) If you can help, it will be very much appreciated.
www.westmidlands-butterflies.org.uk
https://graftonwood.wordpress.com/
Simon Primrose,
Brown Hairstreak Species Champion,
West Midlands Butterfly Conservation