In January 2022, for the first time since the Chequered Skipper reintroduction in 2018, the release site was made public and so during the flight season of this exciting small butterfly, our rangers ran daily guided walks (weather permitting) to help spot this elusive species.
Reflection from Ellie Banks, Skipper Ranger:
Soon after the first sighting on the 9th of May, we started our month of daily guided walks. It was quite daunting at first, where even a week after the first sighting I had still not seen one myself yet! When leading the guided walks, I was simultaneously despairing at the prospect of delivering what everyone desperately wanted to see and extremely excited that today might be the day (we are talking about finding a 3cm darting butterfly in a 300ha wood). Luckily for me, taking out keen naturalists turned out to be far easier than I had anticipated. Full of curiosity, there was interest within each group in so much of the wonderful array of wildlife to be found in the lovely woodland of Fineshade Wood. Many were distracted by the variety of birdsong to listen to or the diversity of insects to study. One day we managed to spot 10 butterfly species: Green Hairstreak, Orange Tip, Green Veined White, Peacock, Red Admiral, lots of Grizzled Skippers and even more Dingy (14 individuals I think was my count!), Brimstones, Common and Holly Blue. With the help of keen eyes, we managed to witness two Dingy Skippers mating, small eggar moth caterpillars, snail hunting beetles, a poplar hawk moth, red-headed cardinal beetles, chunky lackey moth and drinker moth caterpillars, views of magnificent red kites circling above, a plentiful supply of scorpion flies, spider-hunting wasps and a beautiful assortment of colourful sawflies and longhorn beetles… to name but a few!
Another activity that kept everyone occupied was learning to spot and differentiate one of the Chequered Skipper’s look-a-like moths – the Burnet Companion, which due to its orange hind wing and brown forewing can in flight look deceiving!
As numbers dropped, followed by consecutive days of no sightings from anyone, we had to admit the flight season was finally over. We reluctantly announced the end of our dedicated Chequered Skipper guided walks on the 8th of June. I am glad to say the season went very well, and I was incredibly lucky, personally seeing 15 individuals over the period! Commonly Chequered Skippers were spotted in flight, as a flash of orange darting along the ride edges. Occasionally they were spotted nectaring, primarily on bugle and bramble, but despite their bright colouring it was clear the movement of the butterfly is what gave them away the most. Sunny still days were best, as expected, but they did surprise us multiple times, appearing on greyer days and soon after rain.
Some days it was hard to spot any Chequered Skippers at all, with such a small population in such a large wood, but it has been wonderful to share knowledge and tips from many people, spotting, and hearing some of the other wildlife that you can see at Fineshade Wood. With over 200 people attending one of our 22 walks, we are very pleased to have been able to share the enthusiasm and excitement that has been felt throughout the flight season. Thank you everyone who joined one of our walks!
