Newsletter No. 8 December 2019

Herefordshire Members’ Newsletter Number 8

2019 has again been good for butterflies but news in the latest State of Nature report about numbers reducing over the years, suggests only relatively. However we seem to be doing well with key species targeted for conservation such as the Brown Hairstreak and Wood White. I’m still concerned about the Small Tortoiseshell, seen to be recovering in some localities but sadly not near where I live. This is our fifth summer in Worcester and whilst numbers of butterflies in our garden are modest, the range of species has steadily increased in those years from eight and nine in the first two years up to 15 this year, with a Brown Argus appearing last year to bring the total up to 17. I hope this is due at least in part to our planting nectar rich flowers and herbs but the good weather no doubt helped.

My most interesting observation was a Hummingbird Hawkmoth seen round the corner at 7.30am on a cold but sunny morning on October 10. An outcrop best known for Graylings towards the tops of the Malvern Hills provided, as it does every year reliable sightings of up to six of these wonderful moths –not quite Herefordshire but only half a mile away from the border.

Another positive story is the success of the Wood White project, for which a bid is being prepared so we can continue to phase two. Re-Introductions are working and it seems the butterfly is prospering in established sites. With five years being the accepted benchmark for judging the success of a reintroduction we can say that if the Wood White appears again in locations where it was released in 2016, the project will be judged a success in 2021. The ease with which this butterfly has spread tells me that if our bid receives funding and we can continue the management regime in its current form the Wood White will continue to prosper, certainly in Monkwood which is the site I know best (where I also found a Spotted Flycatcher last June) and in Haugh Wood.

Nature is adaptive given the opportunity. Garth Lowe made some interesting observations in the last Comma magazine about a Speckled Wood seeing off a Southern Hawker. Acting on our

Macroglosum stellatarum - Hummingbird

Hawk-moth

Editor’s footnote which encouraged further observations of unusual behaviour this reminded me of a Large White being caught and dismembered by a dragonfly over a lake in Wales, so butterflies are very much on their menu. As are wasps: I once saw a dragonfly spend half an hour taking wasps from a nest in our roof. Reading about observations of Nymphalids migrating at night made me think of the Kestrel in our local park hovering over a street lamp to hunt before dawn.

This brings home to me the importance of wildlife in urban settings. Just as in countryside there are many threats in towns, a recent example being a proposed housing development in Dudley on the site were volunteers have spent some years working on to secure a Scarlet Tiger colony and facilitate the spread of key species found nearby, including Green and White-letter Hairstreaks.

The national AGM on November 16 took place near Shrewsbury to celebrate the West Midlands Branch’s 40th anniversary –look for the write up in the latest Comma, due out soon. The Branch collaborated closely with national staff to ensure a very lively national AGM. Our own Stephen Lewis gave an updated account of how Prees Heath was purchased and set up as a BC Reserve in order to safeguard the only Silver-studded Blue colony in our region.

No doubt Hereford members will be pleased to learn that takings from the national AGM raffle have been donated to the West Midlands Branch and will be devoted to the next phase of the Wood White project and I have suggested to colleagues that we also allocate to the project Branch money set aside for other things but not yet taken up: Rhona Goddard has her sights on spending some of this in Haugh Wood and Mortimer Forest.

In the evening BC kindly organised for us a 40th Anniversary celebratory dinner, where David Dennis gave an impromptu but highly entertaining and humorous talk, having been asked to stand in for short notice after the original speaker had to drop out for pressing family reasons. His deliberations on early attempts at capturing images of butterflies on film and on the theme of ageing certainly struck a chord!

Finally may I wish you a Happy Christmas and a successful New Year.

Peter Seal - Chairman West Midlands Branch, Butterfly Conservation

For reasons, some of which were outside of my control, it was not possible to get the News-

letter out to you in October and as I was away for most of November as well it has taken until now

to put it together, so sincere apologies for that. Can I also take this opportunity to ask you to get

items for Newsletter No 9 to me by Friday 14th

February; the newsletter is due out in March.

My absence from Hereford for most of No-

vember was to go with a party of like-minded

people to look at the Lepidoptera in the Yungas

region of Bolivia. I have included one photograph

from that trip just for the sheer pleasure of show-

ing you one of the butterflies we saw whilst there.

I don’t know yet how many species we saw but it

was a very good experience and a fantastic trip

(If I have space at the end of the Newsletter I

may include one or two more of the 1800 photo-

graphs I took.)

The visit was interrupted slightly by the

then President fleeing to Mexico to avoid

Rhetus periander - Periander Metalmark or

Variable Beautymark

possible arrest, road blocks on most of the roads and shortages of food, fuel and calor gas to name

but three items! But it was South America and it was probably Bolivia’s turn for a revolution this

year!!

Those of you thinking you may “get into” moths more in 2020 there is a good article in here

from Peter Hall who is trying to get Herefordshire’s Moth Records up to date. More to the point Peter

is very helpful if you are stuck with an identification, take a photograph of the beast in question and

email it to him or even post it and I guarantee you will get an answer. It may be “sorry I can’t be sure

from your photo” as happens with some of mine (my photo’s, not his lack of knowledge!) but we have

tried…………. Even better is to suggest what you

think it might be, by trying to identify it

I hope to persuade the West Midlands

branch to produce some display boards which

would emphasise the importance of “Gardening for

Moths and Butterflies”. The idea behind this is to

take the boards to the Garden Centres and

Nurseries in the county and set up there for the

day a Saturday, Sunday or Bank Holiday. The

Garden Centres if they have agreed to let us put

on the display would be given a list of plants we

would be suggesting in plenty of time so that they

could buy in a few extra to meet the rush!

There are three operations here:

1. Collect a list of Garden Centres and Nurseries

who would be willing to host us

2. Produce the display boards and plant lists

3. Help man the events

All of us can contribute to number 1 by asking the proprietors and letting me know those willing

so we can sort out dates, and those unwilling so we don’t waste time asking them again. Anybody

who would like to help with 2 please contact me at the usual address in the new year

( martyn.davies808@gmail.com or 01432266703) and those who would be happy to help with 3

above perhaps in the Autumn of 2020 and in 2021 when hopefully we will have some idea of

demand, also contact me in the new year.

It only remains for me to wish you all a “Happy Christmas and a Good New Year and 2020”

Martyn G Davies

Small Tortoiseshell on Michaelmas Daisies

Regional update – December 2019 Although funding for the Wood White project unfortunately finished in March, I’ve continued my involvement at key Wood White sites across the region, including both Wigmore Rolls and Haugh Wood. Recently I’ve been developing a second West Midlands Wood White project too. This is to ensure that all three reintroduction sites continue to support thriving Wood White populations and we can continue our involvement in the Woolhope Dome landscape, a key area for Wood White.

Blakeridge Wood, Monkwood and Grafton Wood all continued to support good Wood White populations this summer, with maximum peak transect counts of 41, 57 & 33 adults, respectively. This was all very encouraging. During a couple of visits to Haugh Wood this summer, I saw over 70 Wood White adults, along with 2 Wood Whites in Rudge End Quarry and another 4 along the ride adjacent to quarry. It was great to see Wood Whites responding well to the recent habitat works, completed by both volunteers and contractors last winter, many thanks to all those involved. Many thanks to Lucy and others for submitting Wood White records for Wigmore Rolls this year, 227 Wood Whites recorded on the transect this year, plus a count of over 100 adults seen during one visit!. If anyone is interested in helping with the transect at Wigmore rolls or Mortimer Forest during 2020, please do get in touch Many thanks to all who have continued to submit butterfly records this year, especially Wood White sightings, and to Bob and others for verifying all Herefordshire records. It’s great to see Wood white and other key species for the county doing so well, especially Pearl-bordered Fritillary at Ewyas Harold, with 224 adults seen in May. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all! Rhona Goddard Dates for your diary Sunday 19th January 10am - 3pm. Butterfly Conservation work party at Mortimer Forest, in partnership with Forestry England Meet at forest barrier, just off the B4361 near Overton (SO 500 720). Tuesday 11th February - Joint work party with Herefordshire Wildlife Trust. Meet at 10am in Wessington Wood and Pasture nature reserve car park, grid reference: SO 603353 Sunday 16th February - Bury Ditches work party in partnership with Forestry England. 10am start. Meet in car park, grid reference: SO333 839 For further information please contact Rhona Goddard either by email: rgoddard@butterfly-conservation.org. or call: 01746 762364.

Leptidea sinapis - Wood White in Haugh Wood

Herefordshire Butterfly Records 2019

(The following are some brief notes, species by species, of the butterflies that currently may be found in Herefordshire, although as you read on there are question marks against some of them. Many thanks to Bob for producing this summary—ed)

Skippers.

Dingy Skipper now restricted to Ewyas Harold Common, with a maximum count of 4.

Grizzled Skipper mostly restricted to Ewyas Harold Common and The Doward with a count of 5. One record from Wellington Gravel Pit.

Large Skipper found in good numbers. Max 7 from Haugh Wood.

Small Skipper : Plenty of records from Bunch of Carrots, Coppett Hill and Haugh Wood. Max count 16.

Essex Skipper also present in the county

Whites

Brimstone maximum count of5 from Haugh Wood. Otherwise quite widely distributed.

Orange Tip : good numbers in the spring with a maximum count of 15 from Warham.

Green Veined White : good numbers again.

Large and Small White : good numbers

Wood White : High numbers at Wigmore with a peak count of 103. 2nd brood max 24 . Haugh Wood numbers steady.

Clouded Yellow :1 record form helice from Checkley

Browns.

Gatekeeper : Plenty of records, max 110 from Haugh Wood.

Marbled White ; Good numbers at Ewyas Harold Common and at Wessington and Nupend HWT reserves

Meadow Brown : Plenty of records.

Ringlet : Plenty of records. Common.

Small Heath : common at Kington Golf Club.

Speckled Wood ; Max count of 18 at Sned Wood.

Wall : One record from Croft Castle, and one from Birches Farm.

Nymphalidae

Fritillaries

Dark Green Fritillary : records from Ewyas Harold Common, The Doward, The Weir Garden , Wig-more Rolls , Yatton Hill and a max count of 6 from Kington Golf club.

Pearl Bordered Fritillary : 224 counted at Ewyas Harold Common,12 at Coppett Hill, but only 1 from

Haugh Wood.

Small Pearl bordered Fritillary : 1 record from Ewyas Harold Common.

Silver Washed Fritillary : Good numbers seen at Haugh Wood , Nupend and Wigmore, where there was the highest count of 80.

Comma : Widely spread, but in small numbers, max 5 at Haugh Wood .

Painted Lady : At last a year to rival 2009. Large numbers reported ,with a high count of 80 from Wigmore

Peacock : After the doom and gloom of recent years, Peacocks were seen in huge numbers at the end of July and early August. High counts from Croft Castle, Haugh Wood, Mathon, Nupend and Wigmore, max 92.

Red Admiral : Good number of records, although not quite as common as in 2018.

Small Tortoiseshell : Some slight recovery from 2018, with counts of 11 from Little Bury Farm, and 19 from the Bunch of Carrots Wye.

White Admiral : No records.

Blues.

Holly Blue : plenty of records in both spring but fewer summer records.. Max 9 at Warham

Common Blue : Few records, with numbers in decline. Max 21 from Haugh Wood.

Green Hairstreak ; single records from Coppett Hill and Pinnacle Hill, Malvern.

Purple Hairstreak ; 3 at Haugh Wood South, 1 record each from Hagley Court, Bartestree and Hereford City.

White letter Hairstreak : Records from Haugh Wood South, Dulas and Paradise Wood , Brockhampton. Max 2.

Small Copper : A few records in the Spring, fewer 2nd brood.

Records from : Liam Bunce, Sarah Cadwallader, Tony Eveleigh, Dean Fenton, Susan Griffin, David Griffiths, Bob and Penny Hall, Geoff Hall, Peter Hall, Ian Hart, Giles King-Salter, Richard Kippax, Robbie Ledlie, Stuart Moore, Lucy Morton, Beryl Petters, Jeremy and Katherine Soulsby, Jess Sly, Roger Smith, John Tilt, Heather Walker, Jane Wise.

Bob Hall County Recorder

The Herefordshire County Moth Recorder

My name is Peter Hall and I am your friendly County Moth Recorder. I’ve been living in the county since 2014 and have had a lifelong interest in nature and specifically moths. I was asked recently how many years for moths and it comes to over 50, I started as a very young boy, collecting as was the norm back then. Since then I have developed a keen interest in the micro-moths and I spend many a happy hour in my study performing identification for people from all over the UK. It’s a never ending task and moths arrive by post regularly. The larger batches can be up to 5000 specimens, these are mostly from the static Rothamsted light traps. I use 2

microscopes (I have 5 in total!), one is a standard binocular dissecting microscope and the other a very fancy compound microscope, through which I take high resolution photo-graphs of the identification features found internally. These end up on a website which is used by people from the UK and Europe and we have even had images sent in from places like Iran, Korea and Canada. If you are interested you can look it up https://mothdissection.co.uk/index.php. It also has adult images and other stages and is very user friendly for being able to hover over a name and the image will pop up, so you can scroll down lists very quickly looking for your moth.

The other website which I set up is a Moth Blog and is designed for people of all moth skills, from beginner to expert and this is located here: https://herefordandworcestermoths.blogspot.com/ On this site you can post anything that may be of interest and ask for identifications too. If you haven’t joined yet, please do so!

Just over 2 years ago Phyl King asked if I would look after the Micro-moth database as she didn’t have the time to manage it properly. Like others, I am always keen to know if a species has been recorded before, how many and where, so I agreed. I inherited around 20,000 records and by the time I had finished adding missing data, the database sat at just over 60,000 and is still growing. At the point it was almost as complete as I could manage, Phyl asked if I could also take over the Macro-moth database as well and I agreed. I’d like to thank Phyl for keeping a well managed neat and tidy database. I inherited about 180,000 macro-moth records, so in total putting the two together there were around 200,000 records sitting in there. I set about looking to find any missing data.

One example was Ray Birchenough and in the database there were just over 1,000 records of his, but they were in effect monthly averages, recorded in single data lines. So, I went and retrieved his notebooks and started to input all of his data in full. Some years were missing in the inherited database entirely as he’d been sending them off to the wrong person. It took me 5 months to complete and around 93,000 records went in, one by one, but at least now all are inputted. I’m halfway through Phil Bradley’s old records and have about another 40,000 still to enter. I have managed to contact quite a few people and received their records and these are slowly going in too. iRecord 2018 data went in yesterday for example. If you haven’t sent me any records, then please do so and later I’ll explain the benefits.

I’ve visited the Centre of Ecology and Hydrology in Wallingford where I photographed all of the data cards used in the production of the Moths and Butterflies of GB and Ireland series (1970’s…) and I plan to transfer this historic data over. Macros only at the moment, the Micros were inaccessible in the storage room and I may need to go back. I’ve liaised with some of the older recorders like Mark Young and received original data sheets back, so I can add missing records and correct partially recorded ones. I’ve been at it now for almost a year and I probably have another year to go. So as of today, the original 200,000 records now stand at 199,418 sitting in the final Mapmate database, 175,781 sitting in Phyl’s original database as an Excel file and 5,560 in Microsoft Access, making a current total of 380,759 records. We may hit the half million by the time

Peter in his lab complete with microscopes

it’s all done. I have also been in contact with the London Natural History Museum as they are now digitising their records and I’ve received a few thousand old to very old county records back from them. These need processing yet and in-cluding. And so it goes on.

What is the point of it all? Well

the data gets sent off to Butterfly Conservation who hold an immense number of country records and can use them to show increases and decreases and changes of range, rarity factors like Red Data Book species and produce books, like the forthcoming Atlas of Macro-moths in the UK, due out just before Christmas. Records sent in contributed towards that. They should (and will) get synchronised with the local Environ-mental Records Centre in Hereford and used to decide planning applications and eventually will end up in the NBN Gateway – a national database of records based at Wallingford I think. As for local reference, once the database is in something like an up to date condition, I am more than happy to provide species summaries. Mapmate produces a grand county list with first and last dates plus how many records and count totals too, in a nice easy to read summary. These will be available to anyone who wants one. Then, Butterfly Conservation West Midlands branch have sponsored a new website, which is very close to going live, which provides digital maps of the 4 Vice Counties of moth records, so you can zoom in and out of the data on the maps and see if your record is there and also if any others are around as well. It looks very nice indeed and I hope before the year is out you can go onto the BC Website and play with it. It will no doubt get featured in the “Comma” magazine once ready.

As your County Recorder, I try and be as accessible as possible. I answer e-mails quickly, help with identifications for you and will of course, receive preserved moths to identify, from the biggest to the smallest. If you don’t already ask me questions, then please start. Without your

records, the County list will be impoverished, so I want all records, from single sightings to larger batches. To those who have sent in records, thank you and to those who now intend to, thank you as well. Please e-mail any records to: peter.herefordcmr@btinternet.com (Peter included this picture so that you would recognise him when you and he attend a Moth Breakfast or Member’s Evening! On a personal level he is extremely helpful if you have any queries about identification as I have discov-ered.—Ed)

This is an example of what the maps will look like! This is for the Large

Yellow Underwing and does not contain all of the records available.

Ewyas Harold Meadows Reserve and Ewyas Harold Common - Update for 2019

The Meadows

A new interpretation panel was put up at the northern entrance in June, the one at the southern entrance that was pushed over by the ponies has yet to be replaced. Marbled Whites, Ringlets and Meadow bBrowns were seen in good numbers, and Dark Green Fitillaries were also seen nectaring on the reserve.

The hay was cut and baled and taken away in August by Raymond Pritchard and then Rhona Mackillop, our neighbour put her ponies in to graze the aftermath and they did a great job; they are now grazing the north facing slope. Lloyd Reed’s sheep and 2 ponies are on the other side of the stream.

The scrub has increased on the reserve and Ian and the volunteers have been working hard brushcutting and raking the rose and bramble. Next year I am hoping to get the stock on in July so that they may eat down some of this vigorous scrub.

The Common

In September the Ewyas Harold Common Society held its last AGM and it was voted to dissolve the Society and form the Eways Harold Common Trust. There are 7 trustees, Butterfly Conservation is represented by me (an organisation cannot be a Trustee, it has to be a individual). In the future if there is a BC member locally who would like to become a Trustee then do please let me know.

Now that the Eways Harold Common Trust has been set up and is registered as a Charity, the trans-fer of the ownership of the Common can take place. A private water company is being set up to manage the water supply.

Winter work parties on the Meadows and Common – the work parties have started on both the reserve and the Common. We really need more help managing these 2 sites which are so important for their butterfly populations, so if you are able to come out for a few hours that would be wonderful!

The dates for your diary are:

Saturday 14th December, Tuesday 7th January 2020, Saturday 18th January, Tuesday 4th Feb-ruary Saturday 15th February, Tuesday 3rd March, Saturday 21st March Meet at 10.00am at the northern Cwm Hill end of Ewyas Harold Common adjacent to the top cattle grid (GR SO382302). Approach from Abbey Dore off the B4347 at GR SO384306. Some hand tools will be provided, but bring your own if you have them. Come for all or part of the day, whatever you can manage. Please bring gloves, packed lunch and a drink. A huge thanks to Ian and Dilys and all the volunteers who come out and do so much conservation work on these two wonderful sites. Lucy Morton - Reserves Officer

Plant Fair, Broxwood Court, Wednesday 29 April 2020 A member of the Herefordshire Meadows Facilitation Fund has asked if BC would like to have a stall at a plant fair in aid of the Cart Shed, a local charity, next April. I would very much like to support this event and will be there with information on Eywas Harold Meadows and Common, if you’d like to join me I would be very grateful, my contact details are below. I think it would be a great opportunity and I am really hoping to recruit some more volunteers for the work parties! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Lucy Morton - Reserves Officer

lmorton@butterfly-conservation.org 07503 220191

The West Midlands Butterfly Conservation 2020 Calendar is now on sale and can be ordered by post from WMBC, 2 Dewberry Close, Stourport, Worcs, DY13 8TB. Otherwise, copies can be obtained locally either from Bob Hall or myself by arrangement.

The calendar celebrates 40 years of the branch and features some stunning images of the region’s butterflies and moths taken by our members. The calendar costs £8 or £15 for two copies including postage and all profits support our conservation work.

Order yours while stock lasts.”

The photograph shows the back cover so you can see what you are getting by way

of photographs , we’re not 12 months in front of the game!!!

Work Parties 2020 - If you can get along to any of these you will be extremely welcome. A good way to burn of some of the excesses from Christmas and the New Year so I had better get along! Sunday 19th January 10am - 3pm. Butterfly Conservation work party at Mortimer Forest, in partnership with Forestry England Meet at forest barrier, just off the B4361 near Overton (SO 500 720). Tuesday 11th February - Joint work party with Herefordshire Wildlife Trust. Meet at 10am in Wessington Wood and Pasture nature reserve car park, grid reference: SO 603353 Sunday 16th February - Bury Ditches work party in partnership with Forestry England. 10am start. Meet in car park, grid reference: SO333 839 For further information please contact Rhona Goddard either by email: rgoddard@butterfly-conservation.org. or call: 01746 762364. Cont’d on next page

Haugh Wood WP dates for Winter 2020

Sat January 4th 2020

Sat February 1st 2020

Sat March 7th 2020

In all cases we meet at 10:00am at the Forestry Commission car park at SO592365 along minor

road between Mordiford and Woolhope.

Contact Robin Hemming 07501020605 robinhemming@btinternet.com or Kate Wollen

07786526280 kate.wollen@forestryengland.uk

Ewyas Harold Common Work Party Dates Tuesday Group 2020

Here are the Tuesday dates:

Tuesday 7th January

Tuesday 4th February

Tuesday 3rd March

Meeting at 10am, Cwm Hill entrance, Ewyas Harold Common adjacent to the top cattle grid (SO

382302). Approach from Abbey Dore off the B4347 (SO384306). Some hand tools will be provided

but if you have your own, do bring them.

Ewyas Harold Common Work Party Dates Saturday Group 2020

Saturday 18th January

Saturday 15 February

Saturday 21st March

Meet at 10am at the northern Cwm Hill end of Ewyas Harold Common adjacent to the top cattle

grid (SO 382302). Approach from Abbey Dore off the B4347 (SO384306). Some hand tools will

be provided but if you have your own, do bring them.

Contact Ian Hart at yellowrattle4@aol.com

Some Bolivian Moths - identities unknown, answers

on a postcard please.

Your Local Officers and Work Party Organisers.

The following are officers of the West Midlands Branch and have specific responsibilities for

Herefordshire.

County Leader Dean Fenton fenton@littleburyfarm.co.uk 01568611575

Conservation Officer & Ewyas Harold Reserve Manager Ian Hart yellowrattle4@aol.com 01981 510259

Moth Officer Robin Hemming robinhemming@btinternet.com 01568 797351

Butterfly Recorders Bob Hall & Ian Draycott randphall@gmail.com 01432 850623

Moth Recorder Peter Hall peter.herefordcmr@btinternet.com

Newsletter Martyn Davies martyn.davies808@gmail.com 01432 266703

Regional Officers Rhona Goddard rgoddard@butterfly-conservation.org 01746 762364

Conservation Officer Lucy Morton lmorton@butterfly-c0nservation.org

These people are working to help the conservation of lepidoptera in Herefordshire - Thankyou

A very Happy Christmas and a Prosperous

New Year from some of

Bolivia’s best.