Butterflies

Review of 2024 Butterfly Surveys

Against a backround of the lowest numbers of butterflies nationally according Butterfly Conservation we have recorded our highest annual total since the transect was started in 2002. The amazing total of 1081 insects counted is 90% above the average. Very roughly a third of species increased, a third showed no change and a third decreased. However half had above average counts. Meadow browns, our most numerous species, had an exceptional season as did others when compared with the national picture. Common blues are worth mentioning in this context. Worrying is the absence of sightings of dingy skipper. Hopefully this is a blip. So why are some of our butterflies doing better on our nature reserve than they are nationally? We can only speculate but I believe we are seeings the insects respond to efforts over the last few years to create flower rich areas around the reserve. It was noticeable how numerous insects were along the ditch of the new hedge in Bloomers which now has abundant betony, knapweed and devils bit scabious as well as many other species of flower. At times I was surrounded by clouds of meadow browns and gatekeepers and struggled to count them. I have never experienced that before. Another indication that it is the richness of the wildflowers in our grasslands is the discovery of longhorned bees on the reserve. Now rare they declined drastically due to the loss of wildflower meadows. Their appearance suggests we have created excellent habitat for bees, butterflies and all sorts of other invertebrates including the rare tawny longhorn beetle recorded in 2024 by Graham Collins in Beacon Field.

Lingfield Wildlife Area

Summary of 2024 Butterfly Surveys

	2024	Position of year since 2002	Comments
	2024	Position of year since 2002	Comments
Small/Essex Skipper	68	!st	Our best ever year. No idea why but they favour our flower rich ditches. Two species which are very difficult to tell apart in the field..
Large Skipper	5	10th	An average year but improved.
Brimstone	8	4th	Another good year. Consistently recorded more frequently in last 10 years. It could be the result of all the alder buckthorn planted in recent years.
Dingy Skipper	0	9th	A UK priority species but wasn't seen this year. This is worrying although they are always in very small numbers and hard to spot.
Large White	20	12th	Showing a decrease but an average year.
Small White	14	11th	Less than last year but still above average.
Green Veined White	0	10th	None recorded. No change there.
Orange Tip	10	1st	Our best ever year although there is a word of caution as the female is hard to tell from other smaller whites. Cuckoo flower its food plant seems to be spreading on the reserve. Anyone want to grow some? Its easy.
Small Copper	3	13th	An increase but still below average. They have had a bad year nationally so this isn't too bad.
Brown Argus	0	6th	None seen but numbers are always low.
Common Blue	18	7th	They've shown an increase and are above average which contradicts the national trend. Their foodplant, birds foot trefoil, is everywhere and seemed to have a good year.
Holly Blue	6	8th	A decrease but still above average. Regulars in the Butterfly Garden. No idea why although ivy, a food plant, seems to be doing well everywhere.
Red Admiral	15	4th	A good year. Mostly seen in the butterfly garden
Painted Lady	0	11th	A migrant. None seen although I had one or two in my garden.
Small Tortoiseshell	0	18th	Another terrible year for this struggling but once common butterfly. It was spotted in the ditch of the new hedge which is flower rich.
Peacock	10	4th	Although fewer than last year still a good year
Comma	9	7th	Showing an increase and above average.
Silver Washed Fritillary	2	1st	Its best year although still very low numbers. Look for them in the butterfly garden.
Speckled Wood	32	13th	A decrease from last year and a little below average so not a good year for this species which is so characteristic of the reserves.
Marbled White	0	2nd	None seen after our first record two years ago.
Gatekeeper	109	2nd	Our second best year ever.
Meadow Brown	734	1st	The best year ever for our most numerous species.
Small Heath	7	5th	The apparent "colonisation" since 2016 continues. Another better than average year for this priority species.
Ringlet	7	12th	A bad year. A decrease from last year and below average.
Brown Hairstreak	4	2nd	Probably our star butterfly and its second best year in terms of records on the transect. Another priority species. High numbers of eggs were discovered on the new hedge last Winter.
Purple Emperor	0	2nd	None but the goat willow thickets we have planted are reaching a size where they could attract egg laying females if there are any locally. Keep your eyes peeled next year.
Clouded Yellow	0	3rd	None.
Purple Hairstreak	0	4th	None.



Number of visits	23

Butterflies per visit	30

Average count compared with other years	5th

Total compared with other years	4th

	Summary of 2002-2024 Butterfly Surveys
																									Position of 2024 total	Comparison with 2022	Average	Comparison with average	Total since 2002 total
		2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	Position of 2024 total	Comparison with 2022	Average	Comparison with average	Total since 2002 total	%
1	Small/Essex Skipper	11	19	9	7	11	7	0	14	15	4	0	48	41	20	35	21	46	57	40	70	57	39	68	!st	Increase	28	Above	639	5.9%
2	Large Skipper	11	9	1	1	4	1	1	3	6	7	1	6	19	3	4	1	1	6	13	7	9	3	5	10th	Increase	5	Equal	122	1.1%
3	Brimstone	0	0	4	0	6	0	0	0	0	1	3	0	2	2	2	0	3	8	2	7	9	13	8	4th	Decrease	3	Above	70	0.7%
4	Dingy Skipper	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	2	6	2	12	1	5	0	9th	Decrease	1	Below	31	0.3%
5	Large White	24	17	31	9	22	8	10	11	11	18	3	39	0	8	20	10	37	51	25	22	41	26	20	12th	Decrease	20	Equal	463	4.3%
6	Small White	14	5	15	21	19	6	4	13	7	11	2	19	5	5	17	7	27	11	11	17	21	20	14	11th	Decrease	13	Above	291	2.7%
7	Green Veined White	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	2	2	0	0	3	1	0	1	0	1	4	0	0	10th	No change	1	Below	16	0.1%
8	Orange Tip	2	0	0	2	1	3	2	3	4	0	6	2	5	3	0	1	3	5	0	9	8	5	10	1st	Increase	3	Above	74	0.7%
9	Small Copper	0	5	0	0	0	0	0	3	8	4	2	3	6	3	1	5	3	6	13	10	7	1	3	13th	Increase	4	Below	83	0.8%
10	Brown Argus										1	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	2	3	0	0	0	6th	No change	0	Equal	8	0.1%
11	Common Blue	0	5	3	0	0	0	1	2	14	5	0	5	16	28	6	47	26	40	31	14	30	12	18	7th	Increase	13	Above	303	2.8%
12	Holly Blue	2	1	7	1	2	3	1	3	3	6	5	2	0	1	8	8	4	6	6	5	5	13	6	8th	Decrease	4	Above	98	0.9%
13	Red Admiral	6	10	1	8	11	6	3	5	4	8	6	0	2	2	11	9	3	29	11	40	9	24	15	4th	Decrease	10	Above	223	2.1%
14	Painted Lady	1	4	0	0	2	0	0	4	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	1	13	0	3	1	0	0	11th	No change	1	Below	31	0.3%
15	Small Tortoiseshell	4	28	10	7	2	4	0	1	3	0	0	7	5	4	2	0	1	2	1	7	1	0	0	18th	No change	4	Below	89	0.8%
16	Peacock	0	7	3	3	1	6	1	4	5	2	2	23	5	6	2	1	1	1	5	15	8	11	10	4th	Decrease	5	Above	122	1.1%
17	Comma	5	5	4	3	17	2	5	10	9	8	1	11	2	3	2	5	4	10	5	3	16	5	9	7th	Increase	6	Above	144	1.3%
18	Silver washed fritillary																					1	0	2	1st	Increase	0	Above	3	0.0%
19	Speckled Wood	18	16	22	32	19	41	38	75	54	70	19	25	36	48	53	26	41	62	12	27	48	35	32	13th	Decrease	37	Below	849	7.9%
20	Marbled White																					1	0	0	2nd	No change	0	Equal	1	0.0%
21	Gatekeeper	32	27	93	48	47	19	6	6	62	67	16	87	39	52	89	63	29	70	60	126	105	89	109	2nd	Increase	58	Above	1341	12.5%
22	Meadow Brown	94	136	91	160	124	109	119	92	188	157	127	236	189	169	288	394	147	464	274	464	309	385	734	1st	Increase	237	Above	5450	50.7%
23	Small Heath	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	8	10	8	9	4	5	7	5th	Increase	2	Above	52	0.5%
24	Ringlet	0	0	1	0	5	0	6	7	6	10	1	10	15	5	19	4	7	23	24	19	34	9	7	12th	Decrease	9	Below	212	2.0%
25	Brown Hairstreak											1	0	0	1	0	3	2	2	3	1	2	6	4	2nd	Decrease	1	Above	25	0.2%
26	Purple Emperor												1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2nd	No change	0	Equal	1	0.0%
27	Clouded Yellow												1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	3rd	No change	0	Equal	3	0.0%
28	Purple Hairstreak													1	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4th	No change	0	Equal	3	0.0%

		224	294	295	302	293	215	198	256	399	380	197	528	388	364	567	608	397	883	550	891	731	706	1081			566	Above	10747	100.0%

	Number of visits	15	15	14	21	22	25	18	23	22	26	20	18	23	25	25	15	21	22	17	20	25	23	21			23
																										,10/28	36%	,14/28		50%
	Butterflies per visit	14.93333333	19.6	21.07142857	14.38095238	13.31818182	8.6	11	11.13043478	18.1	14.6	9.9	29.3	16.9	14.6	22.7	40.5	18.9	40.1	32.4	44.6	29.2	30.7	51.5		,8/28	29%	,7/28		25%
																										,10/28	36%	,7/28		25%
	Average count compared with other years																					6th	5th	!st

	Total compared with other years																					3rd	4th	1st

Summary of 2012 Butterfly Surveys

A bad year with prolonged wet spells giving the lowest total of insects counted and the 10th lowest in terms of insect recorded per visit. However, not all species did badly. Brimstone, Green Veined White, Orange Tip and Holly Blue had good years. Meadow Brown and Small Copper had average years. Our newcomers in 2011, Dingy Skipper and Brown Argus were not recorded although Dingy Skipper was seen off transect in the new ditch in Bloomers. The highlight of the year was spotting a Brown Hairstreak in the Quiet Garden. This was a real surprise as this species is uncommon and local and usually found further West. It is also rarely seen at ground level as it favours tree tops. Overall 4 species increased, 3 were unchanged and 14 decreased.
	2012	Position of year since 2012	Comments
	2012	Position of year since 2012	Comments
Small/Essex Skipper	0	Joint 10th	Some seen off transect along new ditch in Bloomers
Large Skipper	1	Joint 7th
Brimstone	3	3rd	A good year
Large White	3	11th
Small White	2	11th
Green Veined White	2	1st	Possibly under reported as difficult to distinguish from Small White and Orange Tip
Orange Tip	6	1st	A good year. Possibly unreported in the past due to the difficulty of distinguishing the females from other whites
Small Copper	2	5th	This butterfly seems to particularly favour the new ditch near Coldharbour
Brown Argus	0	Joint 2nd	First seen in 2011. Not seen again this year.
Common Blue	0	Joint 7th	Some seen off transect along new ditch in Bloomers
Holly Blue	5	3rd	A good year for this species.
Red Admiral	6	Joint 5th
Painted Lady	0	Joint 5th
Small Tortoiseshell	0	Joint 9th	A poor year
Peacock	2	Joint 7th
Comma	1	11th	A poor year
Speckled Wood	19	Joint 8th	A patchy year for this normally very reliable species. The increased shading in Cold Harbout Copse, a favoured haunt historically, could be a cause.
Gatekeeper	16	9th	A poor year
Meadow Brown	127	5th
Ringlet	1	6th
Brown Hairstreak	1	1st	A fanstastic record. A restricted and elusive species. Seen in the Quiet Garden.
Total insects seen	197

Number of visits in 2012	20

Butterflies per visit	9.9

Butterflies per visit compared with previous years	10th		An poor total

Summary of 2002-2012 Butterfly Surveys
												Position of 2012 total	Status	Position of 2011 total
	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	Position of 2012 total	Status	Position of 2011 total
Small/Essex Skipper	11	19	9	7	11	7	0	14	15	4	0	Joint 10th	Decrease	9th
Large Skipper	11	9	1	1	4	1	1	3	6	7	1	Joint 7th	Decrease	3rd
Brimstone	0	0	4	0	6	0	0	0	0	1	3	3rd	Increase	3rd
Large White	24	17	31	9	22	8	10	11	11	18	3	11th	Decrease	4th
Small White	14	5	15	21	19	6	4	13	7	11	2	11th	Decrease	6th
Green Veined White	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	2	1st	Increase	Joint 1st
Orange Tip	2	0	0	2	1	3	2	3	4	0	6	1st	Increase	Joint 8th
Small Copper	0	5	0	0	0	0	0	3	8	4	2	5th	Decrease	3rd
Brown Argus										1	0	Joint 2nd	Decrease	1st
Common Blue	0	5	3	0	0	0	1	2	14	5	0	Joint 7th	Decrease	Joint 2nd
Holly Blue	2	1	7	1	2	3	1	3	3	6	5	3rd	Decrease	Joint 2nd
Red Admiral	6	10	1	8	11	6	3	5	4	8	6	Joint 5th	Decrease	Joint 3rd
Painted Lady	1	4	0	0	2	0	0	4	0	0	0	Joint 5th	No change	Joint 5th
Small Tortoiseshell	4	28	10	7	2	4	0	1	3	0	0	Joint 9th	No change	Joint 9th
Peacock	0	7	3	3	1	6	1	4	5	2	2	Joint 7th	No change	7th
Comma	5	5	4	3	17	2	5	10	9	8	1	11th	Decrease	4th
Speckled Wood	18	16	22	32	19	41	38	75	54	70	19	Joint 8th	Decrease	2nd
Gatekeeper	32	27	93	48	47	19	6	6	62	67	16	9th	Decrease	2nd
Meadow Brown	94	136	91	160	124	109	119	92	188	157	127	5th	Decrease	3rd
Ringlet	0	0	1	0	5	0	6	7	6	10	1	6th	Decrease	1st
Brown Hairstreak											1	1st	Increase

	224	294	295	302	293	215	198	256	399	380	197	11th

Number of visits	15	15	14	21	22	25	18	23	22	26	20	7th

Butterflies per visit	14.9	19.6	21.1	14.4	13.3	8.6	11	11.1	18.1	14.6	9.9	10th

Average count compared with other years	3rd	2nd	1st	5th	6th	10th	8th	7th	3rd	4th	9th	9th

Total compared with other years	8th	5th	4th	3rd	6th	9th	10th	7th	1st	2nd	11th	11th

	Cumulative Butterfly List for the reserve

	Species	Comments	Flight Period	New in 2011	New in 2012

1	Small Skipper	Seen frequently on the meadows	Jun-Aug
2	Essex Skipper	Meadows	Jul-Aug
3	Large Skipper	Meadows	Jun-Jul
4	Dingy Skipper	Ditch by Coldharbour - W5	May-Jun	08-May-11
5	Clouded Yellow	Thistle patch in Derek Slade Spinney	May, Aug, Oct
6	Brimstone	Anywhere	All year
7	Large White	Anywhere	May-Sep
8	Small White	Anywhere	May-Sep
9	Green-veined White	Anywhere	May-Sep
10	Orange-tip	Hedges and verges	May-Jun
11	Brown Hairstreak	Oak and ash trees in quiet garden	Aug-Sep		05-Aug-12
12	Purple Hairstreak	Oak and ash trees by allotments	Jul-Aug	21-Jul-11
13	Small Copper	Meadows	May, Jul-Aug
14	Brown Argus	Meadows	May-Jun, Aug-Sep	29-May-11
15	Common Blue	Meadows and W5 ditch	Jun, Aug-Sep
16	Holly Blue	Trees and hedges	Apr-May, Aug
17	Purple Emperor	Trees/Butterfly garden	Jul-Aug
18	Red Admiral	Flowers,buddleia	Apr-Oct
19	Painted Lady	Flowers,buddleia	May, Jul-Aug
20	Small Tortoiseshell	Anywhere	All year
21	Peacock	Anywhere	All year
22	Comma	Anywhere	All year
23	Speckled Wood	Trees and hedges	May-Sep
24	Gatekeeper	Hedges and verges	Jul-Aug
25	Meadow Brown	Meadows	May-Jul
26	Ringlet	Hedges and verges	Jul-Aug

Introduction To help with the management of the reserves, we carry out annual surveys of butterflies and of breeding birds. This allows us to monitor trends and gives us data to consider when we review our management plan and decide on work to be carried out during our monthly work parties or as specific projects. Ideally over time the surveys will help us to increase biodiversity on the reserves by guiding us in tailoring our management plan to suit the species we know are present. We began in 2002 and now have a useful baseline of data covering each year since. This data can be seen in the other sheets in this file. Richard Low surveys the breeding birds and visits the reserves several times during the breeding season usually early in the morning. Evidence such as the presence of singing males, nests, sightings of birds carrying nesting material or food for nestlings or sightings of juvenile birds are used by Richard to compile the estimates of breeding pairs. John Madden carries out the butterfly surveys and follows the approach recommended by the charity Butterfly Conservation. This comprises following a fixed route called a transect every week from April to the end of September. The surveys are only carried out during suitable weather conditions and times of the day which generally mean when it is warm and sunny. Only butterflies within 2.5 metres in any direction are counted by the surveyor who walks at a steady pace along the transect. This is intended to give comparable and consistent butterfly counts. Details of this approach can be found on Butterfly Conservation's website at www.butterfly-conservation.org/. In our breeding birds lists you will see some birds are identified as red listed.This is their conservation status and red listed species are of greatest concern. There are a number of criteria which can lead to a species being designated as red listed but generally with the birds on the reserves it is because there has been a severe decline in the UK breeding population over the last 25 years (a reduction of over 50%).

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