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Spring 2014East Scotland Branch
Newsletter 21
Small Blue, Iain Cowe
Photographic credit: Front Cover – Northern Brown Argus, Iain Cowe.
This newsletter is published by the East Scotland branch of Butterfly Conservation. Copyright © 2014, All Rights reserved.
Butterfly Conservation is a non-profit-making company limited by guarantee, registered in England(2206468).
Registered office: Manor yard, East Lulworth, Wareham, Dorset, BH20 5QP.
Charity registered in England & Wales (254937) and in Scotland (SCO39268).
Head office and membership enquiries to:Butterfly Conservation Scotland,Balallan House,24 Allan Park,Stirling,FK8 2QG.e:[email protected]:www.eastscotland-butterflies.org.uk/
Wall Brown Iain Cowe
Views expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of the Editors or of Butterfly Conservation either locally or nationally.
The Editors welcome written and/or artwork contributions on all aspects of Lepidoptera in East Scotland and it's surrounding areas. Please send any contributions to the Editor: R. Buckland(contact details on inside back cover).
Printed by Flying Colours Ross Ltd. Specialising in booklet production for conservation charities.e: [email protected]: 01989 566443.
Contents1. Chairman's Remarks Barry Prater Page 42. The Garden Moth Scheme 2013, Heather Young Page 53. Angus Moth trip, David Lampard Page 114. Butterflies in 2013, Duncan Davidson Page 125. Small Blues in Berwickshire, Iain Cowe Page 156. Lothians field trips, 2013, Richard Buckland Page 167. Vogrie Butterfly ID Outing, Colin Whitehead Page 178. News from the North-east, Helen Rowe Page 189. Borders report, 2013, Barry Prater Page 2010.Fife Moths Atlas, Duncan Davidson Page 25 11.Accounts 2013-2014, Colin Whitehead Page 2712.Committee (inside back cover).
Events taking place in East branch in 2014 are detailed in the Events insert.
Large Skipper, Iain Cowe
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Chairman’s Notes Barry Prater
Running a branch of Butterfly Conservation – especially now that we have around 600 members – is quite a challenge. While a lot of good work is done across the branch each year, there remains just a fairly small core of active members responsible for maintaining progress, along with other butterfly and moth enthusiasts from outside BC. All of these people are very important to the branch and the organisation. Without them we would have no field trips, no conservation action, no organised recording, no reports on findings, no website – and no newsletters. Each time we lose a keen volunteer some of our activities become vulnerable and the funny thing is that, unlike the world of work where it’s often relatively easy to recruit new people even if they’re not that motivated, our membership should be teeming with just the right folk to contribute, but not many step forward to offer their help.
Right now, we are looking someone who could take on the role of branch Butterfly Recorder because Duncan Davidson, who’s done a marvellous job since 2006, is planning to step down after the 2014 data have been sorted. We’re very much open to ideas as to how this job can be done in the future – maybe there could be a separate Butterfly Recorder for each part of the branch with one overall co-ordinator? This would certainly share the workload and it’s an approach which the Glasgow & SW Scotland branch has recently adopted. The work of the Butterfly Recorder(s) is important locally for the branch and also to provide data which form the basis of the familiar national butterfly atlases. The job involves records verification (probably requiring a reasonable knowledge of butterflies but you don’t need to be an expert) and the manipulation of spreadsheets, etc., which leads to lotsof opportunities for teasing out information from the dataset (and may not require much knowledge of butterflies). SO COULD YOU DO ANY OF THESE THINGS?
And, although I’ve highlighted this particular and very important need, there are so many other jobs which need to be done, such as:
butterfly survey work in this final year of the current Butterflies for the New Millennium recording period – this can be targeted on under-recorded areas or could be part of existing schemes such as the Wider Countryside Butterfly Survey and butterfly transects
contributing to work in our Regional Action Plan, such as the Small Blue projects at the coast from Aberdeenshire to Berwickshire or surveys for priority butterflies and moths
promoting Butterfly Conservation at events such as the Scottish Bird Fair or by arranging butterfly walks or simply encouraging people to take part in the Big Butterfly Count (19 July – 10 August)
helping other enthusiasts working for Lepidoptera on particular sites, such as Portmoak Moss near Loch Leven and White Sands Quarry at Dunbar; these places offer exciting survey and conservation opportunities
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talking to local and national politicians about the plight and needs of butterflies and moths; is your MSP one who has signed up as a Species Champion?
scanning local planning applications to spot any which might impact on Lepidoptera
.... the list is endless so do talk to me or another committee member if you think you can take on anything. You’ve probably read pleas for help like this many times before but the situation is that demands for information, surveys, help, advice, publicity, etc. have never been greater and we should be able to find the resources to respond.
On a brighter note, do have a close look through all the events organised for the summer and try to get to some of them – I know I will be spending many hours out and about over the coming months. As well as the list issued with this newsletter it’sworth checking the website and our Facebook page regularly so that you don’t miss any late entries or changed arrangements.
I hope we all have a very successful year!
http://eastscotland-butterflies.org.uk/index.html
https://www.facebook.com/EastScotlandButterflyConservation
The Garden Moth Scheme, 2013 Heather Young
The Garden Moth Scheme (GMS) runs from the beginning of March to early November, with people recording the numbers of around 260 species of the more common moths intheir gardens once a week throughout this period. Further information on the findings of the GMS for the whole of the UK and Ireland, both current and historical, is available in the form of annual reports and quarterly newsletters, which can be found in the Downloads section of the web-site: <http://www.gardenmoths.org.uk>
The Garden Moth Scheme (GMS) welcomes participants from all parts of the United Kingdom and Ireland, and in 2013 received 373 completed recording forms, a 4% increase on 2012. Having originated in the West Midlands of England, there has always been a greater concentration of recorders from that area in the scheme, but we are gradually seeing a more even distribution appearing as interest grows in other regions (Fig. 1). Scientists at Birmingham University recently celebrated the publication of a second paper in a peer-reviewed journal based on the GMS data, this time looking at the effects of urbanisation and habitat diversity (Bates et al, 2014).
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The previous study analysed the effect of trap and bulb type on moth catches (Bateset al, 2013), and a researcher from the RSPB is currently investigating the influence of artificial light using the GMS dataset.
Fig.1. Distribution of GMS recorders across the UK and Ireland in 2013.
Scottish recorders returned 23 sets of results for the GMS in 2013, with 6 new members, although a few regular contributors did not manage to complete the recording season for various reasons, mostly happy ones like welcoming little future moth-ers in to the world, or taking extended holidays. Members counted 27,142 individual moths of 235 species at an average of 1180.1 per garden, an increase of 26.2% on 2012 (934.8), although still below the figures for 2011 (1271.2) and 2010(1229.6).
Large Yellow Underwing was again the commonest moth overall, with numbers at a four-year high of 202.0 per garden. This was probably a reflection of the unusually warm and dry summer, while the usually common spring species were much less abundant than in previous years. The vast majority of moths were recorded in July and August, with a slow start and rapid tail-off in autumn (Fig. 2).
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Fig.2. Average number of moths per garden in 2013 in Scotland (March 1st – November 1st)
The Scottish top 20 are shown below, last year’s rank is shown in brackets, with the percentage change in average numbers per garden across Scotland year on year (2012-13), and the figures for 2012 for comparison. The six species disappearing from the top 20 are also listed along with their 2013 rank.
Rank
2013(2012)
Species
Average pergarden
Percentagechange
2012 2013
1 (1) Large Yellow Underwing 136.3 202.0 +48.2
2 (5) Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing 50.8 68.6 +35.0
3 (3) True Lover's Knot 60.0 46.8 -21.9
4 (2) Dark Arches 63.6 45.4 -28.7
5 (9) Dotted Clay 24.2 38.7 +59.7
6 (6) Lesser Yellow Underwing 32.5 37.0 +13.9
7 (8) Common Rustic aggregate 25.4 31.5 +24.1
8 (14) Rosy Rustic 12.9 26.2 +103.3
9 (4) Hebrew Character 52.5 23.7 -54.8
10 (42) Bird-cherry Ermine 4.2 21.0 +399.0
11 (12) Beautiful Golden Y 15.1 19.2 +27.4
12 (25) Double Square-spot 6.0 17.7 +194.2
13 (10) Common Quaker 20.7 15.8 -23.8
14 (15) Smoky Wainscot 11.5 14.8 +28.9
15 (11) Small Wainscot 16.5 14.0 -15.6
16 (27) Snout 5.9 13.4 +125.6
17 (35) Straw Dot 4.9 13.3 +172.0
18 (28) Marbled Minor aggregate 5.6 13.0 +131.1
19 (18) Common Marbled Carpet 8.7 12.6 +45.0
20 (32) Silver Y 5.2 12.3 +135.4
21 (7) Square-spot Rustic 27.3 12.2 -55.2
22 (20) Burnished Brass 8.3 12.1 +45.8
23 (19) Silver-ground Carpet 8.6 11.9 +38.8
24 (17) Mottled Beauty 9.0 11.7 +31.0
27 (13) Antler Moth 13.3 10.5 -20.9
53 (16) Clouded Drab 9.4 5.0 -46.7
For the second year running, numbers were low in spring and autumn with summer species faring better, compared to 2011 when we had warm spring weather. The chart below (Fig. 3) shows the differing fortunes of 5 of our commonest Scottish species over the last 4 years; two summer species (Large and Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing), two spring species (Hebrew Character and Common Quaker) and the Chestnut that emerges in the autumn and overwinters as an adult.
Fig.3. Four-year population trends of 5 common Scottish species
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Looking at the three Butterfly Conservation regions in Scotland, Highland recorders consistently trap the highest number of moths, with the fewest being encountered inGlasgow & South-west, as shown below, although as mentioned in previous newsletters, trap-type has an influence.
Average /garden 2011
Average /garden 2012
Average / garden2013
Scotland 1271.2 934.8 1180.1
G&SW 637.3 612.1 912.3
East 1507.6 970.7 1195.6
Highland 1907.4 1245.3 1926.3
All regions showed an increase in numbers in 2013, although the East did not recover to 2011 levels, while the other regions did. Recorder numbers were stable inthe East at 11, although with a slight turnover in personnel, but coverage is good, with 10 Vice Counties represented from the Moray Firth to the Borders.
The top 20 for the East of Scotland branch region is shown below, along with their regional rank in 2012 in brackets, 2013 rank in Scotland, average numbers per garden, and the percentage change in that, year on year. The four species dropping out of the top 20 of last year are also shown with their 2013 rank.
Rank East2013 (2012)
RankScotland
2013Species
Averageper garden
2013
Percentagechange
1 (1) 1 Large Yellow Underwing 213.9 +41.9
2 (3) 2 Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing 93.6 +28.6
3 (5) 6 Lesser Yellow Underwing 46.3 -1.0
4 (7) 5 Dotted Clay 45.6 +29.1
5 (9) 8 Rosy Rustic 42.0 +145.8
6 (8) 7 Common Rustic aggregate 35.6 +7.7
7 (4) 4 Dark Arches 33.8 -30.7
8 (2) 9 Hebrew Character 26.0 -65.9
9 (6) 13 Common Quaker 24.6 -34.1
10 (15) 12 Double Square-spot 23.4 +140.1
11 (11) 11 Beautiful Golden Y 21.2 +41.2
12 (27) 10 Bird-cherry Ermine 19.8 +220.7
13 (20) 20 Silver Y 18.6 +159.6
14 (12) 22 Burnished Brass 16.2 +39.0
15 (38) 32 Brown-spot Pinion 16.1 +240.2
16 (18) 16 Snout 14.6 +73.2
17 (19) 23 Silver-ground Carpet 14.5 +84.8
18 (52) 35 Red-green Carpet 13.3 +264.6
19 (13) 19 Common Marbled Carpet 13.3 +22.7
20 (31) 31 Small Square-spot 12.6 +120.5
21 (14) 14 Smoky Wainscot 11.7 +13.9
29 (17) 24 Mottled Beauty 8.7 +11.8
38 (10) 53 Clouded Drab 6.8 -56.0
67 (16) 33 Map-winged Swift 3.1 -66.4
The GMS is proving to be a very valuable source of information on the status of our common garden moths, with a burgeoning dataset providing an excellent resource for scientific researchers. The vast majority of our members also send their records to the Butterfly Conservation county moth recorders (something we actively encourage), and everyone is welcome from beginner to seasoned expert. If you would like to be involved in the scheme in Scotland please get in touch; the ambitionis to improve coverage of under-recorded areas across the country, but every contribution is valuable whether you live in a city or the middle of nowhere!
Heather Young, GMS coordinator.
e-mail: [email protected]
Bates AJ, et al. (2013) Assessing the value of the Garden Moth Scheme citizen science dataset: how does light trap type affect catch? Entomologia Experimentalis Et Applicata 146: 386-397.
Bates AJ, et al. (2014) Garden and landscape-scale correlates of moths of differing conservation status: significant effects of urbanization and habitat diversity. PLoS ONE 9(1): e86925. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0086925
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Moth trapping in remote Angus David Lampard
The county of Angus, formerly Forfarshire has a large range of habitats from the mountains of the Angus Glens to the coast. Amongst the areas to be least surveyed for moths are the Angus Glens. Not only are they remote, access is often difficult. Most of the upland areas are managed as sporting estates and access during periodsof either sporting or management activities can be difficult. It is important therefore not only to approach estate managers for permission to trap, but to develop a good relationship with estates.
Coire Fee is a National Nature Reserve at in Glen Clova. Its main interests are the Ice Age geology and the Arctic/alpine relict flora. Of particular note are the stands ofmontane willows and plants such as Alpine Saxifrage. The Coire is a popular destination for hill walkers and access is by paths from the ranger centre, through forestry commission and other estates. These tracks are usually off limits to vehicles. We are fortunate that one of our local moth recorders Paul Brooks is a keenhill walker who has developed a good relationship with the local landowners. Through Paul’s contacts permission was given for a small group of cars to drive along these tracks to the nearest point to the Coire. Although this was only a couple of miles, it would have been a fair slog carrying generators and traps. In the end we only had a few hundred yards to carry equipment before we were in the Coire.
The expedition took place over the weekend of the 7th June last year. Paul and I camped in our cars for the weekend and we were joined by four other moth-ers, twoon each night. We used two Robertson traps with generators and a couple of battery powered heath traps.
Because of the time of year it did not get dark until after 11pm which gave us plentyof time to set up traps. However dawn also came early and we had the magical site of the early light of dawn appearing almost as soon as it got completely dark, between 2 and 3am.
The first night things were quite slow, it was fairly clear night and the temperature dropped. Nevertheless we caught 17 species. Amongst the catch were Glaucus Shears, Light Knot Grass and Dark Brocade. During the next day Paul and myself explored nearby Coire Sharroch for day flying moths, micros and caterpillars, we mostly found Common Heath.
The second night was very interesting as it got foggy very early on and moths were almost throwing themselves into the traps. The most spectacular moths were PebbleProminent and Swallow Prominent. We stayed until just before 2am when the numbers had started to slow down. Over the weekend the commonest moths were Water Carpet and Common Heath. The highlights for Paul were The Saxon and Sallow kitten. We recorded 37 species, including several micros and while we did notfind anything particularly rare 17 species were new records for the site. All in all an enjoyable and productive weekend outing.
Thanks to Paul Brooks, SNH and Forestry Commission Scotland
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Butterflies in 2013 Duncan Davidson
By many accounts, after a slow start, 2013 turned into a brilliant summer. That experience was not shared by me; I found it to be fairly poor – certainly as far as my garden was concerned.
The slow start was very evident, with nearly all the early species appearing almost exactly 4 weeks later than in 2012. In the order of first sightings, Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma, Small White, Green-veined White, Orange-tip, Large White, Speckled Wood, Green Hairstreak and Small Copper were all delayed. By the end of May, species emergence had just about caught up with 2012 dates.
However, we are told that the summer was great and I confess that I am data drivenand rather than rely on my own gut feeling about how poor the year really was, let’slook at some of the data gathered over the piece.
Firstly, here is the chart that has been presented in previous years, showing the number of records received each year and the number of recorders having submitted these records. Remember that a record is a report of a species on a particular date at a particular site – not a count of the actual number of individual butterflies seen. For example a report from my garden of 3 Red Admiral and 5 Small Tortoiseshell on 11 October is a total of two records.
We can see that in 2013, I have received 5713 records from 191 different recorders.So, record numbers are rising and more excitingly, the number of recorders continues to increase. This is a reflection of the increased branch membership, I think, and it is great to see. In fact the average number of species per recorder is pretty static and so it is difficult to establish if increased records necessarily means abetter year. That’s the trouble with data – people use them to create statistics.
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Another nice picture emerges from the following table, showing the total numbers ofselected species across recent years.
Now, this does show some interesting results. The total numbers of each species is largely well up. There are a couple of exceptions, but this came as a big surprise to me, based on personal experiences. Perhaps my garden needs revamped. It’s hard to pick out particular winners because so many of the species seemed to do so well. Red Admiral had a poor showing, but perhaps the cold start to the year inhibited their arrival and therefore the summer brood was small. Pearl-bordered Fritillary might also have suffered from the poor weather early in the season, particularly bad in their home areas.
Finally, here is a table that indicates expansion of species into new 10k squares. The first data column is the number of 10k squares in the branch area where the butterfly has been recorded since 1990, the next is the number of squares the species was found in 2011, then 2012 and the last two columns have numbers from 2013.
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This table also paints a picture of a generally successful year. Look at all the species that have been found in new 10k squares! In the case of Comma, Speckled Wood and the Skippers, this is expected range expansion. (I repeat what I’ve said before - that I am really looking forward to the three-way convergence of Speckled Wood on Fife. It surely can’t be long now!). But other discoveries must be down to increased recording effort. Large Heath and Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary are probably not expanding their ranges and so it is once again down to the branch volunteer recorders that we continue to find these new colonies. 2014 is the final year of recording before the next edition of the national butterfly atlas and it is the volunteer recorders (you!) that will make it successful.
In reviewing the data, I have to revise my opinion of 2013 and conclude that it was actually not bad.
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Progress on understanding the status of Small Blue on the Berwickshire coast Iain Cowe
This is a report of the survey of the Small Blue butterfly along the Berwickshire coastin 2013.
The main site is along the cliffs near Burnmouth, and is composed of scree detritus developed over a period of time by railway workings along the main London to Edinburgh East Coast line. The butterfly was re-discoveredhere in 2007 and since then appears to have spread to Hilton Bay a little further south.
A second site is a bit further north towards Eyemouth. It is situated precariously on the steepest cliffs, but appears to be healthy with 30 being seen this year, the highest for this sitesince it's discovery in 2011.
We live in hope that they will spread further north to Eyemouth itself.
Both photos Small Blues on Berwickshire coast (Iain Cowe)
Two years ago two adults were seen on the slopes of Eyemouth harbour but have not been seen here since. In theory the Small Blues could colonise other Eyemouth sites, such as Blaikie Heugh and Fancove Head.Despite careful monitoring, none have been found so far.
The butterfly was recorded at other Coldingham sites inthe past and although it is known why theydisappeared, there seems no good reason why theyshould not return now that there are healthy colonies inthe area. As there are sites with good habitat furthersouth, over the border into Northumberland, we haveextended the survey there as well. So far we havelooked at sites at Spittal Cliffs and opposite Holy Island,with the Berwick Wildlife Group surveying the reserveat Cocklawburn Beach, all with no success.
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There is plenty of potential in this area which is encouraging, but good habitat does not always hold a butterfly, because the nearest sites have been too far away to supply them with adults.
I think our best bet of find new sites is to carry on investigating the area we know around Eyemouth. To that end I am currently giving talks to the local community in the hope of interesting them in their local fauna.
Hopefully they will be able to spot something we may miss as they are 'on-the-spot'.The full report of the 2013 Survey can be read at the East branch website at: http://www.eastscotland-butterflies.org/publications.html
Field trips in the Lothians in 2013 Richard Buckland
Our first outing was to Tailend Moss near Livingston and true to form with my field trips to see Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary, the day dawned with rain in the air. The only consolation was that it was fairly warm and muggy, which are conditions in which the butterfly can be induced to fly.
Our Treasurer, Colin, arrived with his wife, keen to set off regardless of the overcast conditions, so the decision was made to have a walk. The rain started after only about fifteen minutes into the walk roundthe reserve. But it relented after a short while and the sun actually came out. Fortunately, we happened to be in prime SPBF habitat when the sun was out and a few adults were seen flying around.
Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary at Tailend Moss (Colin Whitehead)
Colin was able to get some excellent photos (photo). Pretty much immediately after this the rain came on with a vengeance and I for one was prepared to call it a day, having made the important finding that SPBFs were still present at this Wildlife Trust(SWT) reserve. Having had success with the first field trip, I was full of expectation for the other two.
The second trip was to Fairy Glen in the Lammermuir Hills. This is another SWT reserve and is a valley in the Lammermuirs where glacial erosion has created
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strange rock formations on the valley sides, making what look like 'Fairy Castles' on the sides of the glen.
The weather was sunny but windy. While this is not always a good combination, on this occasion the valley floor was sheltered to a great extent so the wind was not feltat all. We saw Northern Brown Argus (photo) adults before we got down to the floor of the glen.
Once there, we ascertained that the population was very good this year, which was a relief to our leader on the day, Lesley Fairweather, who has undertaken conservation work at the site with the East Lothian biodiversity officer. We also saw lots of Common Blues and Dark Green Fritillaries. A single Grayling was also seen.
Northern Brown Argus (Richard Buckland)
The final trip was to see the first Small Skippers ever recorded in the Lothians. Unfortunately, the rain really did get us this time! Myself and trip leader, Chris Symes turned up to explain to anyone who was keen enough to turn up, that it was just not worth going any further than the car park. Chris and I resolved to try again this year (see events insert).
Branch Butterfly ID Day with Colin Whitehead and Barry Prater
Brush up your butterfly identification at Vogrie Country Park on 11 th May.
The branch is holding an open meeting for BC members and others who'd like to attend to discuss the identification, habits and locations of butterflies found in SE Scotland.
New branch members would be especially welcome at the event.
There will be a presentation on the appearance and characteristics of local butterfliesand also leaflets outlining the favoured localities and flight times for individual species.
The event will take place in the mansion at Vogrie Country Park near Gorebridge on Sunday 11th May.
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Attendees should bring some lunch and in the afternoon, if the weather is suitable, we shall take a walk round the park to see what butterflies we can spot. Those wishing to attend should contact the organiser Colin Whitehead at [email protected].
News from the North East Helen Rowe
Over the past year, Butterfly Conservation members in North East Scotland have continued to engage in recording and raising awareness of butterflies and moths to encourage more people to become involved. Various events were arranged during 2013, many in partnership with other organisations.
Public moth nights/mornings, butterfly walks and identification/recording workshops were held at nature reserves and other local countryside sites across Aberdeenshire,some contributing to community festivals. Many were organised by Aberdeenshire Council Ranger, Helen Rowe with support from other recorders/members in the area or colleagues from Aberdeen City Council, Forestry Commission and Balmoral Estate Ranger Services plus Scottish Natural Heritage and NE Scotland Biological Records Centre. Through such events people of all ages have discovered the diversity of species on their doorstep and learned about their importance in ecosystems and need for conservation. Highlights included:
‘Moths in the Morning’ event at Muir of Dinnet NNR on 18th July – 44 species recorded - nothing particularly unusual but a good range to show the variety of shapes, sizes and patterns of our moths to everyone. The event was also attended by artist Chris Dooks of the Atomic Doric project, who was so intrigued by the weird and wonderful moth names that he recorded Helen Rowe reading out the species listto use extracts in making a short film about the Muir of Dinnet.
‘Butterfly Bonanza’ event at Glen Muick on 25th July – only 3 butterfly and 4 moth species recorded, but this was a successful event in that there were lots of insects around, particularly Scotch Argus in abundance to enthuse the 25 people - mostly children - that attended. Looking at the butterflies and other ‘bugs’ themselves was interspersed with butterfly-themed games and a storytelling session by a local storyteller.
Butterfly bonanza at Glen Muick (Helen Rowe)
Butterflies and Moths Identification day at Haddo Country Park on 27th July – 7 butterfly and 16 moth species recorded on a day blessed with glorious weather. It was a relief to get out of the hot room used for an introductory indoor talk and enjoythe sunshine with the butterflies! 16 enthusiastic people, some with little previous knowledge, attended, who particularly seemed to enjoy the challenge of catching extremely active Common Blues in the meadow.
(National) Moth night event at St. Cyrus NNR on 10th August – approx. 67 species, including a few butterflies recorded. This was a result of tremendous recording effortof 9 traps set across the area plus sugaring & dusking, with 15 people in total present. Notable records were Epinotia tenerana which was new to St. Cyrus and there-appearance of Bordered Grey, a single male being taken at light - 10 more were found in the dunes a few days later thus establishing the colony is alive & kicking.
Thanks to Paul Brooks for reporting back on this event.
Bordered Grey (Helen Rowe)
Following a volunteer recording workshop in May focussing on spring-flying Cairngorms priority butterflies and moths, Pearl-bordered Fritillary timed counts were initiated at some Deeside sites to complement transects being carried out in a couple of Forestry Commission woodlands and the Crannach RSPB reserve. The butterflies emerged very late in 2013 due to the cold spring weather, and the flight period was contracted, with generally low numbers recorded. Deeside remains a stronghold for this species however, so hopefully they will bounce back.
A number of volunteers visited known Small Blue sites on the Banffshire and Kincardineshire coast in 2013 following a workshop led by Duncan Davidson in conjunction with the NE Scotland Local Biodiversity Partnership. Many sites had no recent records so this effort resulted in confirming the species to still be present at many Banffshire sites with a few ‘new’ sub-sites located, but sadly none were found in Kincardineshire, though there is apparently suitable habitat in some places.
On-going monitoring on Deeside of the nationally very rare Dark Bordered Beauty moth had more encouraging results following the poor 2012 season.
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Good numbers were seen at some sub-sites from daytime searches and light trapping and even one that had suffered from sheep browsing in previous years was looking better and produced some moths.
Another sub-site was discovered this year late in the season, with one male trapped during an unrelated survey, so it will need to be searched thoroughly this year.
In addition to events and surveys, there have been a number of requests from community groups ranging from Beaver Scouts to gardening clubs for butterfly and moth talks/activities, which have all provided further opportunities to promote the work of Butterfly Conservation. If you live in NE Scotland and would like to be more involved in local branch activities this year please contact Helen Rowe: [email protected] or 01224 695819.
The Borders in 2013 Barry Prater
What a difference a year makes – although 2013 started with rather unpromising weather, by mid-summer that had all changed and we had long warm spells with plenty of sunshine. Not surprisingly butterflies responded well and were recorded across the Borders in good numbers, showing how resilient these creatures can be when weather conditions change so much from one generation to the next. Despite these encouraging signs from last summer, we know that suitable conditions at
other stages of the life cycle are just as important and some concerns have been expressed that the mild winter we’ve just experienced could result in high losses of larval and pupal stages through disease and predation. It’s all part of the ups and downs of species which have an annual life cycle.
Our outdoor events began with two moth evenings held on 18 May as part of Borders Biodiversity Month, but there the similarity ends. In Plora Wood, Reuben Singleton’s group of five put up with the drizzle and had a good result, with 34 moths of 11 species, including two Lunar Marbled Brown – only the second time this species has been recorded in Selkirkshire. Over to the east in Gordon Community Woodland it was a different story; Barry Prater had teamed up with Ron McBeath and the local SWT group, so a dozen hardy souls turned out but despite setting up three traps, only two moths appeared. We had invited local MSP Paul Wheelhouse, Minister for Environment and Climate Change, to come along so perhaps it was just as well that he had to cancel at the last minute.
The following weekend, Sarah Eno led an SWT outing to Murder Moss - about 13 people came along and it was a sunny day, memorable mainly for lovely views of thearea and the description of Murder Moss (and neighbouring mosses) by Sarah and Andrew Panter. Butterflies were very few, but there were some early Large Red Damselflies by way of compensation.
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Intrepid walkers at Burnmouth (Barry Prater).
By 16 June the weather was on the up and a small group had an excellent walk in warm sunshine along the Berwickshire coast from Eyemouth to Burnmouth. One of our target species, the Northern Brown Argus, had just started its flight season, and some of us were lucky enough to spot one and there were plenty of Small Heath, Small Copper and Wall. Day-flying moths were also very evident and included the somewhat elusive Cinnabar (unfortunately dead), the beautiful and fabulously rare Dew Moth and the striking caterpillar of the extraordinary Drinker moth.
Dew Moth and Drinker larva (both William Reeve)
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The same day there was a Bioblitz at Wilton Lodge Park, Hawick, and Teyl de Bordes had arranged to do some moth-trapping. However, plans were thwarted by floodlights on a timer which it was impossible to override! Luckily he had brought some moths from Selkirkshire for demo purposes and these were much appreciated by the crowd. There’s a repeat event scheduled for 30 May this year and a site awayfrom the floodlights will definitely be used.
On the night of 2 August, Reuben Singleton and John Woolliams ran three moth traps overnight as part of the Kailzie Wildlife Festival. Unlike in previous years when the weather had conspired against a reasonable catch, the haul was tremendous; a magnificent 582 moths of 56 species. These included 206 Large Yellow Underwing inone MV trap, providing a thrilling spectacle for the audience on the opening of the trap, with a blizzard of moths flying in all directions. Inevitably some moths evaded being recorded but among those catalogued were the first Peeblesshire record of themicro Acrobasis advenella and the first Dotted Carpet in Peeblesshire for nearly 30 years.
Then it was Moth Night 2013 – spread in fact over the three days and nights of 8-10 August. Nick Cook held a moth evening at the Woodside Walled Garden near Ancrum– and what a spectacular night it turned out to be with over 400 moths of 43 speciesrecorded. The stars of the event were 5 September Thorn, really quite a rare moth in this part of the country and three more turned up at the same location four days later!
September Thorn (Nick Cook)
Another Moth Night event was at Glenlude, the relatively recent acquisition by the John Muir Trust near Innerleithen. Karen Purvis, the Conservation Ranger there co-hosted an evening with Malcolm Lindsay and there was a good gathering with peoplecoming from as far as Glasgow to learn more about the mysterious art of moth trapping. After a slow start this proved to be a very interesting and successful evening with 22 different species recorded, nine of these were new to Glenlude with four also being new to NT32 (Northern Spinach, Twin-spot Carpet, Scalloped Oak and Minor Shoulder Knot).
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Away from all these organised group activities there was a huge amount of important survey work carried out by people across the Borders and also some actions aimed at conservation.
Butterfly highlights included:
Clouded Yellow – 1 at Brander Heugh on 5 July (Iain Cowe)
Green Hairstreak – recorded at 2 new sites – SWT Din Moss on 21 May (Julian Warman) and near Newcastleton (Philip Hutton)
Small Blue – both the coastal colonies had good numbers of adults flying (Iain Cowe)
Common Blue – an extraordinarily late and fresh-looking adult on the Eyemouth cliffs on 5 October (Barry Prater)
Scotch Argus – new site with around 100 adults by Linghope Burn (Teyl de Bordes)
Large Heath – an excellent count of 31 adults at Dogden Moss on 10 July (Ron McBeath and David Long).
For moths the discoveries year by year just keep on coming and here is just a small selection of the finds in 2013:
Haworth’s Pug – 1 near Burnmouth on 12 July (Barry Prater) – first validated Scottish record
Buff Arches – 1 at Nether Blainslie (Andrew Fitchett) and 1 at Stichill (Derek Ogston) – new species for the Borders
Large Red-belted Clearwing – pupal cases found in birch stumps at Spottiswoode in June (David Long) – first accepted record in the Borders
Cloaked Pug – second Borders record of this rare UK species in July at Bedrule (James & Julia Edey)
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Marsh Pug – 5 were flying by day at Whitmuir near Selkirk in early July (Teyl de Bordes) – previous Roxburghshire record was in 1896!
Small Yellow Wave – first Berwickshire sighting at Pease Dean of this still
a very scarce moth in June (Barry Prater)
Small Chocolate-tip – searches located caterpillars at four new sites in Peeblesshire in August (Teyl de Bordes) – the first Borders records since 1984
Golden-rod Brindle – 2 at Caddonhead in August (Malcolm Lindsay) – first Selkirkshire record
Marsh Oblique-barred – 1 at Denholm on 1 August (Nick Cook) – rare this far east
Small Chocolate-tip larva (M. Lindsay) and Small Yellow Wave (Barry Prater)
As I’ve commented before, conservation happens at many levels. A team of wildlife experts (including BC) under the auspices of Scottish Borders Council is assessing Local Biodiversity Sites and is also having an input to the Scottish Land Use Strategy; although these activities can seem remote from conservation action, they do raise the profile of Lepidoptera at higher levels. Constructive inputs have also been made on planning applications (e.g. windfarm developments) and forestry schemes – in attempts to avert loss of species or habitats and to encourage work which will benefit butterflies and moths. At the individual site level, advice has been given to farmers and landowners on the results of surveys and what measures couldbe taken to improve habitats.
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Towards a New Atlas of the UK’s Larger Moths Duncan Davidson
Summary
In the SE Region in Scotland (Fife & VC 85) we are beginning a 3-year ‘Atlas Project’ to target poorly recorded 10 km squares in our area. This is in anticipation of the New Atlas of the UK’s Larger Moths that is due to be publishedby BC Head Office in 2018. The current species maps, like all across Scotland, are as much a reflection of the location of the recorders, as species richness. Wemust try to update the records and fill in the gaps!
Story
The availability of The Provisional Atlas of the UK’s Larger Moths, published by BC in 2010, has been inspirational to all serious moth-ers. It provides distribution maps for all individual macro moth species based on National Grid 10km squares across the UK; the maps indicate the presence or absence of the species at each location, and provide evidence of a change across a decade (index of local extinction). At a glance the moth in your hand can be seen in relation to the National distribution map.
The value can be illustrated by the identification of some of the rarer moths in Fife that have appeared in our moth traps in the last two years. At Puddledub (NT28) we have caught Pale Pinion, Figure of Eighty, Dusky-lemon Sallow, Blair’sShoulder Knot, Slender Brindle and other interesting species. Look at the Atlas - you will see that records in Fife are at the northern extreme for each of these species – evidence that some moths, as with butterflies, are expanding north due to a warming climate. At Tentsmuir (NO52) we record Shore Wainscot, Archer’s Dart, Coast and White-lined Dart, Portland Moth and recently a White Colon. Look at the Atlas – these are all classical coastal species rare in Scotland. Our Moth Atlases are now well thumbed and much appreciated.
The purpose of the Provisional Atlas of the UK’s Larger Moths was not merely to illustrate distribution, but was also to help highlight the gaps in the records – many 10km squares have no records especially further north. A gap either means no moth, or no recorder – it’s impossible to decide. The limitations are well recognised, and hence there was from the outset, a plan to upgrade the Atlas once more comprehensive records were available. The timetable for the update is that in March 2015, March 2016 and March 2017, the National Moth Recording Scheme database will be updated with new records from every region.The latter part of 2017 will be taken up with further verification and distribution checks and the creation of phenology charts... leading to publication in 2018. With the 2018 deadline in mind, we have produced a map of Fife and VC85 with the number of macro moth species recorded in each 10km square as of 2013 (see attached – they are colour coded: red = 0-10 species, green = >200 species).
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The ‘recorder bias’ is all too obvious Duncan lives in NT18 and Gerald lives in NT28 each has an apparent abundance of moth species! Are there really no moths in our portion of NO11?
The ‘recorder bias’ is all too obvious Duncan lives in NT18 and Gerald lives in NT28 each has an apparent abundance of moth species! Are there really no moths in our portion of NO11?
We hope to address these issues in the next 3 years:
To identify and target poorly recorded 10km squares in the region.
To carry out moth censuses at multiple times of year from June to September at selected sites, and repeat this effort over 3 years.
To sample the different wild and cultivated habitats that best represent each 10km square and recruit a designated recorder in charge of submitting a species list for that square at the end of each season.
If you wish to be involved in the Fife Atlas project contact Gerald Lincoln (email: [email protected]: phone: 01592 781174), or Duncan Davidson ([email protected]). We will let you know how the map has changed each autumn.
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BC East Scotland Branch update on Financial Position March 2014
£Income 2013/4 2919Expenditure 2013/14 2879(includes £1000 donation to BC)Surplus 40Balance carried forward 7678Predicted income 2014/5 2800Predicted expenditure 1900(routine expenditure only)Contingency of 6 monthsexpenditure 950Total closing Branch funds 7628
£Plans for expenditure
BC Matchpot donation 1000Peatlands 2014/5 1000 (Peatlands 2015/6 1000) Fencing 2014/5 500 Leaflet 750 Total 4250
Retained Surplus 3378 (4378 at end of 2014/5)
Committee and other contacts 2014Chairman Barry Prater, Fortview, 12 Barefoots Crescent, BerwickshireTD14 5BA.018907 [email protected] Editor Richard Buckland,7/8 Leslie Place, Edinburgh, EH4 1NG.0131 332 [email protected] Whitehead,21 Laverockdale Park, Edinburgh, EH13 [email protected] RecorderDuncan Davidson140 Pitcorthie Drive, Dunfermline, FifeKY11 8BJ.01383 [email protected] : Mark Cubitt, [email protected] Moth RecordersVC94 Banffshire: Roy Leverton,[email protected] North Aberdeenshire: Mark [email protected] VC92 South Aberdeenshire: Helen [email protected] Local Contact, PerthshireCathy CaudwellAbernyte Farm Cottage, Abernyte, PerthPH14 9ST01828 [email protected] Local Organiser, Fife sub-group,Duncan Davidson,details as above.Local Organiser, Angus & Tayside sub-group,David Lampard,51 Johnston Avenue, Dundee, DD3 8HA.
[email protected] Angus contact is: Paul Brooks46 North Street, Montrose, DD10 [email protected] Organiser, Lothians sub-group,Richard Buckland,details as above.Local Organiser, Borders sub-group,Barry Prater,details as above.VC91 Kincardineshire: Brian [email protected] Angus: David [email protected] East Perthshire: John [email protected] Mid Perthshire: Julie [email protected] Fife: Duncan [email protected] West Lothian: Mark [email protected] Midlothian: Alastair [email protected] East Lothian: Mark [email protected] Berwickshire: Barry [email protected] VC80 Roxburghshire: Jeff Waddell and Andy [email protected] [email protected] Selkirkshire: Malcolm [email protected] Peeblesshire: Reuben [email protected] Co-ordinator – vacantYouth Development Officer – vacantPublicity & Press Officer – vacantLocal Organiser, Aberdeen area sub-group:Helen Rowe,98 Springhill Road, Mastrick, AberdeenshireAB16 [email protected]
Orange-tip (Iain Cowe)
Scotch Argus (Iain Cowe)
