The Suffolk Argus
~
~ekend
July 1998
in the ~st'
Saturday 31st May and Sunday 1st June 1997 by Alan Johnson I am feeling rather guilty of the fact that by the time this report appears in the "Argus", it will be a year since this event took place! Hopefully, it will bring back pleasant memories to those who attended and still be of interest to our other members. A total of thirteen adults and two children stayed at the Thornbury House Hotel, in Great Malvern, which was to be our base for two nights "Band B", all arriving safely by early evening of the 30th May. A further four members and two children joined us for some of the visits during the weekend.
Marsh Fritillary, Somerford Common
by BerylJohnson
8
Day 1 A fine sunny morning with clear skies and a light N.E. wind saw our party set off after breakfast for our first destination, Monkwood Nature Reserve, approx. 5 miles N.W. of Worcester. The reserve is owned and cared for jointly by the Worcestershire Conservation Trust and Butterfly Conservation. It can best be described as a mixed broad-leaved plantation on an ancient woodland site and has been wooded probably since the last ice age. It is well known for its butterflies and twenty seven different species are regularly recorded with occasional sightings of three others. Also five hundred and thirty eight species of moth have been recorded in the past fifteen years. We were met at the car parking area by Mike Williams, Conservation Officer for the Worcestershire Branch, who was to be our leader for the rest of the day. This area was also the spot where we saw the first of our "target species", the Wood White, which was immediately surrounded by the photographers amongst us! We then spent a very enjoyable couple of hours having a conducted tour of this beauriful wood with its extensive network of rides and paths, noting further numbers of the Wood White. Also seen were Speckled Wood, Green-veined White, Small Copper, Common Blue, Peacock, Large Skipper, Brimstone and Holly Blue. Also present were the Beautiful Demoiselle damselfly, the Broad-bodied Chaser dragonfly (both male and female), caterpillars of the Brimstone butterfly and the Yellow Tail moth, and also, in large numbers the Speckled Yellow moth. After a picnic lunch, our party set off in a convoy of cars playing "follow-theleader", to our next destination, an area of the Wyre Forest some five miles to the west of Kidderminster.
Butterfly Bonus by RichardStewart County Butterfly Recorder
Whatever happens for the rest of 1998, the period of about three weeks spanning the end of December 1997 and the first two weeks of 1998 will be remembered as exceptional for butterfly sightings. Traditionally there have occasionally been December and January records from previous years but not the eighteen observed during this time. It is difficult to explain the reason for this warm mild weather which interrupted hibernation, other than to see it as yet another manifestation of changes in climate that have also affected other wildlife. After the first reports I contacted the EADT with the result that a feature titled 'An Early Take-Off For Mother Nature' appeared on January 13th. This, as I had hoped, produced more records. Nick Bowles, the national co-ordinator for Butterfly Conservation, gave me details of all the national records received for this period and these are added in brackets after the Suffolk sightings:
Peacock
by DouglasHammersley
13
