The Yorkshire Branch of Butterfly Conservation is currently involved with two reserves within its area - the well established Shipley Station Butterfly Meadow and a new site within the Yorkshire Air Museum at Elvington.

Shipley Station Butterfly Meadow
Shipley Station Butterfly Meadow is a 0.9 hectare plot of land situated at the heart of Shipley Station, West Yorkshire (Grid Reference SE150375). Situated between two car parks and platforms 2 and 5, it is adjacent to the Leeds to Skipton railway line and a short walk from Shipley town centre. Opened by Dr. David Bellamy in 1993, the meadow is a refuge for butterflies and moths, set in an urban habitat and supporting the flowery grassland usually found in a hay meadow. It is natural neutral grassland which has never been seeded. The reserve is owned by Network Rail and managed jointly by Butterfly Conservation and Bradford Urban Wildlife Group.

Over fifty species of plant and tree have been found on the reserve including Sallow, Hawthorn, Birch, Ash, Buckthorn, Bramble, Rosebay Willowherb, Nettle, Bird's-foot Trefoil, Cowslip, Knapweed and various grasses. Also present are St. John's Wort, Meadow Vetchling, Meadow Foxtail and Black Meddick.   There are more than fourteen species of butterfly and moth and the "star" species of the reserve is the Common Blue butterfly. The blue form of the Common Blue female is predominant on the reserve (females are normally brown with a scattering of blue).   Other butterfly species present include Ringlet (which was seen for the first time in 2005), Wall, Orange-tip, Large Skipper, Meadow Brown, Small Copper and Small Skipper. Moths noted to date include Silver Y and Six-spot Burnet, a moth survey of the reserve is being planned.

The site is normally fenced off, however, an open day is held in June - see the events page for further details. Volunteers are always needed for management days in November when the grass is cut, scrub is cleared and trees are pruned using traditional hand tools.

The best way to get to the reserve is by train!
Services run from Leeds, Skipton, Settle, Carlisle and Bradford.

Grid Reference SE 150 375; Ordinance Survey map 104

For further details contact:
Susan Stead
178 Warren Lane, Eldwick, Bingley,
West Yorkshire BD16 3BY
Telephone: 01274 774912

Yorkshire Air Museum, Elvington

Butterfly Conservation Yorkshire Branch were approached by Ian Reed, Director of the Yorkshire Air Museum, in late 2006, offering part of the museum site to be managed for butterflies, with potential benefits to both Yorkshire Branch and the Museum. In February 2007 a subcommittee was formed within the branch comprising David Baker, Howard and Christine Frost, and Lawrie King. The initial site meeting took place in April 2007. An exploratory walk was taken around the site with particular attention being paid to the grassland at the western boundary of the site and to a small “garden” area within the buildings complex.

At the meeting it was agreed that the area be monitored throughout the summer of 2007, taking counts of butterflies and moths to ascertain a database for Lepidoptera. Any further observations of wildlife to be noted, if relevant. Between the last week in May and 30th September a weekly visit was made to carry out butterfly counts during daylight hours within the future hangar area and proposed reserve area as shown on the above site plan. Concurrently, a moth trap was installed near to the circular concrete apron once per week to check the on-site moth species count.

As often stated in the movies and television, “no moths were harmed during the taking of these results”.
All were released after the count, some being photographed, weather permitting.

In the late autumn the Yorkshire Air Museum began to set up a pathway around the reserve area, work which will be continued during 2008.

Butterfly counts recorded throughout the site are listed separately at the end of the report. The system used for recording only shows the maximum count of specimens seen on any one sighting day. Moth counts are reported by the number of days a moth was present and the total number of specimens overall. Photographs were taken where required, although poor light and the prevailing weather, often wet, meant that some were taken away from site into more controlled conditions and returned later. The summer of 2007 was extremely wet, the site being flooded to a troublesome degree at times and it is thought that the results, as taken, may well be a poor reflection of the normal situation. A formal report was prepared for, and delivered to, the Yorkshire Air Museum in November 2007.

2009 at Yorkshire Air Museum, Elvington
In 2008 we consolidated our Lepidoptera count and ended the year with a site total for the two years of 228 species (just double the initial years tally). Our earliest date for trapping had been late April and I felt that some of the Spring moths should be sought. This being so, I started 2009 by trapping in February to try to find the very early moths such as Pale Brindled Beauty and was very well rewarded. Not only three Pale Bordered Beauty but a new micro Tortricodes alternella and four Spring Ushers were in the first catch on 21st February. The Spring Ushers were all differently marked, showing partial and full melanism. The differences are shown in the folder images. Four weeks later on a miserable March morning I found a Pine Beauty and a Grey Shoulder-knot along with over 30 of the usual Orthosia group of Noctuids. April and May followed the usual pattern with nothing out of the ordinary and it wasn’t until almost June when things started to buck up again. On 26th May I had 12 specimens and yet on 1st June there were 60 in the traps and 130 on the 2nd. This was just as well because I had been asked to do 2 days workshops for the “Flightpath” event at the Air Museum and live specimens go down very well with the children.I was able to show them, amongst many others, a Bird’s Wing (very apt when relating to Flightpath), Miller, Flame Carpet, Grass Rivulet and Pale Prominent. The children showed great interest and let us hope that this can be maintained for the future. After a short break in Scotland I set up again on 24th June and found 223 specimens in the traps. The most interesting to me were Marbled White Spot and Brown Rustic. I also found a miniscule micro which has also visited me at home. Its colouring is so striking, and it definitely needs the scientific name with the image, being called Pseudargyrotoza conwagana. Why is a moth only some 7-8 mms long so brightly coloured? The summer had brought national press notices and television news that millions of Painted Lady butterflies had invaded the country. Seemingly they were everywhere. Almost everywhere but where I was that is! I did see the odd one flying across the site near to my trap-setting area but certainly not in the numbers hoped for. I looked around the remainder of the site and garden area several times but found none, only finding one or two Small Tortoiseshell in the garden.

However, several new species came to the traps. The unmistakeable Scallop Shell, and then a Common Lutestring, which I first saw with its wings almost flat, unlike any drawing or photo I had seen before, and the Round-winged Muslin, another lover of damp places. There was another head-scratcher which I was sure I had seen in the books as one of the snouts. But no, it didn’t fit and so back to searching! Eventually I pinned it down as a Pyralid, Donocaula forficella.On 4th August I had a great surprise on opening up the traps. I was faced by what looked like the Dark-bordered Beauty moth I had been surveying during July at Strensall Common (now thought to be its only English site). But on closer inspection it was seen to be a Bordered Beauty, with the border tapering to a point at the apex. My thanks to Mike Pearson for allowing me to use his photo of the moth, I was so disappointed with my attempt. Another time perhaps! On the same morning a Sallow Kitten was also found. Later in the month two new moths were found, both of which I had only seen once at home, these were the Dark Spinach and Heath Rustic. It was in September that I found my next newcomer, namely, the Brick and although I carried on into October it was on the last day of September I found a Pale Pinion and its close relative the Blair’s Shoulder-knot.So ended 2009! A further 53 species were added to the site list bringing the total up to 281 species. Considering that, to date, only 68 nights trapping has taken place there must be many more species to find. Hopefully, next year, and even beyond, will show this prediction to be true.

The full list of moths caught, and released, in 2009 has been added to the local folder (kept on site) with the newcomers highlighted in magenta. The moths specifically named above are my own particular highlights.

Species list to 2009 can be downloaded as a PDF here.

New for 2009 - Roy Crossley has undertaken a study of diptera on the site - read about it here.

David Baker

For further details of how to get to there, admission fees and opening times see the Yorkshire Air Museum website.