17th July 2010

Butterfly Conservation is teaming up with Marks and Spencer to launch the biggest ever public butterfly and moth count to date.
You can join in and help us track butterflies and moths, so we know where they need our help the most.
Find a sunny spot in your garden, local park or other open space and spend 15 minutes counting butterflies and moths.
For more information, to download an ID chart and submit your sightings please visit the big butterfly count website.

4th July 2010
Poor weather was forecast and only two members attended the Crossgates field trip lead by Paul Brothers today.
Within 2 minutes the trio had seen Purple Hairstreak and within another 5 minutes White-letter Hairstreak, which hadn't been seen at last year's event again due to poor weather.

Butterfly Sightings :
Purple Hairstreak 8
White-letter Hairstreak 7
Large White 2
Small Tortoiseshell 1
Red Admiral 1
Speckled Wood 40+
Comma 5 (including a paler Hutchinson variant)
Ringlet 100+
Meadow Brown 15

Moth Sightings included:
Celypha lacunana
Snout
Silver-ground Carpet
Silver Y

Around 80 Peacock larvae, mostly 3rd instar were also seen
A good day at an easily accesible site.

7th June 2010

Lee and Jax Westmoreland along with Paul Brothers and Graham Featherstone were at Dalbyology yesterday to promote the work of Butterfly Conservation.
Unfortunately, the poor weather (it rained, rained and rained some more!) meant that the turn out was not as good as in previous years. However, it was lovely to meet some of you, thank you for visiting our stall. We ran the children's pciture competition once again and received some excellent entries as shown below. Well done to everyone who entered. Prizes were donated by Lee and Jax and are heading toward the winners in the post.

Click on the small pictures to see a larger version

Winner aged Eight and Over	Runner-up Aged Eight and Over
Isobel Wright aged 10 of Burniston	Ross Wardell aged 11 of Pickering

Winner aged Seven and Under	Runner-up Aged Seven and Under
Phoebe Cole aged 7 of Holmfirth	Amie Broadley-Featherstone aged 5 of Lealholm

Other Entries

Molly Dickinson aged 9 of Hackness	Trinity Knowles aged 3 of Scarborough	Charlie Broadley-Featherstone aged 8 of Lealholm
Saul Bateman aged 5 of Ebberston	Sam Knowles aged 7 of Scarborough	April Wardell aged 8 of Pickering
	Anna Broadley-Featherstone aged 6 of Lealholm

11th March 2010
Elise Harter is a children’s author who has launched a creative writing competition to raise awareness of Butterfly Conservation. Children aged 8-11 (inclusive) are being encouraged to put pen to paper on the theme of butterflies and caterpillars. There are two age categories: 8-9 years of age (inclusive) and 10-11 (inclusive). Each story or poem must be a maximum of 400 words. Parents and teachers are kindly requested to send in entries on behalf of the children by email. The stories will be uploaded to her website where the public can vote for their favourite. Entries will be accepted up to and including Friday 23 April 2010. The winners will be announced both on Elise’s website and also on BC’s main website. One winner in each category will be selected by the official judges, while a second winner in each age group will win based on the number of votes they receive. Participation is free of charge, but voluntary donations to Butterfly Conservation are being encouraged. Elise has prizes, for the winners, including copies of Nick Baker's book, 'British Wildlife: A Month by Month Guide', free family tickets to Butterfly World, publication of the winning stories on the BC national website and bundles of Insect Lore goodies, including a grow-your-own butterfly garden, huge floor puzzle and lifecycle butterfly soft toy. For further details visit Elise's website http://eliseharter.weebly.com

1st March 2010
Garden Moth Scheme
People already collect records for the birds and butterflies they see in their gardens, so why not garden moths too? Many people already trap moths in their gardens across the country on a regular basis. So why don't we make use of this research by surveying our common garden moths to help toward their conservation?The purpose of the Garden Moth Scheme (GMS) is to try and find out what’s happening to our common garden moths. This is particularly relevant following the publication of the Butterfly Conservation report “The State of Britain’s Larger Moths” in which it appears that a lot of apparently common moths are declining in Britain as a whole. Are these national declines of some of our common moths reflected in your area? The main aim of the GMS is to coordinate records to get standardized data from your results, which can be used for future study. The more people that take part - the more useful the data. Of course all of this data will still belong to you. We are not attempting to find out who's found the rarest moths, or who's got the best garden - all sites are useful, however many species you record. The GMS for 2010 is starting on Friday March 5th, so if you haven't been using your moth trap over winter then dust it off and check that it's working in time for the start. So happy moth-ing and do record everything you can (please still send all your non-GMS records to your county recorder as well! – ask us if you don’t know who to send them to.) If you want to know more about the scheme in Yorkshire and/or to take part (and we hope you will) please contact Terry Box the area co-ordinator.

14th February 2010

ORDER NOW!!!
PORRITT'S LISTS
TO BE PUBLISHED JOINTLY IN 2011 by BC Yorkshire & the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union to CELEBRATE the YNU'S 150TH BIRTHDAY
George Porritt (1848-1927) was Yorkshire's first YNU County Lepidoptera Recorder and the first-ever person to collect the county's butterfly and moth records together systematically. Through a journal called Entomological Transactions of the YNU he published his first Lists in parts between 1883 and 1886. Then in 1904 he produced a Supplement followed by a slightly updated summary in the Victoria County History in 1907. Finally we have recently discovered a little known Hull Area List published in 1922.

Not only are copies of his Lists rare today, but they are also very difficult to understand. Nomenclature of genera and species is in Latin, often using names we are no longer familiar with. The order of names is quite different to the one we use today. Family groupings are different and some species treated as one may be two or more today and sometimes vice versa!

To make sense of Porritt's work we are reproducing his Lists in modern systematic order, with the contents of the 4 Lists one under the other for each species, which in itself makes interesting reading! Each species will be headed by the British Checklist number and the current English and Latin names. We have also added in comments where relevant. Porritt's words will be in black with annotations in colour. It will be an A5 paperback of approx 320pp, with full colour cover; designed and edited by Howard Frost, with Lists re-arranged and annotated by Harry Beaumont, Terry Crawford and Howard Frost, and including a biography of Porritt by Geoffrey Fryer. It will be well illustrated with photos and line drawings plus 8 pages in colour drawn from Porritt's collections.

THIS WILL BE A VERY LIMITED EDITION - perhaps fewer than 300 copies - largely limited to the number of orders placed in advance by JULY 15th 2010 at £18 plus £3.00 towards packing & postage = £21. A small number of copies will be available after publication at £30 plus p&p. Order now to ensure your copy! We suspect this will become be a much sought after book in the future!

BECOME A SPONSOR: In order to ensure that we have sufficient funds to pay for this edition and to include all the colour work planned, we would welcome sponsorships from individuals, societies and other bodies. Sponsors pay a minimum amount of £30 for which they will be sent a 'free' copy of the book and will have their names enrolled in the sponsorship list to be included at the front of the book. Society or Group Logos can be included at no extra cost. Donors of £50 or more will be sent two copies of the book unless they request otherwise. The sponsorship list will close on July 15th 2010. Copies of Logos (as JPEGS) need to be sent in well before this date.

Please make cheques payable to 'Butterfly Conservation' and send to Howard M Frost (Porritt Offer), 10 Chellsway, Withernsea, HU19 2EN. (Note: This is not being planned as a profit-making project but if any profit does result it will be shared equally between BC Yorkshire and the YNU.) Please include full address details plus telephone and email if available. All orders and donations will be acknowledged by email if given, by post if not. If all goes to plan it is hoped to send out orders in January 2011.

10th January 2010

A Plea from the Chair 2010.

In the Notices for our 2005 Annual General Meeting the Acting Chairman at the time asked for help in filling 8 posts which were either vacant or becoming vacant because of retirements etc. What was not stated at that time was the precarious position which would have ensued had help not been forthcoming and ultimately may have meant branch closure. Fortunately, at the AGM sufficient response was indeed forthcoming and a full complement of Officers have kept the Branch in good order for almost five years now.

However, we are approaching a similar situation for the 2010 A.G.M (10th October, Elvington) when we will, unfortunately, lose at least 3 Officers (Secretary, Vice Chairman and Events Officer), maybe more, and again we need to recruit further ”new blood” onto the Committee. No experience is necessary, simply by being members your keen approach to butterflies and moths is obvious, and help will always be available from the existing Committee Members.

We hold our Committee Meetings at the RSPB Fairburn Ings reserve, near Castleford and anyone is welcome as an observer to get a taste of the meetings. Prior to the 2010 A.G.M. we meet on Sundays 7th February, 9th May and 12th September at 11 a.m.

As I write this note, looking out at 6 inches of snow, I wish all of you a Happy New Year and look forward to a good Lepidoptera Summer, also hoping that you will consider the plea for help.

If interested please contact me on 01937 832352 or by email

Thank you

David Baker
Branch Chairman

29th November 2009

Butterfly migration mystery solved

Scientists with the charity Butterfly Conservation believe they have solved one of nature’s long-standing mysteries – thanks to the help of the public.

Every year Painted Lady butterflies arrive in the UK from North Africa and the Mediterranean. It has long been known that they breed here during the summer and also that they cannot normally survive our winters. What happens to these Painted Ladies as winter approaches was unknown until now.

Scientists had been baffled as to whether Painted Ladies attempted to “tough it out” and died trying during our winters. Or was there a return southward migration to warmer climes, as is the case with Swallows, Cuckoos and Red Admiral butterflies? Part of the problem has been that, unlike these other well-known migrants, there was very little evidence of Painted Ladies flying south in the autumn.

This summer was a bumper migration year with, at the peak, up to a billion Painted Ladies in Britain.

Butterfly Conservation has been monitoring Painted Lady movements since the start of northward migration at the beginning of the year, with members of the public being able to report sightings online at www.butterfly-conservation.org. There has been a huge response, not only from the UK but from across Europe. An amazing 12,000 sightings have been submitted so far, with reports still coming in.

Last month brought some particularly exciting reports. From the Channel coasts of Cornwall, Devon, Sussex and Kent sightings were reported of Painted Ladies heading straight out to sea towards continental Europe.

Now reports have been received of butterflies arriving back in the Mediterranean and North Africa.

Richard Fox, Butterfly Conservation’s surveys manager, said: “Several of these lucky observers saw more than one butterfly head out on its perilous voyage. This is exactly the evidence needed to lay this enduring mystery to rest. Painted Ladies do return southwards from Britain in the autumn enabling the species to continue its breeding cycle during the winter months”.

CONTACTS
Louise Keeling, Senior Publicity Officer, Butterfly Conservation
Phone 01929 406 005 Mobile 07515 889 225
Email lkeeling@butterfly-conservation.org

Richard Fox, Surveys Manager, Butterfly Conservation
Phone 01626 368 385 Mobile 07711 657 322
Email rfox@butterfly-conservation.org

11th October 2009 - Branch AGM Click on the pictures to see a larger version.
More than 50 members and guests attended the Branch AGM held at Elvington on the 11th October. The day began with an address from the Chairman David Baker who spoke about events held and attended during the year, The Wider Countryside Butterfly Scheme, the Painted Lady invasion and the Dark-bordered Beauty survey at Strensall Common which he undertakes each year with Terry Crawford.

The first speaker was Dave Wainwright who gave an update on conservation issues within the county. Dave gave members an insight into the state of the Duke of Burgundy populations and conservation work which had been undertaken. He reported that although numbers were better in 2009 than in 2002 there was still much work to be done to ensure that the butterfly continues to thrive. Dave was saddened to note that sites within the Pickering network had decreased from five in the 1990s to just one in 2009. A project "Fit for a Duke" has been set up to survey and produce an opportunities map for the butterfly, to allow negotiation with land owners and to develop a management plan prior to a major fund raising excesses. The Pearl-bordered Fritillary is also a butterfly in decline. Transects have been set up and walked this year and scrub and bracken clearance has been undertaken to improve the habitat. Dave also spoke of projects undertaken in 2009 including a Large Heath survey undertaken by Terry Whitaker which had produced encouraging results. Dave offered his thanks to everyone who has helped during the year.
Howard Frost gave an overview of the Painted Lady invasion during 2009 and said it had been the best year for sightings of the species since 1996. He noted that the invasion had not reached all parts of the county and that coastal areas had fared particularly well. The Painted Lady is a worldwide species which has a continuous breeding cycle, the butterfly makes its way north from North Africa and Asia in the spring arriving in the UK via the continent in May. The first records were made in Dorset by the first week in May and the butterfly had been recorded in Yorkshire quite soon afterwards. Howard spoke of the phenomenon of lines of Painted Ladies making their way across the country on their north-westerly journey, as many as one butterfly every two minutes had been counted for several hours on end. By June the butterflies had arrived in Dublin, passed on their way via the Isle of Mull, through north west Scotland and eventually into Iceland making a journey of over 1400 miles from their start in Africa. From the end of July large numbers were seen in East Yorkshire. A larvae count in Cornwall at this time estimated half a million in one small area! Howard finished with a reflection on the changing species on the continent and in particular in France and wondered whether they could be indicators of what could happen in the UK in the coming years.
The AGM was held immediately after lunch. It was noted that the branch's first ever Chairman Geoff Helliwell had lost his wife Mary (also an active member) earlier in the year. Christine Frost spoke of the couple's work for the branch and members observed a short period of silence in Mary's memory. The Chairman gave his report. It was noted that membership of the branch now stood at 650 and that the website had received more than 85,000 visits this year. The Treasurer was unable to attend the meeting but as agreed has submitted a copy of the accounts which can be viewed here. The Chairman and Treasurer agreed to stand for a further year and were duly reelected. The Secretary Melanie Fryer had unfortunately had to stand down and the Chairman wished her well and thanked her for her contributions to the branch. There were no volunteers for this post at the meeting (please contact the chairman if you would be willing to undertake the role). Terry Whitaker, Rosemary Roach and Susan Stead stood down in accordance with branch rules and as they had indicated a willingness to continue were reelected en bloc to serve a further term. The Chairman noted that the next committee meeting would be held at Fairburn Ings on the 11th November and members were invited to attend as observers and to volunteer to serve on the committee. James Dickinson raised the question of planned introduction/reintroduction of butterfly species and a lively debate ensued.
There were many raffle prizes kindly donated by members and which included hand crafted pottery donated by the potter Sheila Hirst. The raffle raised more than £50 for branch funds.
This year members were asked to chose their favourite photographs in the photography competition and the winning photographs were to be included in the branch calendar next year. There were more than twenty entries of a high standard - well done to everyone who entered. The competition raised £50 for branch funds. Paul Kipling's entry was Highly Commended he won a copy of Roy Bedford's Weather book donated by the author. Prizes for first, second and third place were donated by Lee and Jax Westmoreland and the winner was Shirley King, second was Lawrie King and third was Malcolm Dennis. Well done to everyone.
Shirley's photographs	Lawrie's photographs	Malcolm's photographs
The final session of the day was a talk on the lepidoptera survey work undertaken at Elvington by David Baker over the last three years. David described the airfield and the sites used for moth trapping and gave a photographic tour of the species which had been found there to date. More than 200 species of moths have been recorded along with 18 species of butterfly including Dingy Skipper.

1st October 2009

UK butterfly invasion continues into autumn
Britain is experiencing an autumn invasion of butterflies, long after butterfly migration from Europe has usually ceased. It comes at the end of a summer which has seen the biggest migration of butterflies into the UK for more than decade.
The warm, sunny September weather is probably a factor.
Over recent days there have been numerous reports of newly-arrived Red Admiral, Large White and Clouded Yellow butterflies along the South Coast.
Of particular interest, Clouded Yellows have been observed in substantial numbers, with counts of up to 600 at coastal localities in Sussex. They have also been seen in Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Hampshire, Kent and on the Isle of Wight.
The Clouded Yellow originates each year from North Africa and southern Europe, migrating north and first arriving in the UK in May or June. Experts believe that the recent sightings are a mixture of migrants and home grown butterflies that are the progeny of arrivals earlier in the year. There have been some intriguing observations from mid September of Red Admirals and Large Whites flying in from the sea as well as observations of incoming butterflies along the coast.

Dr Tom Brereton, Head of Monitoring with the charity Butterfly Conservation, said: “The fact that these butterflies are clustered so close to the coast points to the fact they are new arrivals. There have also been sightings at sea, where unusually the butterflies have been traveling north towards England rather than south towards wintering areas.”
There is also evidence that Painted Lady butterflies are continuing to arrive from mainland Europe, again well after migration into the UK has normally ceased.
In May this year, there was a massive migration of Painted Ladies, following ideal breeding conditions last winter in the Atlas Mountains in North Africa. At one stage it was estimated there could have been up to a billion Painted Ladies in Britain.
It was the first year that a large-scale migration had been monitored all the way from Morocco and there is now considerable interest in the reverse journey.
Painted Lady and Clouded Yellow butterflies cannot normally survive the UK winter. In the case of Painted Ladies there has long been speculation that they migrate back to North Africa but there is no solid evidence.
The Indian Summer has undoubtedly helped these migrants, but resident butterflies are also continuing to fly well into the autumn, with 20 species (a third of all UK species) still on the wing. This includes very rare second broods of White Admiral and third broods of Brown Argus.

Dr Brereton said: “We are appealing to anybody who sees Painted Ladies apparently heading out across the Channel or heading south across France to go to www.butterfly-conservation.org where they can log their sighting.
Dr Martin Warren, Chief Executive of Butterfly Conservation, said: “It was fantastic to see so many Painted Ladies and now to have all these Clouded Yellows. However, we have to remember that these are not native butterflies. Their appearance is the result of a rare combination of circumstances, mainly in North Africa. Most British butterflies continue to decline. Until we halt that decline the vast majority of summers will see very few butterflies in many parts of the country.”

28th July 2009

Rehabilitated: Lady labeled crazy for butterfly hobby

Britain’s butterflies are now widely accepted as an important part of Britain’s biodiversity - but that’s not always been so.

This year’s annual Save Our Butterflies Week, being held 25 July to 2 August, coincides with the publication of a novel featuring a real life character ridiculed for her passion for butterflies. Fiona Mountain’s book Lady of the Butterflies, set in the 17th Century in Somerset and London, is a fictionalised version of the life of Eleanor Glanville.

Lady Glanville took a serious interest in butterflies at a time when this was still considered an extraordinary pursuit, especially for a woman. When she died her family had her will overturned on the grounds that anybody who was a fascinated by butterflies must be crazy. However, she gave her name to one of Britain’s 57 native butterflies – the Glanville Fritillary, currently under severe threat and found only on the Isle of Wight.

Dr Martin Warren, Chief Executive of the charity Butterfly Conservation, which oversees Save Our Butterflies Week, said: “Lady Glanville was a true pioneer. It’s amazing how much things have changed. Nowadays we have a team of over 20 scientist studying butterflies for what they can tell us about the environment and climate change – the majority of them women.”
  
Fiona Mountain will be appearing at many of the events during Save Our Butterflies Week to sign copies of her novel. She said: “Butterflies are a beautiful and crucial part of our natural heritage. Many of us take them for granted and do not realize how important they are. The truth is they are in steep decline and need help”.

Butterfly Conservation’s 31 branches will be organising events throughout the UK during Save Our Butterflies Week, which aims to celebrate the beauty, diversity and importance of butterflies in light of their huge decline.

Dr Warren said: “There’s one thing for certain – you don’t have to be crazy to take an interest in butterflies these days.”

Chris Collins, celebrity gardener and spokesperson for PlantforLife, an initiative designed to encourage more people to think about the plight of butterflies and how they can help in their own garden, says: “We now know butterflies are hugely important for our garden’s ecosystem. They also help attract a wide variety of wildlife”.

4th July 2009

Your committee were once again busily promoting the work of the branch and Butterfly Conservation at the Insect Festival in York Museum. It was a well organised day and very well attended. It was good to see some of our members and members of the YNU Lepidoptera Group at the event and to talk to so many people with an interest in butterflies and moths. If as a result of the day you are checking out the website for the first time, welcome. We would love to hear from you and receive your contributions to our sightings pages.

The photograph shows Lee Westmoreland and the Chairman David Baker who were part of the display!