Glasgow and SW Scotland Branch of Butterfly Conservation
Conserving and Recording the butterflies & moths of SW Scotland
The Glasgow & SW Scotland branch area now has 34 species of butterfly after the recent arrival from England of the Small & Essex Skippers. There is currently no definitive list of moths for the branch area but being the most southerly of the three Scotland branches, the Glasgow & SW Scotland branch very likely has the greatest number of species.
The branch area includes Dumfries & Galloway, Ayrshire, Greater Glasgow, Stirlingshire, Argyll, the Argyll islands, Dunbartonshire & Loch Lomond. This includes Scotland's first National Park: Loch Lomond & the Trossachs National Park. These regions include a diverse range of landscapes providing a range of habitats from the fertile central lowlands and coastal parts of Ayrshire/Dumfries & Galloway to the moorland of more inland areas of these counties and to the rugged mountain scenery of the southern highlands and Argyll and to the unique scenery and habitats of the Argyll islands.
This diversity of habitats in the branch area is reflected in the distribution of some butterflies and moths. For example, the Mountain Ringlet is only found at altitudes above 300m in the southern Highlands, the Scotch Argus is not found in lowland areas of the branch area except in Argyll where it is found down to sea level. There are some spectacular moths of moorland in the branch area including the Emperor Moth, the Northern Eggar & Great Brocade.
The key butterfly species in the branch area are the Chequered Skipper & Marsh Fritillary in parts of Argyll, the Large Heath which lives in lowland and blanket bogs in various parts of SW Scotland, the Pearl-bordered Fritillary which has an important stronghold in Argyll and the Mountain Ringlet in the southern highlands.
The key moth species are the burnet moths of Argyll and the Argyll islands - Slender Scotch Burnet; New Forest Burnet & Transparent Burnet - and other western species including the Barred Tooth-Stripe, Square Spotted Clay, Argent & Sable & Narrow-bordered Bee Hawk Moth.
Surveys for UK BAP Butterfly Species in 2009
With the butterfly season 2009 now underway, now is the time for thinking about whether you can spare some time this summer to participate in some species-specific butterfly surveys for the most threatened butterfly species in Scotland. Participating in butterfly surveys is fun and as it involves a bit more than
just counting butterflies but also recording the plants which comprise the habitat and the overall condition of the habitat, it can be more interesting and rewarding. To conserve the UK BAP species in Scotland which are currently under threat, we need to revisit historical sites to see if the butterfly is still there and
also to identify the sites whose condition has deteriorated and is a threat to the survival of the butterfly colony. These sites can then be flagged up with Butterfly Conservation, Scottish National Heritage and LBAP partners with the aim of getting appropriate management work done to improve the condition of the sites.
The Dingy Skipper is probably the UK BAP species in Scotland whose decline is most alarming and there are 19 sites in South Ayrshire and Dumfries & Galloway to survey between 9 May and 22 June. The Northern Brown Argus is another rare species with 22 sites in South Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway to survey between
the end of May and mid-August.
If you prefer to do your butterfly surveying further north, there are many Pearl-bordered Fritillary sites which have not been visited since 2003 and some for several decades in some spectacular parts of the Scottish Highlands. The flight period of the Pearl-bordered Fritillary is short so you need to get out in the first three weeks of May to survey this butterfly which is in serious decline in England so we need
to ensure that any sites in Scotland which require management to clear developing scrub and woodland are identified. Staying in the Highlands, Chequered Skipper is another butterfly which is adversely affected by scrub and woodland regeneration, so again, volunteers are required to do surveys between mid May and the end of June to flag up sites which may require management work.
During June to August, you can participate in surveying the south-facing aspects of Scotland's mountains to confirm whether or not it is the combination of damp Mat-grass pasture and abundant nectaring plants which explains the limited distribution of the Mountain Ringlet. To see the rare and beautiful Mountain Ringlet, you need to visit mountains within the known range between late June and the end of July. For full details of these butterfly surveys of Scotland's UK BAP species, please click on the photos below.
Recording Butterflies with a GPS Device
Determining an accurate six-figure grid reference from an Ordinance Survey Map for a butterfly record is not always easy and also is not very accurate as a six-figure grid reference relates to an area 100 m x 100 m. If you use a GPS device, you will get a much more accurate reading to eight or ten figures without having to scrutinise an OS map.
The cheapest GPS devices will provide an accurate eight or ten figure grid reference but you will need to write the grid reference down on paper. If you use a more sophisticated GPS device such as the Garmin eTrex Venture HC for £110.12 from Amazon.co.uk, which can store the positions of up to 500 butterflies as waymarks, you do not need to write down grid references. At the end of the day, you can download the waymarks/grid references onto your computer with software provided with the GPS device and then save the data into an Excel spreadsheet. If you are recording more than one species of butterfly,
you need to use the Butterfly Waymark Form to indicate which species each waymark relates to. These more sophisticated GPS devices also record your track which provides info on the area you have surveyed which is also useful information. See Butterfly Surveys at Glasdrum NNR in 2008 to see how GPS can be used to record butterflies.
If you would like to use a GPS device to record butterflies in 2009, the branch has three which record waymarks/tracks which can be borrowed after the Chequered Skipper weekend, ideally for the species-specific surveys mentioned above, and two basic GPS devices which require you to write down the grid reference on paper which are suitable for general recording. If any branch member would like to borrow one of these GPS devices for the summer, please
WHAT'S NEW?
BRANCH QUESTIONNAIRE
The committee has prepared a questionnaire to find out what branch members would like in the way of functions and branch activities and to see how many would be willing to take part in practical conservation work.
Another aim of the questionnaire is to collect email addresses for as many members as possible as communication is much easier this way and by sending newsletters by email, the branch can reduce paper and postage costs. Please click here to complete the questionnaire.
WATCH FOR MIGRANTS - PAINTED LADY & HUMMING-BIRD HAWK MOTH
The Painted Lady Butterfly and Humming-bird Hawk-moth are arriving from Africa and becoming increasingly common in the UK. To find out just how common, we need your help. If you have seen either the Humming-bird Hawk-moth or the Painted Lady since the start of 2008, please follow the links and help us track the impact of climate change on migration.
Read more and record your sightings....
SEASON 2009....
22/04/09: The 2009 buttefly season is another early one with ten butterfly species already recorded: see Butterfly sightings.
30/03/09: The 2009 buttefly season is underway with Peacock being seen as early as 6 February and both Small Totroisehell and Comma on 17 March. See Butterfly Sightings for further details.
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