Pearl-bordered Fritillary Sites in East Highlands requiring surveys in 2008

There are 35 sites in the east Highlands where the last record of Pearl-bordered Fritillary is prior to 2003. Volunteers are needed to visit these sites in 2008 to confirm that Pearl-bordered Fritillary is still present.

The map below shows these sites and if you place your mouse over the site name, the name and date of last Pearl-bordered Fritillary record will appear in a little window and if you click on the site name, a 2 X 2 km square OS map of the site area will open in a new window. These maps can be printed out and taken out into the field (you will also need the relevant OS map). Not all 35 site names are shown on the map below owing to lack of space where sites are close together but there are 35 red dots- all sites are listed in the Table below.

The Table below the map shows more information. Sites close together have been given a common site name and the individual names shown on the maps are called compartment names. Date of last record relates to the most recent year in which Pearl-bordered Fritillary was recorded here whereas date of last visit relates to the year in which someone last visited the site. These two dates will differ where the last visit failed to record Pearl-bordered Fritillary. This does not mean that Pearl-bordered Fritillary is no longer present here, it may be that the weather was poor or the timing of the visit was not ideal. Such sites need further visits to confirm whether or not Pearl-bordered Fritillary is present.

If you are able to visit one or more sites in 2008, it would be appreciated if you could complete a Pearl-Bordered Fritillary Timed Count Sheet for each site which records some details of habitat characteristics such as abundance of Dog Violet & Bugle as well as numbers of butterflies. This form should also be used to note down whether any management of the site is required. There are two main issues to look out for:

• scrub regeneration - Pearl-bordered Fritillary requires open sunny habitats so developing scrub needs to be removed before new woodland shades out the site.
• dense bracken litter - while some bracken litter is an essential component of a Pearl-bordered Fritillary habitat, too much litter smothers both the foodplant, dog violet and nectaring plants. Most sites are bound to have some areas of dense bracken litter which won't be problem but where a high proportion of the site has dense bracken litter, management will be required to make the site more favourable for Pearl-bordered Fritillary.

And please remember to record any other butterflies that you come across which is important information required for the new National Butterfly Atlas due to be published in 2010 using data for 2005-2009.

Site Name	Compartment Name	Last Record	Last Visit	Grid Reference (Click for OS map)
Aviemore	Allt Na Criche	1997	1997	NH873112
Aviemore	Ord Ban	1997	1997	NH884085
Aviemore	Glen More	1998	1998	NH9809
Aviemore	Creag Loisgte	1998	1998	NH9910
Aviemore	Loch Garten	1993	1993	NH9718
Aviemore	Carrbridge	1992	1992	NH900229
Kingussie	Insh Marshes	1997	1997	NN7799
Kingussie	Insh	2001	2001	NH8101
Kingussie	Farleitter	1997	2004	NH830031
Glen Feshie	Ruighe nan Leum	1998	1998	NN886890
Glen Feshie	Allt Garbhlach	1998	1998	NN861953
Glen Avon	Glen Buig	1986	1986	NJ1806
Laggan	Dun-Da-Lamh	1997	1997	NN579927
Laggan	Creag Dubh	1997	1997	NN670955
Strathdearn	Carnoch	1997	1997	NH876402
Strathdearn	Dulsie Wood	1998	1998	NH926438
Loch Ness	Lochan Torr an Tuill	1983	1983	NH521228
Loch Ness	Loch Ceo Glais	1983	1983	NH582285
Forres	Hazelbank	1977	1977	NJ1055
Forres	Black Burn	1997	2000	NJ120560
Forres	Califer Hill	2000	2000	NJ104575
Forres	Altyre	1995	2004	NJ022559
Forres	Binsness	2000	2000	NJ022629
Forres	Clashdu	1985	1985	NJ030526
Forres	Woodside	1985	1985	NJ053550
Forres	Branchill	1994	1994	NJ0853
Forres	Kinloss	2000	2000	NJ0762
Forres	Findhorn Bay	1996	1996	NJ045647
Forres	Knock of Alves	2000	2000	NJ1662
Daugh of Carron	Scootmore Forest	1997	1997	NJ166370
Daugh of Carron	Knockando House	1984	1984	NJ2042
Glen Livet	Tomintoul Country Park	1997	1997	NJ166166
Dufftown	Craigellachie	1984	1984	NJ2944
Dufftown	Loch Park	1997	1997	NJ346422
Elgin	Findgrassie	1984	1984	NJ204653