Welcome to the Suffolk Branch of Butterfly Conservation
Butterfly Conservation is a
registered charity dedicated to the conservation of butterflies and
moths
Join Butterfly Conservation -
click here to
go to the National Butterfly Conservation website to join.
An important Branch post will become available when Dom Hill resigns
his role as Treasurer at our 2018 AGM in November
We are grateful to Dom for both managing our account and for
over-seeing the recent move to central financing by Head Office.
The search is on for someone to fill this position.
Perhaps you are thinking of devoting some of your time to
volunteer work. Here is your
opportunity to find out more about this post.
Treasurer’s Role
Book-keeping for BC Branches is done by BC Head Office, so the
Treasurer’s role for the Suffolk Branch is not too demanding and no
prior financial experience or technical qualifications are required.
The Treasurer has to liaise with Head Office in order to:- arrange the payment of invoices, maintain a spreadsheet of
Branch transactions and reconcile against Head Office information, and
present simple accounts for the Branch AGM.
For more information contact Dom Hill
07389194202
01359269137
or Suffolk Branch Chair
Peter Maddison
01473 736607
Next Local Events -
Saturday 17th November
-
Suffolk Branch
A.G.M & Members Event
Patrick Barkham,
author (Butterfly Isles: A Summer In Search Of Our
Emperors And Admirals) and journalist (features writer
for The Guardian}, will be the guest speaker.
Venue: Earl Stonham Village
Hall
Map Ref:
TM 097598 Post
Code:
IP14 5HJ
Time: 2.30 pm.
Please note the
change in location and the afternoon start.
The AGM will be followed by members' slides then light
refreshments, the annual photo competition and our guest
speaker, author and journalist, Patrick Barkham.
Further details will be announced in The Suffolk Argus
and on the Branch website.
Enter
our photographic competition - details here
Suffolk moth group field events
programme now available to see online -
http://suffolkmoths.org.uk/blog/
Wider Countryside Butterfly Survey
(WCBS)
The WCBS is a national scheme which complements the
transects of the UK BMS with mini transects walked in squares randomly
selected by the BTO computer. Volunteers from Butterfly
Conservation and the BTO need to walk just twice per year in July and
August (with an optional spring walk if you wish). This means
that the commitment is not heavy.
The Wider Countryside
Butterfly Scheme (WCBS) Report 2017 has been
published.
Click here to download a copy in pdf format.
Over the past
nine years volunteers have monitored butterflies in a selection of 1
km squares. In July and August 2017, on two walks along fixed routes,
774 squares were surveyed nationally, 39 squares in Suffolk. The
Report is an interesting read showing not only the results of
butterfly species numbers and analysis, but also a guide to some
day-flying moths which recorders are encouraged to include. If you
have not previously been part of the scheme but would like to become
involved in 2018 contact Twm Wade at the email address below.
We have 14 squares
in need of a volunteer
| OS Grid
Reference |
Town/Parish |
Post Code |
|
TL8164 |
Westley |
IP33 3RB |
|
TL8381 |
Thetford
(west) |
IP24 3ST |
|
TL9479 |
Coney
Weston |
IP31 1HL |
|
TL9577 |
Coney
Weston |
IP31 1DL |
|
TM0378 |
Redgrave |
IP22 1SA |
|
TM1233 |
Brantham |
CO11 1PT |
|
TM1944 |
Ipswich (Hospital and Copleston High School) |
IP4 5PD |
|
TM3180 |
St James,
South Elmham and Metfield |
IP19 0HT |
|
TM3568 |
Peasenhall |
IP17 2NQ |
|
TM4663 |
Leiston |
IP16 4UL |
Email our WCBS co-ordinator,
Twm Wade
to volunteer for one of these squares
Download the 2015 report
Download the 2016 Report
BMS - Butterfly Monitoring Scheme
BTO
- British Trust for Ornithology
Distribution Maps for Suffolk Butterflies
2013-2017
The Suffolk Butterfly Recorder, Bill Stone, has prepared
new distribution maps for 2013 - 2017 for all the butterflies that can be
found in Suffolk. For anyone who has the maps produced 15 years
ago* they show significant differences for some species. For
example the Wall is now almost entirely restricted to the coast and
the Silver-washed Fritillary was not present in Suffolk.
Click here for the
new Distribution Maps
*The Millennium Atlas of Suffolk Butterflies, 2001, by Richard
Stewart. Published by Suffolk Naturalists'Society. £5 from SNS [You
can order from Ipswich Museum by phone, 01473 433547].
You can also see the UK distibution maps for the most recent
five-year survey of the Butterflies for the New Millennium (BNM)
recording scheme (2010-2014).
Click here to download the Atlas of UK Butterflies 2010-2014
in pdf format (11 MB).
40 year slump for UK Butterflies
More than three-quarters of the UK’s butterflies
have declined in the last 40 years with some common species suffering
significant slumps, a major scientific study has revealed. A
number of widespread species such as the
Wall,
Essex Skipper and
Small Heath now rank amongst the most severely declining
butterflies in the UK.
The findings also reveal that
intensive conservation efforts have started to turn around the
fortunes of some of the UK’s most endangered butterflies. During the
last 10 years the numbers of the threatened
Duke of Burgundy have increased by 67% and the
Pearl-bordered Fritillary has experienced a 45% rise in abundance.
Dingy Skipper and
Silver-studded Blue have shown 21% and 19% increases in occurrence
respectively and even the UK’s most endangered butterfly, the High
Brown Fritillary, has been relatively stable in the last decade.
But despite breakthroughs with some threatened butterflies the
report revealed that other species continue to struggle. The long-term
decline of the
Wood White,
White Admiral and
Marsh Fritillary show few signs of stopping.
Download in pdf format the full 'State of UK Butterflies 2015' report here
Do we have your email address?
It will help us to communicate changes to events (as above) if
we have your email address.
Please email your name to
using your normal email address
and email address as the subject. This can then be added to our
membership list.
|
 Follow
us on Twitter.
But still send your sightings to
|
When to See Butterflies.
The
Suffolk
Butterflies page lists the butterflies that can be seen in Suffolk,
shows when you can expect to see them and the foodplants upon which their caterpillars feed.
We can also
help if you would like advice about making your garden more attractive
to butterflies
See the
News page for dates of First Sightings
Like much of the UK, Suffolk's countryside
and wildlife are under increasing pressure. It's a situation that is
unlikely to improve in the forseeable future and there's never been a
more urgent need to understand and conserve our butterfly fauna. The
county has a gently undulating landscape of surprising contrasts,
defying the stereotype of "flat East Anglia and its arable prairies". The unspoilt coast, intimate river valleys and, especially, the
Sandlings heaths and Brecks ensure that Suffolk retains a more varied
butterfly fauna than might be expected.
Some recommended books are listed here
Butterfly
Records.
The Branch is always grateful for butterfly records and a
recording form can be downloaded from the recording
page of this
website.
We would be particularly grateful for records away from the
coast and information on the following species:
Dingy Skipper,
Green Hairstreak, Purple Hairstreak, White Letter Hairstreak,
Silver-studded Blue, Wall Brown, White Admiral, Silver-washed Fritillary, Grayling and Small
Heath.
email your sightings to us at
Recent Sightings can be viewed here
Conservation and Recording
Brimstone
- about the Brimstone and Buckthorn project
Help us to record Brimstone
butterflies in Suffolk
Silver-studded Blue
- links to more
information
Translocation to Blaxhall Common -
2012 Update
Ecological Survey of Selected
Silver-studded Blue Sites in 2009
Silver-Washed Fritillary - link
for more information
Silver-washed
Fritillary returns to Suffolk
Purple Emperor -
link for more information
Ipswich Heaths
Project -
a new project, aimed at restoring lowland heathland habitat of 300
hectares on 14 sites in Ipswich, has been awarded a Wren Biodiversity
Action Fund grant of over £100,000.
More details here
