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.
Next Local Events -
Saturday 30th November
Suffolk Branch
A.G.M & Members Event
Peter
Eeles will be the guest speaker. Peter runs the UK
Butterflies website (www.ukbutterflies.co.uk). In
2016 he was presented with the Marsh Award for the
Promotion of Lepidoptera Conservation at Butterfly
Conservation's AGM.
He is writing "Lifecycles of
British and Irish Butterflies" to be published in
October 2019.
Venue: Stowupland Village
Hall
Grid Ref: TM 070600, Post
Code: IP14 4BG
Time: 2.30 pm.
Please note the
change in location and the afternoon start.
The AGM will be followed by the guest speaker, members' slides, light
refreshments and the annual photo competition.
Further details will be announced in The Suffolk Argus
and on the Branch website.
Enter
our photographic competition - details here
End June Update- Suffolk Butterfly
Recording 2019- "Black-Holes"
This
is a map of the Suffolk recording area which shows the areas remaining
as at end of June 2019 without any butterfly records i.e.
"black-holes" that exist, these are shown by the dark-blue spots.
For a list of the Grid References of the
tetrads click here to go
to the Black Holes page
Based on the
map the following tetrads in the table on the Black Holes page should be visited in order to increase
county coverage. 2019 represents the final year of the current
five-year recording period for the Butterflies of the New Millennium
recording scheme so this is an incredibly important year
Not too late
to look for butterflies in a Black Hole
Distribution Maps for 2014 to 2018
The latest distribution maps for Suffolk
butterflies have now been produced by Bill Stone the Suffolk Butterfly
Recorder. The maps are based on results received during 2014 to
2018 from several sources including those shown on the
Sightings Page of this website. 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.
To
see the maps click here
2019 is the final year of
the Butterflies
for the New Millennium (BNM) recording scheme so every sighting
received will contribute to the new Butterfly Atlas which will be
produced by Butterfly Conservation.
You can 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).
*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].
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 2018 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 11 squares
in need of a volunteer. For details
of the squares click here for the WCBS page
| OS Grid
Reference |
Town/Parish |
Post Code |
|
TL8164 |
Westley |
IP33 3RB |
|
TL8381 |
Thetford
(west) |
IP24 3ST |
|
TL9248 |
Lavenham |
CO10 9PE |
|
TL9462 |
Beyton |
IP30 9AH |
|
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 |
|
|
|
|
Email our WCBS co-ordinator,
Twm Wade
to volunteer for one of these squares
Download
reports by clicking on the following years
2015
2016
2017
2018
BMS - Butterfly Monitoring Scheme
BTO
- British Trust for Ornithology
UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme
Some interesting information here. The 10 year trend shows a
31% decline in the Purple Emperor despite an increase in Suffolk.
The Marbled White has had a 111% increase but still not crossing the
border into Suffolk.
Click here to access the 2018 Summary of Changes table for the
UK. The table includes trend estimates for 57 species regularly
recorded in the UK and for which sufficient data is available.
Click here to access the 2018 Country-level Summary of Changes
tables for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The tables
include trend estimates for all species regularly recorded in the
respective countries and for which sufficient data is available
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
