When we asked Tynedale Community Choir to sing at our naming party, Jane, one of the altos who sings with Clare, mentioned that her husband Tim had developed an interest in studying and photographing butterflies, and that maybe he could conduct surveys on Liddells. He has been a wonderful supporter of our project and we are indebted to him for the following. Here you will find photographs of butterflies on Liddells.
Over the 40 years I have lived I near Liddells, I have become aware that the butterflies in Northumberland seem to have changed. Some of this is down to me; the observer has to be in the right place, at the right time of day, and with the right weather, so taking a walk at the right time is important. The butterfly season is mostly May through to September, so retirement helps; it means I stand a chance of being there when everything is right.
When Clare and John bought Liddells, it seemed like a chance to help Butterfly Conservation (BC) record what is really going on, too good an opportunity to miss. BC have volunteers all over the UK, who walk the same route, once a every week, counting butterflies. The counts are submitted to a national database. Clare and John happily agreed it was a good idea, so with the help of Dave Stebbings, a friend in BC, we defined a route across Liddells and I have been walking this route (or transect) for the last 4 years (2014-17).
The transect starts and finishes at my house, but the most interesting bit is across Liddells. It runs inside the south wall, down the west, over the crags, across the boggy field, past the spoil heaps, into the orchard, over Clare’s meadow and back up through the wood to the top gate. Not very far but it takes about 35 mins across Liddells.
Liddells will never be a high profile butterfly site, it faces north, and is 200m above sea level; but it is a nicely mixed landscape, and has woodland, grassland and a boggy area. Each area has its own butterflies. It is also relatively untouched by modern intensive agriculture, and has an interesting biodiversity.
Butterflies fall into two categories, “generalists” like Small Tortoiseshell which will move around, and “habitat specialists”, that require specific food plants and environments. Most of the butterflies at Liddells are generalists, though some, such as the blues, have specific requirements. Blues like Bird’s Foot Trefoil, and short grass.
From 2014-17, 18 butterflies have been observed at Liddells:
Painted Ladies are migrants; they fly up from Africa, and need good weather on the route north.
Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Red Admiral and Comma are heavily dependent on nettles, and seem to have good and bad years. Later in the year they like thistles.
Small White and Large White like brassicas, and are more common in gardens than at Liddells. They are to be seen, largely passing through.
Large numbers of Green Veined White live in the marshy area, as do Small Skippers.
The meadow is good for Common Blue and Small Copper in small numbers.
Speckled Woods will fly when the sun is not shining, and live in the woodland area, the north & west of the site.
Wall Brown like to sunbathe on the south side of the south wall.
Orange Tips lay eggs on Cuckoo Flower (Ladies Smock), which thrives in the damp areas.
Small Heath and Large Skipper are rare visitors.
Meadow Brown and Ringlet are grassland butterflies, and can be seen in large numbers almost anywhere.
Change.
In general butterflies are not doing well, nationally numbers are down in most species.
2014 was my first year, good numbers of Meadow Brown, Ringlet, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock and Green Veined White.
2015 was a good year for Meadow Brown, Ringlet, Small Tortoiseshell and Green Veined White, less so for Peacock.
2016, the weather was less good, with only Large White and Green Veined White doing well.
2017 saw a spectacular number of late Red Admirals. No Blues were seen. The winter was mild, which is said to have affected Small Tortoiseshells. But numbers of Ringlet, Meadow Brown and Orange Tip were all down.
For specific species numbers recorded, click here.
It is less clear what is going on. On a local level there are too many variables. Butterfly numbers can vary dramatically at any one site. Predators, the presence of caterpillar foodplants, nectar sources, parasitic wasps, overpopulation and the weather on migration routes can all cause numbers to crash. So it is hard to draw many conclusions, but here are a few:
The weather has a dramatic effect on numbers, both the number present; and the number recorded.
Because of global warming, some butterflies are moving north, Ringlet, Peacock, Meadow Brown and Small Skipper are all much more common than they used to be.
Some are not here yet, Gatekeeper is on the move north.
The surrounding area has changed in those 4 years, the field to the south is no longer grazed, and now typically has either Winter Barley or Oil Seed Rape. Both are heavily fertilised and have had liberal doses of weedkiller applied. This affects the plant and insect diversity and has noticeably affected the field margins and the butterflies.
Other local sites.
One of the reasons I like butterflies, is that most butterfly sites are delightful places. Locally there are other sites, that have “habitat specialists”, Green Hairstreak in Dipton Woods, Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary on the Pennine Way. Large Heath on the Border Mires, Purple Hairstreaks in the tops of oak trees at the Waters Meet, White Letter Hairstreak in elms by the Tyne at Warden and Dingy Skipper in old quarries.
Slightly further away.
The North Sea Coast (Lindisfarne) has Dark Green Fritillary and Grayling. There are quarries in Durham with Northern Brown Argus, Marbled White and Dingy Skipper.
Cumbria has Small Blue, Marsh Fritillary, Scotch Argus, Duke of Burgundy and High Brown Fritillaries. The Lakeland fells have Small Mountain Ringlet.
Liddells Butterflies – 2018
A hot and dry summer across the country played havoc with all nature, maybe less so in the north than down south. At Liddells, the meadow turned very dry, some plants flowered early, some not at all, and some late, which is tough on the caterpillars & butterflies who have to appear at the same time as the flowers. As a few examples, Red Campion flowered late in the summer, Birdsfoot trefoil seemed to give up completely, thistles went to seed early, but then I saw one in flower in early December. I’m confused, so pity the poor butterflies, never mind Clare’s bees.
By way of comparison 1976, a hot and dry year, was a good year for butterflies, but not for their offspring. 1977 proved very disappointing, many caterpillars and eggs did not survive to the following spring, and some butterflies took many years to recover. To some extent this is just a natural cycle, butterfly numbers go up and down, but there a few concerns and next year will be interesting.
At Liddells, we had two significant positives, 23 Small Copper were seen, and a real surprise, a Purple Hairstreak on a south facing oak tree. And Large Skippers were also seen, but not on the Liddells Butterfly transect.
Sadly, for unknown reasons Small Tortoiseshells are suffering across the country, and at Liddells they and Meadow Browns are well down on the long term average.
