Berwick Wildlife Group Promoting wildlife within the Berwick area.

This page contains - An article for Butterfly Conservation from Berwick Wildlife Group - November 2006

Introduction: Berwick Wildlife Group's first attempt at a butterfly transect has been greatly enjoyed by the 20 volunteers who took part, and has revealed a great deal about the local butterflies. Between April 1st and September 30th one thousand, four hundred and seventy-two butterflies of thirteen species were recorded. Following advice from Butterfly Conservation, the place we chose to survey was a south facing field with steep sloping terrain and a variety of habitats. Known locally as 'Tommy the Miller's Field' and conveniently close to the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed the field had never been properly surveyed for butterflies before. The route, a little over a kilometre in length, was divided into five sections incorporating different habitats. Learning the route and how to make records was accomplished by a dozen or so volunteers walking the first week's survey all together. Subsequently they were divided into three groups, each responsible for one week's records every 3 weeks, a system which worked almost seamlessly all summer. The first section of the transect crossed steep terrain, patches of more open grassland among hawthorn scrub, with nettles and thistles prominent in places. Ringlet, Meadow Brown, Small Copper and Wall Brown were all recorded here. Section two led past a rush-dominated marsh bounded on its northern edge by a bluff covered in grasses, knapweed, scabious, harebells and yarrow. Green-veined whites predominated in the wetter area, while the dry banks held good numbers of Common Blues, among others. The third section runs across a small grassy headland, the wind always playing a part in recording here. Grasses, sorrel, thistles and yarrow were plentiful, and Small Coppers were seen here well into September sipping nectar from yarrow heads in the warm sun. 'The New Road', a footpath along the bank of the Tweed made section four; a sheltered sunny section where peacocks delighted volunteers, providing a kaleidoscope of colours as they danced their mating flights. The final section runs through Tommy the Miller's Field again, from the Tweed back up to the top. Throughout the summer the grasses, knapweed and thistles proliferated, - Ringlet and Meadow Brown heaven! Here, the circular transect walk was ended, usually taking about an hour. The views over the river from the field were fantastic - in fact they went down as a hazard on the risk assessment sheets. Walking steep rough ground and counting butterflies is difficult enough without added distraction. The first two weeks in April were too cold to make a count, but volunteers (and butterflies) turned out on the subsequent 24 weeks. So why did people volunteer, on such difficult ground to count butterflies, coming back week after week, at short notice on a "good" butterfly day? Here are some of their comments: Page 2

Page 3

Volunteer 1: In the spring of 2006 I was invited to join in counting butterflies in "Tommy-the-Miller's Field". I had recently retired to Berwick-upon-Tweed and joined the Berwick Wildlife Group. My mother had been a keen birdwatcher, the school I went to fostered my interest in natural history, but the pressures of work and family meant that any knowledge I had was a bit rusty and butterflies hadn't figured much in my life. However this seemed like a good opportunity to learn. In the interests of science I declared my ignorance, just in case anyone would hold me responsible for errors. Reassured, I attended the first count, armed with notebook, pencil, binoculars, identification booklet and, most important, a list of the ones we were most likely to see. How I studied that! We divided into small groups, each counting every third week, so it wasn't too tying. Our group was fortunate in that our leader had done this before. This summer was a particularly good one for butterflies and I saw several species that were new to me. The beauty of "my" first Small Copper was a joy followed by other firsts - Blues, Peacocks and Wall Browns. The difference between the sexes surprised me (I should have thought of that). I envy those who can tell a butterfly by its flight. It was interesting, too, over the summer to see the different food plants preferred by different species and to find the different months in which varying butterflies were around. As a bonus, we saw roe-deer and found a fox's earth. Volunteer 2: We decided to participate in the butterfly survey of Tommy the Miller's Field for several reasons. We wanted to assist in undertaking a survey that would increase the knowledge of butterfly populations in an important part of Berwick. were particularly interested in variations in the species counts throughout the summer. wished, from a personal point of view, to increase our knowledge and identification skills. Despite the field being vertically challenging, with a variety of thick undergrowth including nettles, we thoroughly enjoyed this project, from getting to know new friends to expanding our knowledge, and from assisting in collating all the observations to producing a summary at the end of the season. We were particularly proud that no groups missed a week from the time we started in April to when we completed the survey at the end of September, some 24 weeks later. We learnt that the count was very dependant upon weather conditions. that some early species numbers fell right back before re-occurring later in the season due to the stages in the butterflies lifecycle. increased our personal knowledge. We will be doing it again next year, definitely. Volunteer 3: I volunteered for the butterfly survey in ignorance - vaguely aware that I knew very little but I loved the Berwick area and the riverside with its magnificent views. What I discovered was how exiting it was to learn so much about butterflies - not only identification but the facts around their life styles - I didn't even know there was more to whites than cabbage. A wonderful summer - lots of spin offs - I have accumulated some beautiful photos and bought a buddleja! It has been a great pleasure combining scientific survey with tottering around a hillside in such agreeable and knowledgeable company - and I'm up for it next year too! Page 4

Results With such keen participants we had no trouble collecting data. Detailed records are being sent to the North East branch of Butterfly Conservation, but the graph below produced after a marathon of number-crunching by one of our volunteers, summarises the results: Not quite as colourful and impressive as the butterflies themselves, but a good effort don't you think? Thank you so much everybody. We hope to repeat the survey in Summer 2007 and perhaps also survey another area. We would be delighted to have more volunteers. If you think you might like to join us please contact....Fiona Page 5

back to the top of this Page

For problems with this site please contact - John

©Berwick Wildlife Group. This page was last updated on Nov 5th 2006.