The Suffolk Argus
Black Hole Surveys: West Suffolk I was offered free membership of Butterfly Conservation last autumn, shortly after agreeing to take Voluntary Early Release from MOD. I learned from the BC papers that it is easy to keep casual records of what you identify and noticed that Exning was an area where I could make a difference by reporting just one butterfly in a tetrad. I had planned to be with Stella Wolfe on 22nd April (event reported in The Suffolk Argus Summer 2012, page 16) but it was not until 15th May that I met with others in the Branch. The Dingy Skipper Hunt in Kings Forest was not successful but it was a great day for me. Attending events at Minsmere, Pakenham and Lackford increased my realisation that I had a ‘black hole’ of knowledge to address as well. Exning is surrounded by Cambridgeshire and I quickly found suitable places to find butterflies in the surrounding area. I then went to Red Lodge, Herringswell where my daughter lives, which is east of Newmarket. I did return to Pakenham Wood on 30th July.
around but the rain came. As I left the sun returned and I met with a ‘birder’, Steve who had heard about the fritillaries and wanted to see them. We went to the glade together and slowly the numbers increased. It was just like the films I had seen on TV of the Monarch butterflies, but this was real. Steve counted 22 mostly feeding on the thistle and bramble flowers and missed many that were flying about. As we stood and marvelled, I told him of the White Admiral; he wanted to see one and he did. And all the while we had the mewing of a young buzzard as it flew overhead. Dreams are made of such days. With August the summer came and I took to butterfly surveys in earnest. Things are different now. There are more butterflies about: they fly faster, look more worn and spar or pair up. I am getting 1-9 species for each tetrad I visit, so next year the challenge will be to increase the species list and become more disciplined in the recording process so that population trends can be assessed. Meanwhile, thank you MOD for giving me the time to enjoy going to different places and watching butterflies.
It was a beautiful day. Rob Parker had previously shown a group of us where we might find Silver-washed Fritillary and White Admirals. I had been wanting to see a White Admiral since the age of four, so seeing 2 as I entered the wood was magic. I then met with another BC member and her husband and soon the fritillaries were
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