There was consternation this summer in the Bishop Monkton Nature Reserve. Bob Upton and Tony Garnett, two unsung village heroes, spent time surveying and collecting data on the butterflies seen on their designated transects on the Reserve. Their results were transmitted to the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust (YWT) and Butterfly Conservation organisation (BC) for countrywide comparison. This exercise has been conducted for 10+ years by our doughty pair and gives a picture of the decline and fall of many species - but gains sometimes too.

This year Bob and Tony were horrified when over the period 11th,12th and 13th July when the temperature was 20C, sometimes sunny, not one butterfly was recorded. One immediate explanation was the deluge of rain experienced on 9th July - extremes of weather do the butterflies no favours. Also, not one Ringlet butterfly has been seen all summer unlike in 2023.

Background

The Reserve was transformed into a wildlife haven after the rail track was ripped up in 1967. The area is particularly home to lime loving species of flowers as it sits on an magnesium limestone belt. Wildflowers, trees, shrubs flourish, together with the remnants of the garden from the old railway worker's hut located by the trackside. This tiny haven attracts bees ,butterflies, mammals, beetles et al - and moths.

"Is nature sounding an alarm call?" (Dr Richard Stone from BC) The 2023 figures were not too bad but 2024 promises to be the worst year on record for butterflies after a wet Spring and Summer. 80% of UK species have been in decline since 1970 and this year the dreary spring and summer meant that insects had few opportunities to breed which led to a lack of caterpillars which meant few butterflies.

There are many possible reasons for this :- climate; habitat loss; pollution and pesticides: in respect of the Ringlet, their disappearance apart from this year's weather could be because of the drought in 2023 in the South of the UK.

Don't panic - the experts agree that this is not irreversible and that 2024 could well be a blip. Also many butterflies have increased in numbers as the increasing warmth means different species are moving north eg; the silver washed fritillary. Your gardens can help - leave a small place for nettles, honesty or nasturtiums for food for the caterpillars and plant lots of pollen rich flowers.

You will be rewarded by the sight of beautiful butterflies flitting about your flowers and shrubs collecting and performing the valuable job of pollinatiion.