Scottish White-letters latest.

[IAC]

For those who don't know, we have had some very, very good news..nay...jaw dropping news, up here in the Scottish Borders with a few White-letter eggs being found on Elm on the Scottish side of the Tweed by Ken Haydock and Jill Mills a few weeks ago. The full story can be read either on the BC blog https://butterfly-conservation.org/3114 ... found.html or at the East Scotland Branch Facevook page here https://www.facebook.com/EastScotlandBu ... nservation any further news will likely appear on the East Branch Facebook and Twitter.

Iain.

[Goldie M]

Hi! Lian, I saw the post in my local paper, great news for you, I also posted about it because the pair who found the eggs are from Bolton where I live Goldie

[Liz Goodyear]

It's a great story and getting even more exciting - more news coming soon!
Liz
ps I even managed to remember my password!

[Pete Eeles]

An incredible find - and the current item on the UKB home page

Cheers,

- Pete

[David M]

Thanks for this, Iain. It is undoubtedly a major story for UK butterfly-aficionados.

You are in absolutely the right zone at the moment. Most countries are losing species but Scotland seems to be adding one or two almost every year!

[IAC]

Yes David, its hectic and mind boggling but ultimately fun to have absolutely no idea what's going on despite hours and hours of field work. The latest mystery is Brimstone which have suddenly appeared not once but thrice at great distance from each sighting and all reported by dedicated naturalists in there back gardens in the Scottish Borders. What the chances.

More White -letters, although not confirmed just yet have just been reported to me last night via Jill Mills and Ken Haydock to have infiltrated VC 80 Roxburghshire with 5 more eggs found on the Teviot banks, Kelso. This find is much farther from the border than previous sightings, more details to come.

Iain.

[David M]

Yes David, its hectic and mind boggling but ultimately fun to have absolutely no idea what's going on despite hours and hours of field work. The latest mystery is Brimstone which have suddenly appeared not once but thrice at great distance from each sighting and all reported by dedicated naturalists in there back gardens in the Scottish Borders. What the chances.

More White -letters, although not confirmed just yet have just been reported to me last night via Jill Mills and Ken Haydock to have infiltrated VC 80 Roxburghshire with 5 more eggs found on the Teviot banks, Kelso. This find is much farther from the border than previous sightings, more details to come.

Iain.

Brimstones I'm not entirely surprised about, Iain. They wander great distances and I suppose they will 'put down' wherever there is buckthorn.

White Letter Hairstreaks are anything but nomads though, so I suppose this revelation is a bit of a coup. However, now that is clear they are there, I suspect their numbers might be greater than most suspect. What next for the borders?

[Liz Goodyear]

I really don't consider White-letter Hairstreak to be nomads otherwise they wouldn't have survived the ravages of DED in the 70s. The only area where they seemed to disappear was in Cornwall where numbers/records were always low. My take on it is that DED spread into Cornwall, and whereas in other counties/areas the butterfly could disperse in all directions, there was only one way in Cornwall - Lands End and the Atlantic!

Back in 2007, where we devised our Project, we set targets and we also had targets (purple squares) in areas where we considered that the butterfly wasn't present (and we did look), there was however elm, and that these areas needed continually monitoring.
http://www.hertsmiddx-butterflies.org.u ... /index.php

http://www.hertsmiddx-butterflies.org.u ... apping.php

At the end of the project in 2009 (2010) we followed the butterfly on our last day in the north of England up the River Tyne. Ken and Jill have subsequently taken over our quest in the north of England and as you will see from the Project map which I had started to update even before they found eggs at Coldstream shows the butterflies remarkable progress through the centre of Cumbria and along the Eden valley. By chance their searches have filled in two purple squares as well as a green square in east of England/Scottish borders. The interesting note about the Eden Valley is that it flows northwards to Carlisle with no connection to the Yorkshire/Northumberland/Lancashire river systems so the butterfly has arrived there via another route. Our suspicion is that it has come across from the Tyne Valley but Ken and Jill haven't managed to complete the missing link yet but I am sure they will.

What we really want to know is where has the butterfly been lurking between the last most northerly record at Rothbury in 2007 (there might be more on the national data base) which was found by Martin Greenland. River valleys are the key factor in these areas so as I have suggested elsewhere we want everyone to have their summer holiday in June or July in Northumberland near an elm rich river valley!

You will also see a slightly more subdued return to Cornwall.
Liz

[NickMorgan]

Yes David, its hectic and mind boggling but ultimately fun to have absolutely no idea what's going on despite hours and hours of field work. The latest mystery is Brimstone which have suddenly appeared not once but thrice at great distance from each sighting and all reported by dedicated naturalists in there back gardens in the Scottish Borders. What the chances.

More White -letters, although not confirmed just yet have just been reported to me last night via Jill Mills and Ken Haydock to have infiltrated VC 80 Roxburghshire with 5 more eggs found on the Teviot banks, Kelso. This find is much farther from the border than previous sightings, more details to come.

Iain.

Wow, that is exciting. Our new place is only about 20 miles from there. I was down at the weekend but didn't bother looking for eggs as I thought the Yarrow Valley is often behind with new arrivals. I will definitely check next time. We have a few small elms and one of them is in a very sunny location.
I have also planted ten alder buckthorns in my hedge, so any visiting Brimstones will have somewhere to lay their eggs!!

[IAC]

Wow, that is exciting. Our new place is only about 20 miles from there.

Goalposts moved a bit further towards you Nick with several more finds at Harestanes, Ancrum. I would be checking Elm for the hell of it now...and I am with no luck so far. I have never taken so much interest in a single Tree species before now, and can see how this could become obsessive. The more I look, the more Elm I am seeing.

If the Butterfly is following river valleys, the next tributary is the Ale off the Teviot just south of Ancrum. The Ale snakes towards Selkirkshire towards Lilliesleaf and Ashkirk before running out of Trees really. The Ettricks not impossible off the Tweed. Fairly high chances of the WLH being up and about Gala and Melrose...some of the best Woodland habitats up there. Jill and Ken meanwhile are making this egging look easy Its not haha

Iain,

[Liz Goodyear]

I managed to get my take on nomads the wrong way round yesterday after re - reading the comment! English wasn't my best subject at school

Anyway back to Iain's post - Jill rang last night and told me the news as well. I asked them how many elms they had searched for the results achieved.

Jill said it was 10/1 but Ken in the background said 50/1. I think the answer is that it sounds very easy but it is absolute dedication and determination that has lead to this result.

We thought a single egg just 300 yards from the runway as they were actually landing at Heathrow Airport was a result. Not only was there a Wych elm type tree planted on the edge of a Biodiversity Open Space, but it was possible to park right next to it! We had gone down the road, simply because there appeared to be some trees, parked up to change my boots and I suddenly noticed the tree! Pure chance as well!

Well done to Ken and Jill - they assure me that this is their last trip for the season. Once the elms start to flower and the eggs hatch there is greater chance of flower buds being broken off and larva lost.

We haven't found any new season hatched eggs but the elm is flowering
Liz