David Lazarus

[David Lazarus]

Nice photo, not capture (net or egg take) or shot (gun) of a Small skipper ovipositing on July 19th 2024, Hatfield Forest. Did you record, not just note (mental note) the species of grass she oviposited on?

Apologies Phil, I cannot remember whether it was Yorkshire Fog Holcus lanatus or Timothy Phleum pratense on both 19th July at Hatfield Forest or 30th June at Meadgate Fields Open Space.

[David Lazarus]

Very interesting data there! Can i ask where the data for reports of sightings is from? Is it iRecord? I'm surprised that there have been records from so few locations.

Hi, Zayed - thanks for your questions. I currently collate all my own data from the iRecord website where I can download an Excel file with all my records for each species or location depending on what I am after. All my recorded sightings are inputted through the iRecord Butterfly mobile app. in the field pinpointing the precise GPS location. However, when I walk a transect they have to be inputted manually via the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme website. The sighting is not recorded as a precise location but as a 100 metre by 100 metre mapping square for each section of the transect. iRecord contains sighting records for the transect walks but frustratingly the maps have these squares instead of precise locations on their maps.

The large maps for the whole of Essex and the vice-counties of South and North Essex are screenshots from the Butterflies for the New Millenium Online website as they are much superior than the same maps on iRecord as I can make a screenshot in full screen on BNM but not on iRecord. However, the BNM site does not include the transect data hence there are significant gaps in the map. Also, for Essex some people record their sightings via the Essex Field Club website, the Essex Wildlife Trust website or not at all while posting their sightings on the Cambridgeshire & Essex Branch sightings page. Many people provide the Essex Recorder with filled in forms for each weekly transect at the end of the season. Others only record their sightings during the Big Butterfly Count and these do not appear on the iRecord website either. Basically, there are currently too many ways of recording butterfly sightings. The general consensus within the scientific community is that monitoring and recording over a significantly long time frame via transect walking provides the best data. However, there are many limitations to such data collection. Despite the obvious frustrations with the process of monitoring and recording UK butterfly sightings, the UK has some of the most comprehensive and extensive data collected over a long period of time which is used to present the State of UK Butterflies reports.

Personally, I have decided that 2024 is the final year that I will be a transect walker, or provide timed counts, or visit the Wider Countryside Butterfly Survey tetrad, as I find the limitations too restrictive and I do not like how the data is presented.

I much prefer to collect site visit data, and to target certain butterfly species as I have already written within my posts on this site. I think such data over a 10 year period can supplement and compliment the other forms of data collection. I basically go where very few people go to record and monitor what I find and also to monitor the health of the habitats as an amateur ecologist with quite a bit of plant ecology knowledge and an increasing expertise in butterfly ecology. I am nowhere near where I wish to be yet in terms of knowledge and expertise and I will probably change and adapt to the demands that I will no doubt face along the way.

The Small Skipper seems to be doing much worse than the Essex Skipper here, in East London. Both were down this year. One of the "best" sites for them is at Wanstead Park, and Flats - where there are also Green Hairstreak. I may visit next year specifically to study the Skippers, should you find that useful?
Would you find transect data for East London sites useful, considering records are just Small/Essex?

I would encourage everyone who sees any butterfly, in any location, to record their sightings via the iRecord Butterfly mobile app. with as much information as possible to help the Essex Recorder verify your sighting. As you probably know Zayed, Butterfly Conservation coordinates the monitoring and recording of butterfly sightings. I do not work for Butterfly Conservation and am not involved in their recording and monitoring process. I also do not volunteer for the Cambridgeshire & Essex branch or anyone else for that matter. I take on projects that I am passionate about in the form of independent ecological consultancy with the aim of presenting what I find in a useful way before the work kills me, as the trek around the Essex Saltmarsh Coast this year nearly did.

As far as your suggestions go - studying skipper distribution and abundance at Wanstead Flats and an East London transect - I think they would be useful for Butterfly Conservation and I would advise you to contact the Essex Recorder Rob Smith directly either via the Assembly app. or by sending him an email to recorder@cambs-essex-butterflies.org.uk

I hope that you, and all the members of UK Butterflies, will be as passionate as I am about butterfly conservation and will monitor and record all your sightings through iRecord. This will help us better understand what is happening in a rapidly changing world, and as far as direct conservation work is concerned, what management techniques work and perhaps more importantly what does more harm than good.

Good luck in your butterfly surveying next year, Zayed - I wish you and all members a very happy and successful new year

[David Lazarus]

The Butterflies of Essex
2024 Year in Review

Essex Skipper Thymelicus lineola

Summary
The Essex Skipper is of least concern in the vice-counties of North & South Essex, and it is a low priority for butterfly conservation within Essex which is their stronghold. Within the whole of the UK, distribution has doubled over the last few decades. It is hard to say whether abundance and distribution have been increasing across Essex due to the lack of recorded sightings for various reasons. Certainly on my local patch in mid-Essex it is present in good numbers wherever their long grass, rough grassland habitats are present.

The 2024 distribution of the Essex Skipper, limited to recorded sightings, indicates that it can be found across Essex but, similar to the Small Skipper, there are large areas where sightings have not been recorded according to the data provided to the Butterflies for the New Millennium Online website:

2024 distribution of Essex Skipper within Essex
Source: Butterflies for the New Millenium Online

Recordings for the last 10 years shows that recorded sightings were taken over a greater number of locations but this does not indicate that the distribution of Essex Skipper has reduced in 2024, only that the number of locations where sightings have been recorded during this year has reduced:

2014-2024 distribution of Essex Skipper within Essex
Source: Butterflies for the New Millenium Online

The following map indicates the site locations that I found Essex Skipper during my travels around Essex during 2024:

2024 site locations where Essex Skipper was recorded

And the abundance during 2024 according to my recorded sightings at these site locations are as follows:

2024 Essex Skipper Total Abundance by Location
Source: iRecord

This shows that I recorded a healthy number of Essex Skipper during 2024 with my local patch being a particularly good place to see Essex Skipper in good numbers. The following graph shows the number of sightings recorded on the date of the site visits where Essex Skipper were present:

2024 Essex Skipper Abundance over Time
Source: iRecord

The numbers are particularly good in my local meadow at Meadgate Fields Open Space and I visited on sufficient occasions to produce a flight period graph which shows that sightings were recorded from the 21st of June with numbers peaking at 59 sightings on the 05th of July and the last sighting recorded on the 27th of July. This indicates that the flight period at Meadgate Fields Open Space was only 5 weeks with no sightings in August unlike the Small Skipper:

2024 Essex Skipper Flight Period
Meadgate Fields Open Space
Source: iRecord

My first sighting of an Essex Skipper within Essex was at this little meadow on the 21st of June. The final sighting recorded within the River Chelmer floodplain was in the grasslands on either side of the Chelmer Road Bridge in Baddow Meads on the 01st of August. As the first ones were also seen here on the 21st of June, the adults were in flight for a longer period in Baddow Meads than at the meadow at Meadgate Fields Open Space by 5 days - 6 weeks in total. The final sighting of an Essex Skipper was at Little Baddow Heath on the 05th August.

Highlights
Perhaps notably, I only recorded a single Essex Skipper sighting at Johnson's Meadows where there were good numbers of Small Skipper. And locally, while I recorded 52 sightings of Small Skipper at Little Baddow Heath, I only saw 14 on the couple of occasions they were present. Although I visited both the meadow at Meadgate Fields Open Space and the sites within Baddow Meads more often than anywhere else, the numbers are significantly higher than anywhere else in Essex. Not only that, perhaps more significantly still, considering they were visited the same number of times during the flight periods of both Small and Essex Skipper, 423 sightings of Essex Skipper were recorded while only 44 Small Skipper were recorded.

[Butterfly_Julian]

Very informative David. Always good to read your reports from Middle Essex
Up my way, and my trips into South Suffolk, Essex Skipper was by far the most seen of all the Skippers.

[David Lazarus]

The Butterflies of Essex 2024 Year in Review continued

South Essex

The following locations are where sightings of Essex Skipper were recorded by me during 2024 within South Essex:

2024 Essex Skipper recorded sightings
South Essex site locations

Baddow Meads & Meadgate Fields Open Space

Baddow Meads and Meadgate Fields Open Space

If the rough grasslands within the floodplain of the River Chelmer provide good habitat for Small Skipper, it is certainly the case for the Essex Skipper that thrive within the long grass meadows either side of the River Chelmer in Baddow Meads, and the small meadow in Meadgate Fields Open Space. I have never seen the density of Essex Skipper anywhere else in Essex. Even so, I think numbers were down on previous years. If only more of the grasslands were left longer this species would spread across the whole of the wet meadows of Baddow Mead and provide corridors along the River Chelmer east towards Little Baddow and Danbury where more colonies are located (see below).

Meadgate Fields Open Space - Essex Skipper were seen on 14 occasions, with the first sighting seen on the 21st of June and the last one on the 27th of July. Total: 215
Baddow Meads - Essex Skipper were seen on 12 occasions, with the first one also seen on the 21st of June and the last one seen on the 01st of August. Total: 197
Chaucer Road Meadow [Baddow Meads] - 4 were seen in this meadow north of the River Chelmer where development is encroaching on the space. Total: 4

21st June: Meadgate Fields Open Space 3

Essex Skipper male
Meadgate Fields Open Space 21/06/2024

Essex Skipper male
Meadgate Fields Open Space 21/06/2024

21st June: Baddow Meads 3

no image

26th June: Meadgate Fields Open Space 12

no image

27th June: Meadgate Fields Open Space 40

Essex Skipper
Meadgate Fields Open Space 27/06/2024

Essex Skipper male
Meadgate Fields Open Space 27/06/2024

30th June: Meadgate Fields Open Space 35

Essex Skipper male
Meadgate Fields Open Space 30/06/2024

Essex Skipper male
Meadgate Fields Open Space 30/06/2024

30th June: Baddow Meads 15

no image

01st July: Meadgate Fields Open Space no records

Essex Skipper
Meadgate Fields Open Space 01/07/2024

Essex Skipper
Meadgate Fields Open Space 01/07/2024

03rd July: Meadgate Fields Open Space 1

no image

05th July: Meadgate Fields Open Space 59

Essex Skipper pair in cop
Meadgate Fields Open Space 05/06/2024

Essex Skipper female
Meadgate Fields Open Space 05/06/2024

Essex Skipper
Meadgate Fields Open Space 05/06/2024

Essex Skipper female
Meadgate Fields Open Space 05/06/2024

07th July: Meadgate Fields Open Space 4

Essex Skipper male
Meadgate Fields Open Space 07/07/2024

Essex Skipper
Meadgate Field Open Space 07/07/2024

07th July: Baddow Meads 19

Essex Skipper female
Baddow Meads 07/07/2024

Essex Skipper
Baddow Meads 07/07/2024

Essex Skipper male
Baddow Meads 07/07/2024

Essex Skipper male
Baddow Meads 07/07/2024

Essex Skipper female
Baddow Meads 07/07/2024

08th July: Baddow Meads 28

Essex Skipper male
Baddow Meads 08/07/2024

Essex Skipper male
Baddow Meads 08/07/2024

Essex Skipper female
Baddow Meads 08/07/2024

Essex Skipper male
Baddow Meads 08/08/2024

Essex Skipper male
Baddow Meads 08/08/2024

[David Lazarus]

12th July: Meadgate Fields Open Space 8

Essex Skipper male
Meadgate Fields Open Space 12/07/2024

12th July: Baddow Meads 1

no image

13th July: Meadgate Fields Open Space 22

no image

14th July: Meadgate Fields Open Space 5

no image

14th July: Baddow Meads 64

Essex Skipper male
Baddow Meads 14/07/2024

Essex Skipper male
Baddow Meads 14/07/2024

Essex Skipper
Baddow Meads 14/07/2024

Essex Skipper female
Baddow Meads 14/07/2024

Essex Skipper female
Baddow Meads 14/07/2024

Essex Skipper male
Baddow Meads 14/07/2024

Essex Skipper
Baddow Meads 14/07/2024

Essex Skipper
Baddow Meads 14/07/2024

15th July: Baddow Meads 4

Essex Skipper female
Baddow Meads 15/07/2024

16th July: Meadgate Fields Open Space 8

Essex Skipper female
Meadgate Fields Open Space 16/07/2024

Essex Skipper
Meadgate Fields Open Space 16/07/2024

Essex Skipper
Meadgate Fields Open Space 16/07/2024

16th July: Baddow Meads 21

Essex Skipper
Baddow Meads 16/07/2024

16th July: Chaucer Road Meadow 4

Essex Skipper
Chaucer Road Meadow 16/07/2024

Essex Skipper male
Chaucer Road Meadow 16/07/2024

17th July: Baddow Meads 27

Essex Skipper female
Baddow Meads 17/07/2024

Essex Skipper female ovipositing
Baddow Meads 17/07/2024

20th July: Meadgate Fields Open Space 3

no image

20th July: Baddow Meads 7

Essex Skipper female
Baddow Meads 20/07/2024

Essex Skipper
Baddow Meads 20/07/2024

23rd July: Meadgate Fields Open Space 14

no image

27th July: Meadgate Fields Open Space 1

no image

27th July: Baddow Meads 8

Essex Skipper male
Baddow Meads 27/07/2024

01st August: Baddow Meads 1

no image

[David Lazarus]

Lingwood Common & Little Baddow Heath

Lingwood Common, Little Baddow Heath & Pheasanthouse Farm
Danbury Ridge Nature Reserves in relation to Baddow Meads

The Danbury Ridge Nature Reserves are only 4-5 miles further east along the River Chelmer from the wet meadows of Baddow Meads with mostly intensively farmed pasture inbetween. The habitats are very different compared to the rough grasslands of Baddow Meads. The colonies are limited to the field margins of Lingwood Common and the small heathland meadow at Little Baddow Heath with a single Essex Skipper also seen further north where there are improvements to the grasslands at the Pheasanthouse Farm nature reserve which might support a larger colony of skippers sometime in the near future. At the moment, the woodland habitats are more conducive to the Small Skipper rather than the more open grasslands that the Essex Skipper prefers locally.

08th July: Lingwood Common 2

Essex Skipper
Lingwood Common 08/07/2024

14th July: Lingwood Common 2

no image

14th July: Little Baddow Heath 5

no image

26th July: Pheasanthouse Farm 1

no image

05th August: Little Baddow Heath 9

Essex Skipper
Little Baddow Heath 05/08/2024

Essex Skipper
Little Baddow Heath 08/05/2024

Essex Skipper
Little Baddow Heath 08/05/2024

Essex Skipper
Little Baddow Heath 05/08/2024

Rainham Marshes

Rainham Marshes

Essex Skipper can be found in the rough grassland verges to the car park and on the reserve side of the path along the sea wall embankment. It can probably be found elsewhere in the reserve but I was focused on coming across a sighting of the elusive Essex Brown Hairstreak - so my attention was elsewhere including the type of habitat I was searching. Despite that, there were good numbers.

15th July: Rainham Marshes 5

Essex Skipper male
Rainham Marshes 15/07/2024

17th July: Rainham Marshes 11

no image

[David Lazarus]

The Butterflies of Essex 2024 Year in Review continued

North Essex

The following locations are where sightings of Essex Skipper were recorded by me during 2024 within North Essex:

2024 Essex Skipper recorded sightings
North Essex site locations

Hatfield Forest

Hatfield Forest

During the flight period of the Essex Skipper my attention was focused on recording sightings of the premium woodlanders. As such, I only came across Essex Skipper on one visit and these were seen in the wider rides and woodland edge rather than in the open grasslands where I would expect to see many more.

19th July: Hatfield Forest 20

Essex Skipper
Hatfield Forest 19/07/2024

Friday Wood

Friday Wood

Similar to Hatfield Forest, I was focused more on the woodlanders on the one visit that I came across Essex Skipper. However, I did come across a healthy colony within rough grassland when overcast conditions made identification easier as they were all perched on grass stems. I am confident that there would be numerous Essex Skipper throughout Friday Wood and Cherry Tree Lane within their preferred unimproved grassland habitat.

11th July: Friday Wood 30

Essex Skipper male
Friday Wood 11/07/2024

Essex Skipper female
Friday Wood 11/07/2024

Essex Skipper
Friday Wood 11/07/2024

Essex Skipper
Friday Wood 11/07/2024

Essex Skipper
Friday Wood 11/07/2024

Essex Skipper male
Friday Wood 11/07/2024

Essex Skipper
Friday Wood 11/07/2024

Essex Skipper
Friday Wood 11/07/2024

Great Holland Pits

Great Holland Pits

As with the other two locations in North Essex, my efforts were focused elsewhere during the flight period of the Essex Skipper. I was only there once during their flight period. They were found in the small heathland meadow and in a couple of the wide woodland rides. Surprisingly, I did not find any in the main heathland area, and that was true for the Small Skipper also. I would expect to find larger numbers of both if I visited more often and concentrated on their grassland habitats.

18th July: Great Holland Pits 24

Essex Skipper female
Great Holland Pits 18/07/2024

Essex Skipper female x 2
Great Holland Pits 18/07/2024

Other sites I found Essex Skipper in North Essex included my mother's garden in North-west Chelmsford, where I have been managing a rough grassland area, and Admirals Park LNR along the River Can to the west of Chelmsford.

02nd July: Garden on Chignal Road, Chelmsford 2

Essex Skipper
Garden on Chignal Road, Chelmsford 02/07/2024

21st July: Admirals Park LNR 1

Essex Skipper
Admirals Park LNR 21/07/2024

[David Lazarus]

The Butterflies of Essex
2024 Year in Review

Large Skipper Ochlodes sylvanus

Summary

The Large Skipper is of least concern in the vice-counties of North & South Essex, and it is a low priority for butterfly conservation within Essex although I would not say it was a common butterfly and few sightings are recorded, certainly compared to other skippers. This should not be a surprise as their habitat preference is quite different to the smaller golden skippers. Apart from a single specimen on the south-facing floriferous meadows of One Tree Hill - Johnson's Meadows all my sightings were within the rides and glades of wet woodland, as well as marsh areas adjacent to wet meadows. These habitats are both damp, sheltered, as well as containing the necessary native grasses to provide larval food sources. In particular, the Large Skipper benefited from the ideal conditions at Hatfield Forest where they were seen in dappled shade nectaring on bramble blossom when in direct sunlight. In fact, Hatfield Forest was the only place that I saw Large Skipper in good numbers whereas everywhere else I would come across one or two at a time.

The 2024 distribution of the Large Skipper, limited to recorded sightings on the Butterflies for the New Millennium Online website, shows a much more sparse distribution than the other skippers, and these are mostly within the habitats mentioned above:

2024 distribution of Large Skipper within Essex
Source: Butterflies for the New Millennium Online

Comparing this to the last 10 years, recorded sightings for 2024 have reduced significantly probably indicating what a difficult year the species had during 2024. However, once again I still think comparing these maps does not indicate necessarily that the distribution of the Large Skipper has reduced significantly but that recorded sightings have diminished for various reasons.

2014-2024 distribution of Large Skipper within Essex
Source: Butterflies for the New Millennium Online

For context I will provide an overlay of the data recorded on iRecord which also includes the sightings on the transects walked weekly during 2024. For the Large Skipper the data is quite different and shows one of the problems with data collection and presentation:

2024 distribution of Large Skipper within Essex
Source BNM overlaid with data from iRecord

The data on iRecord is much more comprehensive but unfortunately I am unable (at the moment) to download all recorded sightings for a species and produce more professional distribution maps on ArcGIS Pro which I hope to be able to do sometime in the future. Cutting and pasting screenshots for 34 species and finishing it off on Photoshop is just not cost effective, and does not produce the high quality & professional type of mapping I prefer.

As for my own recorded sightings, the map below does not show the fact that other than at Hatfield Forest numbers at the other locations were few and far between:

2024 site locations where Large Skipper was recorded

I would add though that like many of the species found in Essex I did not search the preferred habitats of Large Skipper to monitor their numbers except I would say to record the change in the butterfly profile within the rides and glades of Hatfield Forest through the seasons. It would probably be a useful activity to do the same at the other wet woodland through the whole of Essex to find the true distribution and abundance of the Large Skipper throughout Essex. It is no surprise to me, for instance, that recorded sightings for Epping Forest during 2024 were healthy.

The abundance during 2024 tables and graphs according to my recorded sightings at these site locations show what I mentioned above:

2024 Large Skipper Total Abundance by Location
Source: iRecord

This indicates that I saw a healthy number of Large Skipper at Hatfield Forest - I would say 78 at Hatfield Forest is quite a good number but I have no comparison data from previous years. The fact that Friday Wood and the other woods showed single recorded sightings indicates to me that they are there but I am surprised how few I came across especially at places like Great Holland Pits. This is probably down to the amount of Cock's-foot Dactylis glomerata in the right microclimatic conditions. This may be something that butterfly conservation activity may need to look at to support this particular species.

Below are the abundance totals on the dates that I visited these site locations - it certainly does not show the flight period:

2024 Large Skipper total Abundance over Time
Source iRecord

My first sighting of a Large Skipper was the single specimen that was nectaring on the flowers at Johnson's Meadow - West on the 06th of June. Of more relevance, I think, is my first recorded sightings at Hatfield Forest which were the 20 I saw as part of the rides' profile on the 26th of June. The profile composition changed with significant numbers of Large Skipper joining Ringlet, with 53 seen on the 19th of July - far superior to any sightings I had ever seen previously. The last sightings were on the 08th of August at Hatfield Forest when Comma and Speckled Wood replaced Large Skipper and Ringlet as the primary species for the profile composition. 5 were seen on that day. I am looking forward to checking the ride profiles at Hatfield Forest next year to start a comparison study.

Highlights

Obviously, the number of recorded sightings at Hatfield Forest is the standout. Disappointingly, I hardly saw a Large Skipper locally and the one I did photograph in the floodplain of the River Chelmer went unrecorded for some reason. I am not sure why they did so badly within Baddow Meads and in the Danbury Ridge Nature Reserves - I might have to look into this. Hopefully, they will not become locally extinct.

[Pete Eeles]

This is all excellent, David! When you're done, it would be good to get this posted as an article on Dispar (https://www.dispar.org/index.php).

Cheers,

- Pete

[David Lazarus]

This is all excellent, David! When you're done, it would be good to get this posted as an article on Dispar (https://www.dispar.org/index.php).

Thank you for your feedback, Pete. I must admit that I am feeling a little embarrassed as I don’t think I have the ability to write to a good enough standard for an article on Dispar. That’s before considering my knowledge and experience of Lepidoptera which is limited - I would say I am still a beginner who is learning quickly.

If I may, I will come back to you for some advice when I have completed the 34 species - I have set myself 3 days per species, so 100 more days to go, give or take.

[David Lazarus]

The Butterflies of Essex 2024 in Review continued

South Essex

The following locations are where sightings of Large Skipper were recorded by me during 2024 within South Essex:

2024 Large Skipper recorded sightings
South Essex site locations

Lingwood Common

Lingwood Common

Lingwood Common is a site that I would expect far more Large Skipper than the couple I came across. There is a south-west facing slope covered in deciduous trees that often gets waterlogged and drains into a ditch at the field margins where my sightings were recorded. I am hoping that it was either just a poor season, I didn't visit at the right time or search in the right places and not because the larval food source is in short supply.

08th July: Lingwood Common 2

no image

Hockley Woods

Once again, a wet, mixed deciduous woodland, more famous for supporting Heath Fritillary, where I would expect higher numbers of Large Skipper rather than the single specimen I saw.

04th of July: Hockley Woods 1

Large Skipper male
Hockley Woods 04/07/2024

Hadleigh Great Woods

Hadleigh Great Woods

This collection of wet woodland areas is definitely a location that should be supporting large numbers of Large Skipper. But once again, mysteriously numbers were very low, perhaps for similar reasons as the other wet woodlands I visited during the Large Skipper flight period.

28th June: Hadleigh Great Woods 1

no image

04th July: Hadleigh Great Woods 2

Large Skipper male
Hadleigh Great Woods 04/07/2024

One Tree Hill, Johnson's Meadow - West

An unexpected early sighting nectaring on the flowers within the south-facing meadow at One Tree Hill which probably came out of the wooded areas. If I went searching across the Langdon Hills Country Park I would expect to find large numbers of Large Skipper within the wet woodland areas such as Northlands Wood and Willow Wood. However, I was doing other things - it would be useful information to collect though.

06th June: Johnson's Meadow - West 1

no image

Baddow Meads

The floodplain of the River Chelmer had a colony in a marsh area on the northern side of Baddow Meads but it was not there in 2024. However, I did come across one late in the season but for some reason it was not recorded.

14th July: 1 unrecorded

Large Skipper male
Baddow Meads 14/07/2024

[David Lazarus]

The Butterflies of Essex 2024 Year in Review continued

North Essex

The following locations are where sightings of Large Skipper were recorded by me during 2024 within North Essex:

2024 Large Skipper recorded sightings
North Essex site locations

Hatfield Forest

Hatfield Forest

The rides and glades within the mosaic of wet woodlands at Hatfield Forest are the best places in the whole of Essex, along with their companions Ringlet, to see Large Skipper in large numbers, rivaled only by Epping Forest in East London perhaps. Large Skipper and Ringlet were the major components of the butterfly profiles along the damper rides indicated on the map above for over a month. Such numbers, that it was extraordinary to be part of. I certainly have not seen so many during a single visit. I am just hoping it was not just a one off because of the warm, wet Spring that also supported a healthy Ringlet emergence.

26th June: Hatfield Forest 20

Large Skipper male
Hatfield Forest 26/06/2024

19th July: Hatfield Forest 53

Large Skipper
Hatfield Forest 19/07/2024

12th August: Hatfield Forest 5

Large Skipper female
Hatfield Forest 12/08/2024

Friday Wood

Friday Wood

Friday Wood is a mosaic of mixed deciduous woodland that gets waterlogged, has ponds and a river running through it as well as a marsh area adjacent to a floriferous wet meadow. Quite honestly, I cannot understand the lack of Large Skipper. Possibly a poor year? But why large numbers of Large Skipper at Hatfield Forest but a lack of numbers in what looks like adequate habitat at Friday Wood?

11th July: Friday Wood 4

Large Skipper male
Friday Wood 11/07/2024

18th July: Friday Wood 1

no image

Great Holland Pits

Great Holland Pits

Another location that each year I wonder why I do not come across more Large Skipper, something I cannot explain. It seems to have the right conditions, with sheltered wide rides composed of long grass and flowering plants.

22nd June: Great Holland Pits 3

no image

18th July: Great Holland Pits 1

Large Skipper male
Great Holland Pits 18/07/2024

Stour Wood

I found Large Skipper in the rough grassland area between Stour Wood and Copperas Wood, along with Small Skipper, and a number of other grassland species, but none in the rides within the woodland areas itself. It is another place that I would expect to find higher numbers if I visited it more often at the right time.

24th June: Stour Wood 4

Large Skipper
Stour Wood 24/06/2024

Large Skipper
Stour Wood 24/06/2024

[David Lazarus]

The Butterflies of Essex
2024 Year in Review

Grizzled Skipper Pyrgus malvae

Summary

The Grizzled Skipper is critically endangered and on the verge of extinction in Essex, with one small colony remaining at One Tree Hill in the vice-county of South Essex. If there was ever a "metapopulation of linked small colonies" within the Essex Wildlife Trust nature reserves at Langdon Hills Country Park, it is down to 5 recorded individual butterflies in 2024 - 3 male, 1 female, & 1 unidentified - within a small area of meadow. It is of the highest priority for butterfly conservation within Essex. Described as widespread and common during the early 20th century, decline since the 1950s has been rapid and devastating with local extinction throughout Essex by the 1990s 1. Conservation efforts during the 1990s even tried to reestablish a colony near me at Little Baddow Heath which failed - no surprise to me. Unfortunately, my heart is already broken for this species which will no doubt be the latest butterfly species to become extinct from Essex - another one in my lifetime which is very frustrating. As such, the distribution maps, abundance tables and graphs are meaningless - most records are withheld so any attempt at presenting the decline in abundance and the reduction in distribution is futile.
1 Corke, D., & Goodey, B., (1997) The Butterflies of Essex Lopinga Books

But we will have a go obviously

The 2024 distribution of the Grizzled Skipper, limited to recorded sightings on the Butterflies for the New Millennium Online website, shows the sole location where 5 Grizzled Skipper were seen:

2024 distribution of Grizzled Skipper within Essex
Source: Butterflies for the New Millennium Online

The distribution over the past 10 years shows that sightings covered 3 connected tetrads within the Langdon Hills Country Park but in fact there have only been two site locations since the records began in 1999 on iRecord - there is also a tetrad at Waterford Heath near Harlow to the west of Essex but this just reveals another one of the problems of data collection and presentation - the 2023 record is probably completed at home with the wrong GPS location and has not been edited.

2014-2024 distribution of Grizzled Skipper within Essex
Source: Butterflies for the New Millenium Online

So, how about all records for sightings of Grizzled Skipper during 2024 in relation to Essex?

All records for Grizzled Skipper during 2024
Source: Butterflies for the New Millennium Online

You can begin to see the problem - iRecord is more comprehensive and their data shows the problem of all colonies of Grizzled Skipper:

All records for Grizzled Skipper during 2024
Source: iRecord

The nearest sites where there are colonies of Grizzled Skipper are over the River Thames in Kent, or over 30 miles away at Ware in Hertfordshire. The colony at One Tree Hill is so isolated and has been for over 30 years that there is no way that it can be recovered, if lost, without human intervention which is just not going to happen. If conservation work at Johnson's Meadow West fails to support the Grizzled Skipper, and I would suggest that the evidence shows that whatever is being carried out is not supporting the health of a colony of Grizzled Skipper, then they will become extinct if they have not already.

There is no point in showing my recorded sighting map, but I might as well for consistency of review:

2024 site location where a Grizzled Skipper sighting was recorded

And the abundance during 2024 according to my recorded sighting at this location is one male known as M3.

South Essex

One Tree Hill, Johnson's Meadow - West

A south-facing, free-draining, forb-rich sloping meadow which becomes sun-baked during the summer and is comparatively sheltered. A varied and diverse community of plants including the larval food sources Creeping Cinquefoil Potentilla reptans, and Agrimony Agrimonia eupatoria, bordered by a mixed native hedgerow and scrub, which includes bramble Rubus fruticosus and Dog Rose Rosa canina. The soil is nutrient-poor which restricts the growth of the plant community and avoids rank grass out-competing the more important species. It also has three seasons of orchids and is a biodiverse rich habitat. This important location was declared a Site of Special Scientific Interest in 2018 but the Johnson's Meadows, so far, have not been declared restricted access conservation areas - but I would suggest that they should be and would urge readers not to go further down than just inside the hedge on the ridge.

19th May: Johnson's Meadow - West 1

Grizzled Skipper male
Johnson's Meadow - West 19/05/2024

As this was barely a record shot, and because he managed to be there 14 days later on the 02nd of June despite torrential rain and harsh weather conditions throughout, here is a better image of him taken by the Essex Recorder:

Grizzled Skipper male
Johnson's Meadow - West 02/06/2024
Copyright Rob Smith

For a little bit of context and more detail, One Tree Hill, Johnson's Meadows are part of the Langdon Hills Country Park (SSSI) near Basildon:

All recorded sightings at One Tree Hill in Langdon Hills Country Park

Unfortunately, as you can see, the GPS locations are all over the place rendering the information useless.

However, the two sites were Willow Park:

All recorded sightings of Grizzled Skipper
Willow Park 1999-2024

But no sightings have been recorded there for over ten years, leaving the two sloping meadows at One Tree Hill, Johnson's Meadows but none were recorded in the East meadow during 2024 - I would suggest for obvious reasons given the state of the habitat there.

All recorded sightings of Grizzled Skipper
Johnson's Meadows 1999-2024

Highlights

None - except I found Grizzled Skipper M3 after 3 visits and 12 hours of searching for a needle in a hay meadow.

[David Lazarus]

The Butterflies of Essex
2024 Year in Review

Pieridea

Clouded Yellow Colias croceus

Summary

As an immigrant, the Clouded Yellow is not listed as having a UK BAP status. This was certainly not one of the bumper years for immigrant numbers and only a few recorded sightings occurred in Essex during 2024. There were 20 recorded sightings on iRecord [7 of which were my own] and this amounted to 22 individual butterflies mostly seen in the vice-county of South Essex along the Thames Estuary and Essex Saltmarsh Coast, with the most northerly and inland one seen near Haverhill on the Suffolk border. The first one was seen on the 15th of May at RHS Hyde Hall with most seen from mid-August to October.

The 2024 distribution of the Clouded Yellow, limited to recorded sightings on the Butterflies for the New Millennium Online website, shows that most of the sightings were around the coast:

2024 distribution of Clouded Yellow within Essex
Source: Butterflies for the New Millennium Online

The recorded sightings over the past 10 years shows a wider dispersal inland particularly in East London and further north:

2014-2024 distribution of Clouded Yellow within Essex
source: Butterflies for the New Millennium Onlin

My own sightings occurred at 3 sites around the coast of Essex while I was searching for third brood Wall along the sea wall:

2024 site locations where Clouded Yellow sightings were recorded

And the abundance during 2024 at these site locations are as follows:

2024 Clouded Yellow Total Abundance by Location
Source: iRecord

Actually, I only saw 7 individuals as I returned the day after I first saw 3 at the Thames Estuary Path near East Tilbury to find 2 remaining. The dates and numbers seen on each occasion are as follows:

2024 Clouded Yellow Total Abundance by date
Source: iRecord

As I mentioned above, my first sighting on the 19th of September occured when I was monitoring Wall numbers along the Essex sea wall. It was very much a happy accident and was not because I was searching for them. I would say though that I had been aware of the opportunity to see immigrant butterflies, including Clouded Yellow, as I was exploring the Essex Saltmarsh Coastline during late summer and into Autumn. If they were there, I would have come across them. But it was obvious that they were few and far between. My final Clouded Yellow sighting was during the final leg of the trek around the Dengie Peninsula from Bradwell Waterside to Burnham-on-Crouch on the 07th of October - and these were the last ones recorded in Essex for 2024.

South Essex

The following locations are where sightings of Clouded Yellow were recorded by me during 2024 within South Essex:

2024 Clouded Yellow recorded sightings
South Essex site locations

Bradwell Waterside

Bradwell Waterside

At Bradwell Waterside there is a 200 metre stretch of south-facing sloping floriferous inland bank to the sea wall which is rich in biodiversity and provided a useful source of nectar for Clouded Yellow flying in from the coast. I was happy to catch up with two females, one of which provided me with my best photograph of the species so far.

07th October: Bradwell Waterside 2

Clouded Yellow female
Bradwell Waterside 07/10/2024

Burnham-on-Crouch sea wall

Burnham-on-Crouch sea wall

Rough grassland with patches of nectar-rich flowering plants, particularly Bristly Oxtongue Helminthotheca echioides at that time in October provided a late season habitat for a variety of species. I came across two male Clouded Yellow searching for places to roost for the night, which made it very easy to get up close and personal to them.

07th October: Burnham-on-Crouch sea wall 2

Clouded Yellow male
Burnham-on-Crouch sea wall 07/10/2024

Clouded Yellow male
Burnham-on-Crouch sea wall 07/10/2024

Thames Estuary Path near East Tilbury

Thames Estuary Path near East Tilbury

An amazing haven for butterflies discovered whilst searching for third brood Wall with a large expanse of southwest-facing and sheltered, sloping banks on two levels composed of forb-rich rough grassland habitat on the inland side of the sea wall with a dyke and shrubs further inland providing further diversification. This was where I first came across a sighting of a Clouded Yellow among the 300 butterflies seen that day. I had to return earlier the next day to attempt a photograph which became the first I have ever taken of the species.

19th September: Thames Estuary Path 3

no image

20th September: Thames Estuary path 2

Clouded Yellow male
Thames Estuary Path near East Tilbury 20/09/2024

Highlights

Although it was a poor year for seeing all migratory butterflies in the UK during 2024, I was delighted to see my first ever Clouded Yellow. I can recommend attempting to photograph a Clouded Yellow with an iPhone as excellent fitness training. After several attempts and quite a few hundred-metre sprints chasing after high-speed butterflies, I managed to capture my first record shot and then a half-decent photograph too. So all good for me personally during 2024 as far as the Clouded Yellow was concerned. I hope though for numerous sightings during 2025.

[David M]

The work that has gone into these studies is phenomenal, David.

I like your comment regarding iphones and Clouded Yellows.

Hopefully there'll be many more in 2025 than the annus horriblis of '24 (indeed, that goes for all species, not just immigrants).

[David Lazarus]

The work that has gone into these studies is phenomenal, David.

I like your comment regarding iphones and Clouded Yellows.

Hopefully there'll be many more in 2025 than the annus horriblis of '24 (indeed, that goes for all species, not just immigrants).

Thanks, David - just the 29 out of 34 to do

And then the site locations in detail....

& then hopefully produce some information from all this about looking for butterflies in Essex for Julian and I, and others who live in or visit Essex, to start a resource for the branch website comparable to those produced by other branches. That's the plan anyway

[David Lazarus]

The Butterflies of Essex
2024 Year in Review

Brimstone Gonepteryx rhamni

Summary
The Brimstone is of least concern in the vice-counties of North & South Essex, and is a low priority for butterfly conservation. It over-winters in the UK and is one of the earliest of butterfly species to appear each year. Although Brimstone abundance is said to be stable, I would not say that numbers of recorded sightings within the vice-counties of North & South Essex are great. It is rare for me to see more than one or two at a time, and it always feels like a pleasant surprise to come across one wandering along a hedgerow, or through a woodland ride. As it's larval food source is restricted to the two native buckthorns, it is no surprise to me that the two sites where the quantity of Alder Buckthorn Rhamnus frangula is plentiful, is also where I have come across comparatively high numbers of Brimstone.

The 2024 distribution of the Brimstone, limited to recorded sightings on the Butterflies for the New Millennium Online website, indicates that recorded sightings occurred across the whole of Essex with mid-Essex and areas towards East London having the highest density of tetrad coverage:

2024 distribution of Brimstone within Essex
Source: Butterflies for the New Millennium Online

The 2014-2024 data shows quite a significant difference in coverage which perhaps indicates that 2024 was a particularly tough year for Brimstone coupled with a drop in recorded sightings due to other factors, such as poor weather for butterfly recorders to go out and about.

2014-2024 distribution of Brimstone within Essex
Source: Butterflies for the New Millennium Online

As far as my own sightings are concerned, Brimstone was another species that I did not actively search for especially during the times of year where numbers would have been at their peak at the site locations where Alder Buckthorn is in good supply:

2024 site locations where Brimstone was recorded

Despite that, the abundance during 2024 at these site locations was not bad at all considering:

2024 Brimstone Total Abundance by Location
Source: iRecord

The two stand out locations are Great Holland Pits in North Essex, where the warden actively supports Brimstone by planting Alder Buckthorn Rhamnus frangula, and Danbury Common, in mid-Essex [South Essex], where there is also a plentiful supply of this larval food source. I would expect more recorded sightings at Hatfield Forest if I visited at the right times. Locally, numbers were good with the total for the area from all locations being over 100 [about half the total recorded sightings], mid-Essex having favourable habitat to support comparatively high Brimstone numbers.

The abundance over time shows that on the dates I visited two of the main sites for seeing Brimstone within North and South Essex, numbers spiked:

2024 Brimstone Total Abundance by Date
Source: iRecord

My first sighting of a male Brimstone was in my garden on the 14th March where I have recently planted a short length of mixed native hedgerow, including Alder Buckthorn Rhamnus frangula, hoping I may see a female ovipositing sometime in the near future. 166 of the 218 recorded sightings occurred by the end of May, with the numbers for this year's brood quite low, mostly singles when I did see one. However, I did spend most of my time from late summer into mid-October along the Essex Coast where there is not a lot of either buckthorn species, if any. As you can see from the distribution maps, very few sightings are recorded along the Essex Saltmarsh Coast, which is a shame. The salt tolerance of both Common or Purging Buckthorn Rhamnus carthatica and Alder Buckthorn Rhamnus frangula is probably an area that butterfly conservationists should look into with activity to include mass planting of this larval food source to support Brimstone along the Essex coastline, as well as planting inland within wet heathland & mixed deciduous woodland, and within the limited amount of chalk landscapes we have in Essex. My final sighting of a Brimstone took place on the 18th of September on my final visit of the year to Hatfield Forest - comparatively early I would say, perhaps because of the reason I mentioned above.

Highlights
Visiting Great Holland Pits on both the 12th of April and on the 2nd of May, with numbers seen on both occasions surpassing 20, were the standouts of a reasonable year. I particularly enjoyed watching females ovipositing on the Alder Buckthorn Rhamnus frangula lining the path along the northern edge of the large heathland area during April. Locally, Danbury Common, visited on the 10th of May, provided another chance to see good numbers nectaring on the Spring flowers. Considering the amount of Alder Buckthorn within Danbury Common & Backwarden, I always feel that numbers should be greater and I am hoping that one year I will arrive to see a mass emergence given favourable conditions during July & August. As mentioned earlier, to see more than half of the annual total abundance locally was pleasing. Disappointingly, I feel that this year's low total of adults seen during mid to late-Summer, that will be over-wintering now, will result in less being seen next Spring due to the poor levels of emergence during 2024. You never know, maybe I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time - or not where I needed to be when this year's emergence was happening, such as at Great Holland Pits when my last visit was on the 18th of July but I only saw 4.

edit to make corrections, including mistakenly having the two buckthorns the wrong way round - thanks to Mark essexbuzzard for reminding me.

[David Lazarus]

The Butterflies of Essex 2024 Year in Review continued

South Essex

The following locations are where sightings of Brimstone were recorded by me during 2024 within South Essex:

2024 Brimstone recorded sightings
South Essex site locations

Baddow Meads & the Meadgate area

Baddow Meads & the Meadgate area

My little meadow in the front garden, the local park, and Meadgate Fields Open Space accounted for 32 recorded sightings, with another 13 seen within the floriferous grasslands of Baddow Meads. Apart from the ones I have planted in the gardens I manage, I have not been able to track down where the buckthorn is. I am assuming there are shrubs providing a larval food source near me rather than all of the ones I have seen being wanderers from the Danbury Ridge area 3 miles away.

Garden on Meadgate Avenue - Brimstone were seen on 6 occasions, with the first sighting seen on the 14th of March and the last one on the 13th of April. Total: 12
Meadgate Park - Brimstone were seen on 7 occasions, with the first sighting seen on the 20th of March, and the last one on the 23rd of August. Total: 11
Meadgate Fields Open Space - Brimstone were seen on 5 occasion, with the first sighting on the 20th of March, and the final one on the 09th of August. Total: 8
Baddow Hall Park - one early sighting only on the 11th of April. Total: 1
Baddow Meads - Brimstone were seen on 8 occasions with the first sighting on the 26th of March, and the final one seen on the 17th of May. Total: 13

14th & 18th March: Garden on Meadgate Avenue 3

no image

20th March: Garden, Meadgate Park & Meadgate Field Open Space 10

Brimstone male
Meadgate Park 20/03/2024

26th March: Garden, Meadgate Park, & Baddow Meads 9

no image

06th April: Garden on Meadgate Avenue 3

Brimstone male
Garden on Meadgate Avenue 06/04/2024

07/08th April: Meadgate Park & Baddow Meads 3

Brimstone male
Baddow Meads 08/04/2024

11/13th April: Garden, Meadgate Park, Baddow Hall Park, & Baddow Meads 4

Brimstone male
Baddow Hall Park 11/04/2024

25/30th April: Meadgate Fields Open Space & Baddow Meads 3

no image

07/12/15/17th May Meadgate Park & Baddow Meads 4

no image

20th July: Meadgate Fields Open Space 1

no image

01st, 04/09th, & 23rd of August: Meadgate Park & Meadgate Fields Open Space 4

no image

Danbury Common

Danbury Common

Danbury Common is the place to go to see Brimstone in mid-Essex. It has plenty of Buckthorn Rhamnus carthatica as well as abundant all-year-round nectar sources within sheltered heath and open grassland habitats.

10th April: Danbury Common 1

no image

10th May: Danbury Common 37

no image

02nd June: Danbury Common 1

no image

Danbury Ridge Nature Reserves

Danbury Ridge Nature Reserves

13th April: Woodham Walter Common 5

no image

10/20th May: Little Baddow Heath & Pheasanthouse Farm 6

no image

26th July: Lingwood Common 3

no image

05/11th August: Lingwood Common 5

Brimstone male
Lingwood Common 11/08/2024

Maldon Wick

Maldon Wick

Maldon Wick is an Essex Wildlife Trust nature reserve which has an open grassland area, pond, and wooded dis-used railway embankment. The forb-rich meadow is an offset for selling off part of the land to development, which is on both sides of the reserve. It is now very isolated but supports a good range of butterfly species, particularly grassland species and hairstreaks.

10th May & 23rd June Maldon Wick 3

Hockley Woods

Hockley Woods

singles on the 24th May and the 04th July only - no image

Hadleigh Great Wood & Pound Wood

Hadleigh Great Wood & Pound Wood

17th June: Hadleigh Great Wood & Pound Wood 6

no image

and a single at Hadleigh Great Wood on the 04th July - no image

One Tree Hill

One Tree Hill

01st, 05th, & 11th July: One Tree Hill 9

no image

and a single one later in the year on the 13th August - no image

[David Lazarus]

The Butterflies of Essex 2024 Year in Review continued

North Essex

The following locations are where sightings of Brimstone were recorded by me during 2024 within North Essex:

2024 Brimstone recorded sightings
North Essex site locations

Hatfield Forest

Hatfield Forest

A fair few sightings of Brimstone along the rides within the mosaic of wooded areas but they were never really seen in sufficient numbers to be a component of the ride profile, although I did not record a profile in May when numbers may have been more abundant. As it was, like most of the other places in North Essex, apart from Great Holland Pits, sightings were of single individuals that were a pleasant surprise to see. It actually saddens me that numbers are so low.

26th June: Hatfield Forest 1

no image

19th July: Hatfield Forest 7

no image

12th August: Hatfield Forest 7

Brimstone female
Hatfield Forest 12/08/2024

18th September: Hatfield Forest 1

Brimstone male
Hatfield Forest 18/09/2024

Great Holland Pits

Great Holland Pits

Great Holland Pits is the place to visit to see good numbers of Brimstone within the whole of Essex, rivalled only by parts of Epping Forest in East London. As mentioned earlier, this is because the warden has actively supported Brimstone by planting plenty of Buckthorn Rhamnus carthatica. It shows what can be done by pro-active butterfly conservation work to promote the increase in abundance and distribution throughout the whole of Essex which has suitable wooded areas and clay soils that suit this particular shrub - and a mild climate with damp, warm Springs - ideal for this particular species.

12th April: Great Holland Pits 20

Brimstone female ovipositing on Buckthorn Rhamnus carthatica
Great Holland Pits 12/04/2024

02nd May: Great Holland Pits 28 & a single sighting at The Naze

Brimstone female
Great Holland Pits 02/05/2024

Brimstone male
Great Holland Pits 02/05/2024

22nd June: Great Holland Pits 2

no image

18th July: Great Holland Pits 4

Brimstone female
Great Holland Pits 18/07/2024

There were 17 combined sightings along the River Can, West of Chelmsford, and north along the River Chelmer, with singles at Friday Wood & Copperas Wood only.