Butterflies bring colour to dark days for nature
THE butterfly boom has been hailed by the National Trust as one of the nature highlights of the year after migrant species benefited from the warm weather.
Many people noticed the brilliant red influx of painted lady butterflies, which thrived in record-breaking heat and turned this year into a once-in-adecade “painted lady summer”.
Among other migrants spotted were the long-tailed blue butterfly, from the Mediterranean. It set new records, with 50 seen along the south coast of England, mating and laying eggs.
The Clifden nonpareil, a moth which became extinct as a resident species in the UK in the Sixties but has been trying to re-establish itself, was recorded at Killerton in Devon, with many more spotted in the south of the country.
There were also high numbers of migrant dragonflies, including the redveined darter and vagrant emperor, in June, July and August.
Southern migrant hawker dragonflies, which first bred in the UK in 2010, consolidated their numbers and possibly colonised new counties in Dorset and Yorkshire, while the small redeyed damselfly made it to Lancashire.
Birds not usually seen this side of the Atlantic also spent their summers in Britain, with experts saying it could have been due to the heatwave.
Visitors included a first sighting of the brown booby, usually at home in the Caribbean, and the American black tern and a red-eyed vireo were spotted in the autumn, probably blown off course by weather systems.
Orchid-spotters enjoyed a bumper year in 2019, as the dry weather meant that the plants did not face as much competition from grasses.
Bee orchids, dark-red helleborine and green-winged orchids were seen flourishing in places including southeast Cumbria.
The February heatwave, which saw British people basking in temperatures approaching 20C (68F) caused an influx of early migrant birds.
Birdwatchers reported seeing migrant species including swallows, house martins and sand martins, and butterflies such as the peacock and brimstone, out in the sunshine.
The National Trust has blamed the unusual weather on climate change. And its experts warn that although butterflies coming from warmer climes did well,native wildlife is suffering.
Ben Mccarthy, head of conservation and restoration ecology at the trust, said: “Sightings of migrant insects and birds are becoming more common. This is a result of our changing climate.
“Although this can seem exciting, the obvious flipside is how these changes will start to affect some of our native species already under pressure from intensive land use, habitat fragmentation and climate change.”
Puffins and other seabirds in the Farne Islands had a tough year after heavy rain meant their chicks were drowned in June, and water voles in the Yorkshire Dales suffered in the floods.
Natterjack toads suffered the opposite problem, with pools of water in their dune habitat drying out in May and June, wiping out spawn and tadpoles, while another breeding attempt in August was ruined by exceptionally high spring tides.
The National Trust has warned that it and other agencies are going to have to work harder to protect native species from increasingly erratic weather in coming years.
Keith Jones, a climate change expert at the Trust said: “This year’s changeable weather is a symptom of the warming climate.
“The more our temperatures go up, the more erratic our weather will become. This will force changes to the life cycles of many species as food webs are knocked out of sync.”