Upper Thames Branch Churchyard Butterfly Survey 2003

Report by Wendy Campbell

As we start the inevitable number-crunching to see whether (as we all no doubt anticipated) 2003 was a remarkable year for butterflies, the first thing I notice is that the number of churchyards being surveyed has dropped rather alarmingly over the last few years. A few questions to those who new Denis Burroughes very well revealed that he used to carry out quite a few churchyard surveys himself and that only his failing health had prevented him from continuing to do them. 

And that’s where I need your help. In order to continue Denis’s excellent work, it’s vital that more churchyards are surveyed. Like our back gardens or the local park, all these parcels of land, however large or small, provide important oases for butterflies and other wildlife. Managed sensitively, they can attract butterflies and even provide suitable breeding habitat. Someone, somewhere, has no doubt calculated how much land there is in our British churchyards. I would hazard a guess that’s it’s more than an acre or two – if I come across the figures I’ll let you know … unless, of course, you already know the answer?

To become a surveyor, all you need is a pencil and a survey form to write down what butterflies you see. If you want to be more scientific then training can be arranged to help you identify the plants. A sketchmap of the churchyard is a bonus and brings out the artistic side in some surveyors! If you don’t know of a suitable church to survey, then let me know and we can find one near to where you live.

So what did 2003 bring us?  Well, lots of sunshine and it continued very late into the autumn. Was this reflected in the count of butterflies in our churchyards?  Mostly, yes. Compared to 2002 you will see from the comparison table that all but 5 species had a better season.

Here are some of the highlights:

The top churchyard for 2003, recording 20 butterfly species, was the Holy Trinity in Henley, surveyed by Mr Litchfield. This churchyard has wildflower gardens with a variety of plants including Marjoram and Honesty. It is surrounded on most sides by walls or privet hedging and has a patchwork of grass mown to different lengths.

Margaret Grant is the surveyor and also conservation manager of second place St Denys' Church, Stanford-in-the-Vale, where she recorded 18 species during the year. This churchyard has a working management plan.

Third place goes to St John’s Church, Stone, surveyed by Michael Pitt-Payne. Not only did he record 16 species of butterfly, but also provided some stunning photographs of the churchyard and its butterfly visitors. A Clouded Yellow was also seen in an adjacent field - just outside the churchyard unfortunately!

Four churchyards recorded 14 species of butterfly:  Swallowfield surveyed by Jan Haseler, Beckley and Stanton St. John, both surveyed by Dorothy Vincent, and Benson surveyed by Richard Soulsby. Richard comments that he was unable to find any Holly Blue larvae in the spring – this is one of the butterflies which seems to have suffered a poor year in 2003.

Simon Hill’s extremely detailed survey of St Peter’s churchyard in Iver deserves a special mention. A vast amount of valuable information was provided about the plants and habitats at this site where 12 butterfly species were recorded.

The butterflies recorded most frequently were the Gatekeeper (240), Meadow Brown (235) and Small White (210).  The Red Admiral had an excellent year, being recorded in twice as many churchyards as in 2002.

 Most noticeable - and pleasing - is that the Small Tortoiseshell made such a big comeback in 2003 and I suspect many of you observed this in your gardens and the countryside during the year.  One keen-eyed surveyor noted 100+ Small Tortoiseshell larvae on nettles in his churchyard in May, showing how important it is to encourage the people who maintain the churchyards to allow the odd ‘untidy’ patch of nettles to grow.

Another winner this year was the Small Copper with 22% of churchyards recording the species this year against zero in 2001 & 2002.
Also noteworthy is that several surveyors recorded seeing the Hummingbird Hawk Moth in their respective churchyards. Large numbers of this immigrant moth were reported in 2003. Other moths reported were Six-spot Burnet and Silver Y Moth.

Without doubt, the most successful churchyards are those with a variety of habitats: areas of short and long grass, wild flowers, some trees, shrubs and food plants for larvae.

Thank you to all the churchyard surveyors. I hope this report shows that your hard work is appreciated and beneficial to butterflies.
If you would like to join the team of surveyors please get in touch with me by email:  wendy.campbell6@btopenworld.com or see my contact details at the back of a UTB Newsletter.