Warm weather benefitting butterflies but rain would also help, says Worcestershire Wildlife Trust
The Butterfly Conservation charity said last month the warm weather could put the UK on course for a 'bumper' season of butterfly numbers
Butterflies seem to be enjoying the current warm weather but the dry spell is also a bit of a concern, the Worcestershire Wildlife Trust has said.
Three heatwaves have occurred across both counties this year, with the Environment Agency declaring drought status for the West Midlands last week after it had earlier been classed as being in a prolonged spell of dry weather.
The Butterfly Conservation charity recently said last month the warm spells mixed with the odd bit of rain create "ideal conditions" for butterflies.
It also mentioned how the country's most recognisable and loved species have already had a "better-than-average year", which appeared to have set them up for an "abundant summer".
Senior landscape recovery officer for Worcestershire Wildlife Trust, Rhona Goddard, who work with the Butterfly Conservation team to look after Monkwood Nature Reserve in the county, said the weather was good for them there but rain would help the plants they need.
"The heat that we've had seems to be benefitting our butterflies at the moment, but my one worry is with the heat and the drought you then lose some of the plant species," she said.
"Some of the plants are going brown, so from the drought they're dying, and because of that, if the butterfly loads its egg on that plant, the caterpillar may not emerge.
"There may not be enough food plant for it, so it might not necessarily survive until the next year, so we need a bit of rain really just to keep the wildflowers flowering and to be able to support all the lovely inverts that we've got here."
One project at the nature reserve has seen the two charities work together to reintroduce wood white butterflies to it.
The specie hadn't been recorded there since back in 2008, but over the course of 2016 and 2017 they released 30 of them in a bid to boost their numbers.
133 wood whites were recorded during one visit in mid May back in 2018, but last year's surveys saw over 700 picked up on the site.
Rhona said they work hard to help make the space as friendly as possible to help encourage all the different kinds of species.
"One of the many reasons really why the butterflies are doing so well here is because it is a well-managed site," she said.
"It’s got lots of lovely open spaces around it, lovely wide woodland rides with lots of flowers coming up and flowering.
"We’ve got some coppice coups, we've got some wide rides, we've got some glades, so that combination of management seems to be benefitting our butterflies."
People are being reminded to help track the number of butterflies they see as part of the Big Butterfly Count which runs until the 9 August, to help the likes of conservationists build a bigger picture of how the insect is doing.