Fife and Clackmannanshire Butterfly Report 2019 Gillian Fyfe and Elspeth Christie, County Recorders for Fife and Clackmannanshire

Home , Clackmannanshire, Kirkcaldy (district), Morton Lochs

Looking back at 2019, it was a year dominated by the huge influx of Painted Lady. With over 50,000 recorded across Fife and Clacks surely no one could have missed seeing one! Numerous recorders, many new to recording, expressed delight at seeing such a wonderful spectacle in their own gardens.

County recorders don’t often receive records for new species so we were delighted to receive records from Diane Wilson for a Small Skipper and a Wall in Fife last summer. Well done Diane!

Astonishingly over 88,000 individual records were received for the two counties, four times higher than in 2018.

Nationally 2019 was an excellent year for butterflies with records from the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (UKBMS) indicating that the year was the 8th best over a 44 year series. The UKBMS includes data from thousands of locations across the UK where butterflies are monitored regularly. In Fife & Clacks we have 7 sites where transects are walked by volunteers every week from the start of April to the end of September. In addition, a network of Wider Countryside Butterfly Survey (WCBS) Grid squares are monitored by Butterfly Conservation or Breeding Bird Survey volunteers. Scotland had 6 species that had record abundances in 2019: Chequered Skipper, Orange-tip, Speckled Wood, Pearl Bordered Fritillary, Painted Lady and Peacock.

Further information about the UKBMS can be found online with specific reports available at https://www.ukbms.org/reportsAndPublications

Butterfly Roundup

The first Small Skipper in Fife was recorded at Carlingnose Point Nature Reserve at North Queensferry on 24th July 2019. The excellent photos confirm that it was a female. Further searches a few days later drew a blank. If you are able to visit Carlingnose later this summer please keep an eye open for this tiny butterfly - we will be delighted to receive more records for this newcomer to the county!

Small Skipper. Photo: Diane Wilson

The Wall was recorded south of Kirkcaldy near Seafield on 15th August 2019. The only previous record of Wall in Fife was in May 1870 at Newport-on-Tay in the northeast of the County. There are thought to have been Walls as far north as Aberdeenshire in early Victorian times. Given the gap of over 100 years we consider the Wall to be a new species. In June 2019 a Wall was also recorded at Loch Leven just over the County boundary in Kinross-shire.

Wall. Photo: Diane Wilson

As with the Wall and Small Skipper, new species tend to turn up first along the south coast of Fife. This pattern was evident with the Speckled Wood first recorded on the coast of Fife in 2014 near Elie. By 2018 Speckled Wood had expanded north into central Fife and as far as the north coast.

Fewer Large White, Small White and Green-veined White were recorded across Fife and Clacks than in 2018. Orange-tip were seen in good numbers (529 individuals), with eggs and larvae also reported.

The Green Hairstreak was recorded at 6 sites in 2019 with by far the highest numbers recorded at Dun Moss (60) on the 11th May, and Lockshaw Moss (79) on the 12th of May. In total 218 records of this lovely butterfly were received, almost four times the number in 2018.

The rare Purple Hairstreak which relies on oaks trees, was confirmed at Inverkeithing, Tillycoultry, Alva and Inzievar Woods near Oakley. 26 records were received from 23rd July to 1st August.

Small Copper numbers were down slightly compared to 2018 with 1432 records. Sadly, this wee gem of a butterfly is in decline nationally, although the larval food plants, Common and Sheep’s Sorrel, remain common.

The Northern Brown Argus had a great year at Kincraig near Elie. Hamish Johnston monitors the population here, recording 109 over the season which is roughly the number present in 2013 prior to the devastating fire that seriously damaged the coastal grassland. It is great to see this population bouncing back with the larval food plant, Rockrose recovering well after the fire. Records also came from Alva Glen, Craigleith (Alva), Myreton Hill, (Menstrie), Kinghorn, Seafield near Kirkcaldy and Pettycur.

The Common Blue appeared to have a poor year in 2019 with 314 records. This is about half the number of records received in 2018.

A tantalising record of a Holly Blue in Cupar reached us, however we unfortunately could not verify it due to the lack of photographic evidence. So keep your eyes peeled around the holly and the ivy!

The Vanessids enjoyed a wonderful year in 2019. As well as the Painted Lady bonanza there were higher numbers of Red Admiral, Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell recorded.

Astonishing numbers of Painted Lady butterflies were recorded with early sightings in February followed by steady records throughout June. The peak in numbers occurred from 28th to 31st July, with the last sightings at the start of October. Incredible numbers were counted on the Isle of May on the 28th and 29th July when an estimated 10,000 were seen each day passing through the island heading to the mainland. A ‘kaleidoscope’ of butterflies if ever there was one! Over 30,000 were recorded on the island throughout the season, helping to push the total for Fife & Clacks to over 50,000 for the year.

Over 2650 records were received for Small Tortoiseshell, a four-fold increase on 2018.

The Red Admiral turned up in high numbers on the Isle of May in late August and early September. Estimates of 1,000 were seen on the 1st and 7th of September. Over the course of 2019 over 15,000 were recorded on the island making up the bulk of the 17,000 records received across Fife & Clacks in 2019.

4027 Peacock were recorded in 2019, almost double the number in 2018.

Comma Larva. Photo: Deirdre Munro

In 2019 the Comma was recorded at slightly lower levels than in 2018 with 85 recorded across Fife and Clacks. This is still a relatively new species (first record 2003) to the area and is now being recorded widely across both counties. Deirdre Munro sent in the first record of a Comma larva in the area.

Fritillaries The large, fast flying Dark Green Fritillary was recorded at around 10 sites in 2019. With 240 records submitted this was about twice the number for 2018

The Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary was recorded at only 6 sites in 2019 with a total of 44 records sightings at Tentsmuir, Holl Meadows, Lochore, Inzievar Woods, Auchtermuchty Common and Dollar Glen. Fewer were seen than in 2018.

Browns The total number of Grayling in 2019 was 349 compared with 59 in 2018; this probably reflects increased recorder effort in 2019. Surveys took place in north east Fife including along the Tentsmuir coast. The first comprehensive survey of an interesting moth-balled quarry took place in mid August with Butterfly Conservation volunteers and quarry staff finding at least 12 Grayling along with many other butterflies. Grayling were first recorded here in 2010 by George Adam. The main stronghold for Grayling runs from Tentsmuir Point, south down the coast to Kinshaldy and beyond to Reres Wood north of the Eden estuary. The map below shows the distribution in the last decade. Black dots indicate multiple records.

A Butterfly Conservation field trip in early August surveyed the coastal strip north and south of Kinshaldy recording 40 Grayling. Despite good numbers around Kinshaldy, sightings on the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme transects at Tentsmuir National Nature Reserve show a long term reduction. Monitoring began in 1978 with over 1000 Grayling recorded in a season. In 2019 only 11 were recorded on the two transects at Tentsmuir - a catastrophic decline. Local volunteers and Scottish Natural Heritage were fortunate to have expert advice from Butterfly Conservation staff on a site visit this February; following on from this, plans are being developed to improve habitat management for Grayling and other sand dune invertebrates.

Grayling distribution in Fife 2010-2019.

Meadow Brown and Ringlet fared better in 2019 in comparison with 2018. Both species were seen at about double the number of 2018 records. Small Heath did slightly better with just over 900 records.

Speckled Wood The Speckled Wood has continued its dramatic expansion throughout Fife over the last few years. The first record was at Shell Bay near Elie on 22 August 2014. Four more coastal records followed in 2016 at Crail, Burntisland and Dalgety Bay (2). The following year five records came in from St Andrews, Crail, Fife Ness and the Isle of May (2).

Records from 2018 indicated a spread north through Fife as far as the Tay estuary. In 2018 a total of 46 Speckled Wood were recorded in Fife. In 2019 50 were recorded with most records coming from the south Fife coast. Other records came in from Ceres, Morton Lochs and Tentsmuir. Historically, Speckled Wood was widely distributed throughout England and into southern Scotland, however its range declined from the 1860s onwards (J. Thomas & R. Lewington, 2014. The Butterflies of Britain & Ireland). By the 1920s it was mostly confined to the south of England and Wales. A gradual expansion from that time has seen populations spread northwards again. The population spreading across Fife is likely to have originated from colonies of the subspecies tercis in the Borders and Lothians. A separate population of Speckled Wood (oblita) in the northwest Highlands has also expanded its range.

Speckled Wood. Photo: Stephen Buckland

2020 highlights so far …. With the coronavirus pandemic keeping everyone close to home throughout the spring and early summer we are getting some interesting records coming in as recorders scour their gardens and local environment for butterflies. The wonderful spring weather helped immensely with numerous butterflies to brighten up local walks.

We have received good numbers of sightings of Orange-tip. A new site for Green Hairstreak has been located near Cupar by Susan Falconer, and records submitted for Tayport Heath further west than previous historic records. These delightful wee butterflies have also been recorded in 2020 on Lucklawhill near Balmullo, Tentsmuir Point, West Lomond near Drumdreel Plantation, Harperleas Reservoir and Lochmill Loch. A new site for Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary has been found by Duncan Davidson near Auchtermuchty.

2020 Opportunities

Butterfly Conservation Scotland is running a Small Copper survey this year as all sightings are valuable as we try to understand the reason for its decline. Please submit sightings online, including the date, number seen, location and grid reference or postcode at www.butterfly-conservation.org/scottishsmallcopper, or by your usual route.

Local Wildlife Sites (LWS) are important areas for locally, and sometimes nationally scarce species and habitats. In Fife these sites were last surveyed about 20 years ago. Fife Council is currently carrying out Phase 1 habitat surveys of all Fife’s LWS and local naturalists are encouraged to contribute records. If you would like to survey butterflies, or in fact any other taxa on a LWS please contact Kirsty Orr ([email protected]) at Fife Council to find out how you can contribute to this worthwhile project.

The Wider Countryside Butterfly Survey monitors squares randomly allocated in Fife & Clacks. Several squares were not covered in 2019 and the organisers are looking for people to adopt a square. The survey requires 2 visits a year in July and August so provide ideal opportunities for newer recorders. If you live near any of the following squares and would be interested in monitoring please contact Richard Buckland the WCBS co-ordinator for Butterfly Conservation at [email protected]. Squares – NO4603 (Balchrystie), NO5115 (St Andrews), NO3006 (Kettlebridge), NO2306 (Falkland Hills), NO2920 (Ayton Hill), NO2602 (Glenrothes).

Target Species: please look out for Small Skipper and Wall later in the summer along the south coast of Fife. Speckled Wood records are also really valuable to help us gauge their expansion across the county. For all three species photos are required for verification.

How to send in records: 1. Via email at [email protected]. Please include the date, number seen, location and grid reference or postcode. It really helps us if you include the name of the nearest village or town. 2. If you have lots of records please consider using our dedicated spreadsheet. Available from us via email or download from the website of the East of Scotland Branch of Butterfly Conservation. (https://butterfly- conservation.org/in-your-area/east-scotland-branch/recording-butterflies-and-moths) 3. Via iRecord – either through the iRecord website or App. Again, please put the name of the nearest village or town in the “location” box. Those that say ‘in my garden ’or ‘the woods’ take much longer to process! 4. By submitting to another recording scheme for example Fife Nature (https://beautiful.fife.scot /fifenature-records-centre) or The Wildlife Information Centre (TWIC) – https://www.wildlifeinformation.co.uk.)

Please ensure you do not duplicate records by sending them to more than one recording scheme. We share our records with iRecord, FifeNature and TWIC and vice versa.

How to contact us: by email at [email protected]

Information: For lots more butterfly (and moth) information, including events visit the East Scotland Branch website https://butterfly-conservation.org/in-your-area/east-scotland-branch.

Thanks to all our Recorders: Many thanks to all of you who took time to send records in during 2019. All your hard work is much appreciated and is essential for monitoring and helping butterflies. If you were new to recording in 2019 we hope you will continue this year. Particular thanks to our ‘Super Recorders’ in 2019 – George Adam, Stephen Buckland, Glyn Edwards, Norman Elkins, George Guthrie, Hamish Johnston, Alastair Milne, Simon Pinder, and Diane Wilson. The work of the wonderful teams of Transect Walkers who monitor the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme transects across Fife & Clacks is also much appreciated - Alva Glen: Glyn Edwards; Morton Lochs: Gerry Callaghan; Lochore Meadows: George Guthrie, Diane Wilson, Derek Robertson and another recorder; Auchtermuchty Common: Nick Ince and another recorder; Kincraig: Hamish Johnston; Tentsmuir Point North: Ailsa Malcolm, Elspeth Christie, Tom Cunningham, Ruth Blackburn, Marijke Leith and Tentsmuir Point South: Daphne Macfarlane Smith, Gillian Fyfe. Many thanks to Paul Blackburn, Philippa Kingston and Helen McLaren who monitor Wider Countryside Butterfly Survey squares.