I've only just found this thread, but if anyone is still interested, there is a breeding colony of dark green fritillaries not too far away, at Shedden Clough, an upland site between Todmorden and Burnley. There were also a few records from Cragg Vale (Calderdale), a few years back.
Just a reminder, in view of the many butterfly sightings appearing of late on this section of the website, that this year's Big Butterfly Count is now running, with sightings required from 19th July - 10th August inclusive, at www.bigbutterflycount.org . The sighting submission process seems to be quicker and less fussy this year, particularly after your first log in, and the "remember my details" button has been clicked.
As David Lumb says in the original post on this thread, submissions can also be made, throughout the year, either to the county recorder, or via RODIS on the GMLRC site.
This may be particularly useful with regards to the recent Ringlet sightings in the county because there were no confirmed reports of this species anywhere in the Manchester area prior to 2007, when butterflies were seen and photographed at Prettywood, Rochdale, along with a sighting in Etherow Country Park. In 2008, a colony was found in that country park, in grassland by the river. None were seen in 2009 or 2010, but in 2011 several were seen in Flixton, and in July 2011 a large colony numbering c150 was discovered in the Oldham area, to the north of Park Bridge. From its size, it was estimated that the colony may have been established for between 5 and 10 years, but as no records were submitted, and the area was not visited by butterfly ecologists, the colony had gone un-noticed.
The above information has been extracted from the report entitled "Butterflies of Greater Manchester", by Peter Hardy.
The recent sightings suggest that Ringlets are continuing to spread across the county, and the unrecorded colony in Oldham makes one wonder how many bird species may also be unrecorded in underwatched sites in the county? Perhaps this underlines the importance of local patch watching and recording as opposed to solely twitching? Each to their own, of course.
-- Edited by David Walsh on Thursday 24th of July 2014 11:46:31 PM
-- Edited by David Walsh on Friday 25th of July 2014 08:00:55 AM
Records for GM can be sent to the Greater Manchester Recorder Peter Hardy (as quoted above):
Just a reminder, in view of the many butterfly sightings appearing of late on this section of the website, that this year's Big Butterfly Count is now running, with sightings required from 19th July - 10th August inclusive, at www.bigbutterflycount.org . The sighting submission process seems to be quicker and less fussy this year, particularly after your first log in, and the "remember my details" button has been clicked.
As David Lumb says in the original post on this thread, submissions can also be made, throughout the year, either to the county recorder, or via RODIS on the GMLRC site.
This may be particularly useful with regards to the recent Ringlet sightings in the county because there were no confirmed reports of this species anywhere in the Manchester area prior to 2007, when butterflies were seen and photographed at Prettywood, Rochdale, along with a sighting in Etherow Country Park. In 2008, a colony was found in that country park, in grassland by the river. None were seen in 2009 or 2010, but in 2011 several were seen in Flixton, and in July 2011 a large colony numbering c150 was discovered in the Oldham area, to the north of Park Bridge. From its size, it was estimated that the colony may have been established for between 5 and 10 years, but as no records were submitted, and the area was not visited by butterfly ecologists, the colony had gone un-noticed.
The above information has been extracted from the report entitled "Butterflies of Greater Manchester", by Peter Hardy.
The recent sightings suggest that Ringlets are continuing to spread across the county, and the unrecorded colony in Oldham makes one wonder how many bird species may also be unrecorded in underwatched sites in the county? Perhaps this underlines the importance of local patch watching and recording as opposed to solely twitching? Each to their own, of course.
-- Edited by David Walsh on Thursday 24th of July 2014 11:46:31 PM
-- Edited by David Walsh on Friday 25th of July 2014 08:00:55 AM
As Bill Myerscough pointed out again today it is important to keep submitting bird records.
Sending butterfly records to the county recorder are just as important. I sent my photo of the Dark Green Fritillary to Peter Hardy on Saturday to substantiate it, and to confirm this difficult species if the underwing does not show, as mine didn't. This started a debate as to where it had wandered from, with the suspected area being the Peak District as there have been good numbers at a site there this year. The Piethorne Valley sighting maybe backs this up. Other North West breeding areas are the Sefton Coast & Morecambe Bay (Silverdale/Arnside area). Any Dark Green Fritillary sightings will be welcomed by Peter as this is a GM rarity.
GM records can be sent to Peter Hardy, 81 Winstanley Road, Sale, M33 2AT. Email :- pgll@btopenworld.com
