The Branch has had another active year with representation at Branch Chairs’ bimonthly online meetings. We are welcoming help from BC HQ in finding a Chairman for the Branch to bring energy and interest to the area in the future. 

The Branch AGM in November 2023 welcomed Flora Tiley speaking about Bristol as an urban landscape and how this affected butterfly friendly spaces. Stephen Gray described the thinking behind one of Butterfly Conservation’s three goals – creating 10,000 wild spaces for butterflies and moths. 

For the Spring Members Meeting in March we joined forces with the Somerset Moth Group who held their AGM in the morning, and then Rob Grimmond gave a talk on the ‘Magic of Moths’.  Ross Harley, the County Butterfly Recorder for Somerset, gave a thoughtful presentation on the state of butterflies in Somerset as shown by the 70,000 records that he had received for Vice Counties 5 and 6. Finally, we were delighted to welcome Jeremy Thomas who is well-known for his ground-breaking research into the life cycle of the Large Blue, now thriving on several Somerset sites notably Collard Hill.

We have decided to continue having our meetings in Draycott Memorial Hall.  It is close to the geometric centre of the Branch area and is quite close to Bristol and Bath where there are many BC members.  We are having future  meetings earlier in the day – starting at 11.00 and finishing at 14.00 to avoid the necessity of driving home in the dark if returning to the farthest corners of the Branch area.

Members of the Branch have taken part in a variety of events across the  area.  Ben Barker organised an ‘Insect Day’ event in Bristol in early May, which drew together a variety of groups in Bristol with wildlife friendly objectives.  Ellie Wyatt initiated joining in the Exmoor Festival in Nettlecombe Court at the end of May and Angus Walker led a stand at the Bristol Festival of Nature. Tony Spiess organised participation in the Scythe Fair in June and in the same month there was an identification event for Exmoor volunteers in Heddon Valley. Elizabeth Atkinson led participation in the Somerset Wildways event in Horner Wood in August and no doubt, there are some others I don’t know the details of.  More help is needed for running such events so don’t be shy and make contact if you are able to take part.

There is a great deal of effort being put into getting old recording transects running again, thank you Fred Giles and Lauren Holt, as well as many new sites being managed for their wildlife and for which butterfly monitoring is being enthusiastically started up.

The creation of the Mendip National Nature Reserve along with an equivalent on the Levels and Moors means that groups of landowners are getting together to work at management across the area at Landscape scale. Butterfly Conservation is one of these partners.  Max Anderson, as Landscape Officer for Devon and Somerset, has been actively involved and supportive of the volunteers involved in the four BC owned or managed reserves across Somerset. 

Ian Walker is taking initiatives for Mount Fancy BC Reserve on the Blackdown Hills.  Thank you to Tony and Anna Spiess for their work on Mount Fancy over several years.  Diana Downs and a small team of transect walkers are monitoring Haddon Moor, known for its Small Pearl-bordered Fritillaries, and Haddon Hill where there are Heath Fritillaries. We are most grateful to all these people for their energy and enthusiasm.

Angus Walker, funded by a BC administered National Lottery project, has been running a Wild Spaces in Schools scheme based in Bristol.  He has been working in schools, particularly in the more deprived areas of Bristol and Weston-super Mare.  He is working closely with Lucy Greenslade who continues to be funded by the Branch for her excellent work in schools; this is the Munching Caterpillars project, particularly in the Weston area.  This is an exciting and innovative project that is very much raising the profile of butterflies and moths in these local schools.  Ellie Wyatt is pursuing a project based in the Heddon Valley to encourage and enable increases in the various fritillaries of the area, particularly the High Brown. 

It would be great if the High Brown were to return to West Somerset as a result of her efforts just over the border in Devon. She is talking about her project at our AGM on November 23rd 2024.

The committee have continued to work effectively in keeping the Branch functioning.  Many thanks to: Jen who keeps up our website and social media presence and facilitates our Zoom committee meetings, Ross who keeps track of the hundreds of thousands of records and analyses them, Alison who organises the Guided Walks programme and does numerous other administrative tasks, Nick our Treasurer who keeps the accounts so that we can use our income responsibly and effectively and runs the raffles at meetings. Thanks to Sue for organising and producing 3 editions of Arion with so much aplomb and determination and to the other members on the committee for their participation in decision making.

Peter Bright    

Acting Chairman    

Written 26th August 2024   

Published in Arion 128