Signs of Spring - Fritillaries in Flight

RSPB Blean Woods

The magnificent ancient broadleaf woodland of RSPB Blean Woods nature reserve is part of one of the largest found in Southern Britain. Blean Woods provides not only a delightful country walk but presents the average visitor with a plentiful supply of wildlife sightings. Woodpeckers, nightingales, woodcocks and sparrowhawks are just a few of the fascinating bird species which are regularly seen at the reserve; a reserve which lies on the very accessible north-westerly outskirt of Canterbury.

The RSPB’s main aims here are to manage the woodland, to create a mosaic-like structure of varying plant dominating areas that not only benefit birds but all wildlife, with a particular view to encourage the many butterfly species now rare to South East England to once again use the area as their home.

Encouraging Butterflies

Every summer reserve staff carry out butterfly surveys across two sites. In recent years strong populations of ringlet, meadow brown and gatekeeper butterflies have all been recorded but there are still several species which are yet to re-colonise the area. These surveys are essential to the conservation of the area, as they provide an indication to what the RSPB is doing well on site and what else we could do to entice other species to call the reserve their home.

However the site is home to at least 10 colonies of the UK’s most endangered butterfly, the incredibly rare Heath Fritillary; a species that was saved from the brink of extinction in the UK during the 1970’s and has since started to repopulate small areas of open heathland and woodland in South West England and Kent.

Heath Fritillary

The heath fritillaries near extinction occurred due to the dying practice of woodland coppicing. As the practice decreased in many woodlands across the country, heath fritillaries started to disappear. Un-coppiced areas prevent sunlight entering the forest culminating in a lack of warmth in the under canopy for this temperature-sensitive species.

The open spaces created by coppicing are not only essential to the heath fritillary but also to its favourite food-plant, cow wheat.  Cow Wheat is known to grow on the side of trees in order to gain height to absorb as much sunlight as possible within the dark under-canopy. This yellow flowered herb is also the preferred plant, selected as the perfect place for females to lay their eggs as the plant acts as a direct source of food and warmth for any larvae, giving them the best chance of survival to adulthood.

The heath fritillary project at Blean Woods aims to map the location of cow-wheat plants across the forest annually, enabling the staff to select areas of woodland to coppice in order to encourage the population of heath fritillaries to grow.

Have you ever had the privaledge of witnessing a heath fritillary butterfly in flight? They start to fly from around Mid-May all the way until August, but due to their fragmented populations in the South East and South West, it's becoming increasingly difficult to spot them!

If you're down near Canterbury, why not stop by Blean Woods and see if you can catch a glimmer of a flutter?

Has anyone seen any other butterflies around so far this year? Feel free to show me your photos if your not sure on the species!