BUTTERFLY CONSERVATION UPPER THAMES BRANCH
Silver-spotted Skippers in 2007
Richard Soulsby
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Silver-spotted Skipper Photo © Richard Soulsby |
Despite the cool, wet summer weather, the populations of Silver-spotted Skipper at the stronger sites seem to have held up. However, there was a lack of sightings from sites in the northeast part of the Chilterns (Princes Risborough - Wendover area), with only one individual being reported. In normal years there is a sprinkling of sightings in low numbers at several sites in this area.
Numbers of Silver-spotted Skipper have been recorded every few days through the flight season on a 1km single-species transect at a reasonably strong site in Oxfordshire since 2003. The peak numbers seen (in any one walk) in each year were:
| 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 |
| 64 | 40 | 34 | 63 | 66 |
Within the limits of natural variation, this is interpreted as remaining stable.
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Silver-spotted Skipper (m.) Photo © Richard Soulsby |
The cool, wet weather from May to August delayed the flight season compared with 2006. The first reported sighting of the year was on 27th July and the last on 22nd September. This is the latest sighting of Silver-spotted Skipper ever reported in the Upper Thames region.
March 2008
