The Lincolnshire Bird Club

Hi

Ed and Monica Mackrill found a male Chalkhill Blue at Gib yesterday - its origins are a complete mystery - I dont think there is an existing colony left in Lincs ?

Kev

To see 'relatively local' Chalkhill Blues, Lincs butterfliers are resigned to going to Cambridgeshire - to the 50 acre Barnack Hills and Holes Nature Reserve, between Stamford and Peterborough. Chalkhill Blues (along with Marbled White, Brown Argus and Green Hairstreak) breed there on the grassy slopes amid the rubble of a mediaeval quarry.
The sighting of a Chalkhill Blue at Gibraltar Point is indeed a a mystery. Perhaps a phantom release practitioner has been active yet again........eg. as per the Silver Washed Fritillary release of pupae at Southrey Wood in 2012 (the adults later seen there may have bred, producing Hugh Middleton's recent 2013 sighting), the Black Hairstreak release at Chambers, etc., etc.

Freddy

The mystery deepens regarding the silver washed. Yes apart from this year I also saw one in 2012 -the year of the release.
BUT I also saw and photographed one in 2011!

Hugh

I understand that the 2011 butterfly was also considered of dubious origin. The mystery to me is who released it illegally without the landowner's permission?

After all, their nearest known 'natural' breeding site is scores of miles from Southrey Wood and well outside Lincolnshire itself. SWF is not regarded as a distance traveller.

Freddy

Freddy,
When I was Education Ranger at Chambers Farm Wood some years ago it was plagued with similar unauthorised releases. When I approached the then members of Butterfly Conservation they were pretty certain who was responsible. If you look at the entry in this section on July 21st 2006 headed "Fritillary at Chambers" it will provide some background. I have sent a private message with the details I can remember.
Regards,
Stuart

Stuart,

I was interested in reading your post on the delicate subject of illegal butterfly releases. Along with the committee of the Lincs Branch of BC and some 'ordinary' members, I not only know the name of the man allegedly responsible for the major Chambers releases, including recent ones; I also know his home town and his preferred mode of travel to release sites.

He is not the only release activist. For example, another man, whose identity is also known to the committee, was responsible for the release of the Silver Washed Fritillary pupae in Southrey Wood in 2012 and possibly in other years.

As one can imagine, illegal release is a nightmare for the county butterfly recorder. Is such and such a Lincs sighting of a rare butterfly of one that arrived in Lincs 'naturally' or is it another release? In that way, a possible natural spread of a certain rare species may be considered release-based or perhaps it's down to 'on balance, we believe...'

Inevitably, questions have arisen over the Robert's Field Dark Green Fritillaries. Are they releases or are they, perhaps, the result of a natural spread from a neighbouring county?

By and large, birders don't have to deal with deliberate releases. We have the historical records of the fraudulent collecting and recording of rare birds (eg. the infamous Hastings Rarities saga) and of Colonel Richard Henry Meinerzhagen's fraudulent activities, but both events date back to the early years of the 20th century. On the other hand, there's not much chance of a Mr.X releasing a batch of half a dozen Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters at Gibraltar Point or a Black Lark or two at Frampton.

Freddy