Great year for Painted Ladies along the river in Sudbury
AFTER wonderful weather through May and June, July turned out to be rather disappointing.
The weather was often characterised by heavy blustery showers pushed through on strong winds. Indeed strong breezes seemed to have featured almost every day. Temperatures however, tended to keep up as the winds were often from a southerly direction.
In spite of the weather, there was still plenty to see out on the riverside. Many species of butterfly are having their best year for a long time which is heartening to see following on from their worst recorded years of 2007 and 2008.
However, 2009, will be noted as one of the great Painted Lady years. This is the result of favourable weather conditions in North Africa where they begin their incredible journey.
Biodiversity and conservation news is often filled with gloom as much of our wildlife continues to come under pressure for a variety or reasons.
Although the Sudbury riverside constitutes a mere speck of land in the wider scheme of things, it is wonderful to be able to see so much wildlife through the seasons.
It is no coincidence that all the grazing lands managed by the Sudbury Common Lands Charity are designated County Wildlife Sites. Such sites can only be designated if they harbour a wide variety of wildlife including some increasingly uncommon wildlife.
A surprising number of species to be found on our riverside are the result of deliberate introductions or accidental escapes.
Following colonisation and initial population explosions, many of these species find a natural balance along with our native flora and fauna.
The Asian Harlequin ladybird is currently building up large populations although many of our native ladybird species are also having a good year. It was not long ago that the first local Harlequin made the press headlines when it was found in a pub garden in north Essex.
Now these mini-monsters are munching their way through our native ladybird species as well as a range of other insects. In many parts of the world it is now regarded as a nuisance and a pest.
The Harlequin was, ironically, introduced to mainland Europe during the 1980s as a biological pest-control agent, arriving naturally in Britain in 2004.
As a female Harlequin can lay up to 4,000 eggs, not surprisingly numbers may build up rapidly over the coming years.
The ladybird has three distinct adult forms which look like quite separate species. Harlequins are very easy to see and their pupating larvae are also easily spotted on vegetation because they are larger than our native species.
Unlike our attractive native ladybirds, however, the Harlequin may become a species that no-one wants to see.
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Weather for Sudbury
Thursday 09 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -1 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 5 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: -5 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: South east
