Dingy Skipper butterfly colonises ex collieries in Nottinghamshire
02/09/2006 00:00:00More stories about butterflies and moths
Dingy Skipper butterfly
- The Dingy Skipper often basks on bare ground with wings spread wide, but in dull weather and at night it perches on the tops of dead flower heads in a moth-like fashion with wings curved in a position not seen in any other British butterfly. This small brown and grey butterfly is extremely well camouflaged. It is locally distributed throughout Britain and Ireland, but has declined seriously in recent years.
The former Shirebrook colliery tips have been restored by Nottinghamshire County Council as part of a £14m project to reclaim eight former colliery sites across Nottinghamshire. Working with the Forestry Commission, the sites have been transformed into new woodlands for the public to enjoy, while offering a diverse range of habitats for wildlife. Now as part of a wider butterfly conservation scheme, the public are being asked to help with an exciting conservation project. To the delight of conservationists, the regionally rare Dingy Skipper butterfly has colonised parts of the wood. Over recent decades the species has undergone a steep decline due habitat loss and its critical reliance on one food plant - Common Bird's-foot-trefoil.
But now help is at hand.
Working with the East Midlands branch of Butterfly Conservation, an area of conifer and scrub is to be cleared to create more open grassland. Wild flowers, including Birds-foot-trefoil, will also be sown and track sides ‘scalloped’ to provide favourable conditions for the species.
A conservation day is being held on Saturday 24th March to get the work underway, meeting at the wood car park off a minor road just north of Sookholme. The public can come along and do their bit to ensure a brighter future for the Dingy Skipper, explains community ranger, Vince Lennox from the Forestry Commission: ‘The conifers were finding it tough to grow in this specific area because of a drainage problem, which has now been fixed. So it seemed a good plan to diversify the habitat and help the Dingy Skipper. With most of the engineering done, all the hard work at Shirebrook is paying dividends, creating a great place for both people and wildlife.’
Jane Ellis from the Butterfly Conservation Trust added: ‘The Dingy Skipper has had a tough time in Nottinghamshire due to the loss of some of its prime breeding areas on old pit spoil mounds, so it needs all the help we can give it. The fringes and rides of the pit woods are offering opportunities to help such species and Butterfly Conservation is pleased to be working with Nottinghamshire County Council to give this species a helping hand.’
