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Sowing the seeds of love at Frampton...poor Butterflies

A A
17/11/2013 21:43
So they have sowed the seeds of love at Frampton for the sake of the Turtle Dove. All very nice but they have now destroyed one of the best sites for Butterflies and Moths I have ever seen in this county. I have been recording data there for 2 years, sadly this will be no more use. Surely they could have picked a better place than this?
  • 22/11/2013 20:12

    Dear AA,

    Thanks for your comments about the turtle dove seed mix at Frampton.

    The turtle dove mix sown has been established in a 0.25ha 'pollen & nectar mix' block under the government's Environmental Stewardship (ES) scheme around the far side of the reedbed. The mix includes fumitory, a key food plant for turtle dove, but also birdsfoot trefoil, black meddick and clovers, the flowers of which should all attract butterflies and moths as well as turtle doves to their seeds.

    We have trialled various seed mixtures here, some years with more success than others, but, as often happens the latest manifestation had began to become dominated by perennial grasses and other non-flowering plants, making reinstatement desirable. Re-establishing these mixes is recommended every few years, especially if you can't prevent the flowering species from being out competed by grasses etc. I'll not go into more detail of the management options and challenges here, but if you'd like to discuss in more detail please get in touch.

    We have not altered the main block of pollen & nectar mix that runs from the visitor centre to the scrapes. This strip was cut right back in the autumn to try to encourage the flowing species for next year, so fingers crossed.

    You may be pleased to hear that we managed to persuade our neighbouring farmer to sow a similar sized plot of this mix on his land adjacent to our mature hawthorn hedgerow this autumn. This is on land that was in a standard wheat rotation, so in actual fact there will be an increase in the area deliberately managed for butterflies and moths from next spring.

    We also monitor the butterflies and moths and this year we had our first record of marbled white. If you have any records you’d like to pass we’d be pleased to hear from you.

    Best wishes,

    John Badley

    Site manager

  • 23/11/2013 22:57 in reply to John Badley

    Thanks John for taking the time to reply. It was just that my heart sank when I wandered down to the far corner and saw that everything had been ploughed up.

    No doubt you have a good plan in place and I look forward to getting down there next spring. It would be extra special to see the Marbled White and if I do I will let you know.

    regards