#27 Grayling by Paul Leonard
Meet Paul Leonard, manager of the Rotherham Biological Records Centre!
Paul has worked for the Countryside Service (and its various derivatives) of Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council since 1986, and he is currently 12 years into his role as manager of the Rotherham Biological Records Centre. In his spare time, he is an avid, lifelong birder and middling hoverfly addict, scientific and natural history artist and illustrator, and listener of 1970s progressive rock!
Grayling (female), Parkgate, Rotherham, 17/07/21.
Paul’s chosen species is the Grayling Hipparchia semele. The Grayling is a medium sized butterfly that usually occurs on coastal habitats such as dunes, saltmarsh, undercliffs, and clifftops. Inland colonies inhabit dry heathland, chalk grassland, quarries, and derelict industrial sites such as spoil heaps – they favour bare ground, well-drained soils, and sparse vegetation. Grayling are cryptically coloured, mostly mottled brown in colour with pale orange bands observable in flight, which is characteristically looping and gliding. Resting with their wings closed however, they’re often difficult to spot. In Yorkshire, the Grayling is rare, a very localised resident with a patchy distribution. Declining around the UK, particularly from inland habitats, it is a Biodiversity Action Plan priority species and is also listed as a species of principal importance under the NERC (Natural Environment and Rural Communities) Act in England. You can find out more about the Grayling through the NBN Atlas.
Paul first stumbled across the species in Rotherham at a council-owned brownfield site on his local birding patch in 2018, about 15 minutes from his home.
‘During the summer months when birding can be a bit ‘steady’, my attention wanders to other taxon groups with butterflies being a highly visible alternative. My first totally unexpected encounter came when an unidentified ‘brown’ lifted from a bare, sun-drenched path, almost at my feet, and looped rapidly away before settling again about ten metres ahead of me. The butterfly’s ‘jizz’ (a birding term for the overall impression of a bird garnered from its shape, posture, flying style etc.) told me it was something that I hadn’t seen before and this time I stalked it to within a metre, admiring its superb camouflage against the stony backdrop and firing off a few photographs before it again took flight and disappeared – I had literally ‘got the bug’!’.
Having successfully identified Grayling in the area, the following summer Paul tried again at around the same date, striking lucky again. Over the years, he has continued to find them at the same site, in the same two-week period, remaining equally enthralled. Alongside giving him great satisfaction, this has also allowed him to learn about their habits and habitat requirements. Given the scarcity of the species in Yorkshire and the discovery of a small but apparently constant population on his patch, Paul decided to try to raise the profile of the site with the aim of tweaking its management in favour of the Grayling and hopefully growing the population.
‘In summer 2021 I encouraged local councillors and members of the Friends group to attend a site meeting at which I told the Grayling’s story and there was much enthusiasm to develop and manage the site with the species in mind. With help and encouragement from Nick Hall of the Yorkshire Branch of Butterfly Conservation, I am preparing a simple management plan which will hopefully get the local community involved in expanding the suitable habitat on site with a little physical - but no financial - input and hopefully we can increase the population. My hope is then to have the site designated as a Local Wildlife Site (LWS) to further raise its profile and afford it some protection. In the sidelines, moves are also afoot to enlist the help of nearby Liberty Steels on whose land there is probably more extensive Grayling habitat, thus creating links for further expansion.’
Grayling (male), Parkgate, Rotherham, 11/07/21. Here you can see the pale orange on the wing, usually only visible in flight.
With this input from Paul and the help of Butterfly Conservation and the local community, it is hoped that Grayling can develop strongholds in our region and potentially expand its range from the isolated sites it is currently known to inhabit. Unfortunately, the 2022 surveying season yielded no adult Grayling, largely due to dry conditions early on in the season parching grasslands, leaving them open to fires. Paul hopes that this vulnerable population hasn’t been eradicated, and his efforts to designated the site as a Local Wildlife Site are still going ahead, perhaps now more necessary than ever.
As with other instalments in this series, Paul’s story also acts as another example of the amazing things that can be found right outside our front doors when we make the effort to get out and look - what will you find on your patch?
Monitoring
Monitoring in Yorkshire is carried out by Butterfly Conservation (Yorkshire Branch) and its members, though the task is difficult as many of the sites where Grayling is found – or might be found – have restricted or no access. Its foothold in Yorkshire is tenuous as natural succession and/or development of brownfield sites destroys its favoured habitat. If you find yourself in habitat that might be suitable for Grayling, do keep an eye out and make sure to submit your records to your Local Ecological Records Centre and/or recording scheme.
Further information and acknowledgements
NEYEDC would like to thank Paul for his time and expertise in helping to create this blog.