Big butterfly count reveals that bad weather was bad for most butterflies

Washout summer hampers butterflies

September 2012. This wettest summer for a century saw the numbers of many common butterflies fall, the world's biggest butterfly count has revealed. More than 25,000 people across the UK took part in the Big Butterfly Count 2012, counting over 223,000 butterflies and day-flying moths.

75% species declined in the last year
But the Butterfly Conservation survey revealed the numbers of 15 of the 21 species studied fell compared with last year's figures and 11 common butterflies declined by more than one third. Butterfly Conservation is concerned that the wettest summer for 100 years, combined with a poor spring has triggered population crashes and could put some already threatened species at risk.

Cold and wet weather is bad news
Cold and wet weather is a dangerous double whammy for butterflies - it increases the mortality of caterpillars and also limits the ability of adult butterflies to find mates and lay eggs, which leads to reduced numbers in current and future generations.

Read on:  http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/butterfly-count012.html

Wet weather sparks concern for swifts, RSPB says

This summer's cold and wet weather has had a disastrous effect on the breeding season for swifts, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds says.

The population of the birds that come to the UK every summer to breed is said to be nearly a third lower than it was in the mid-1990s.

The weather has resulted in fewer flying insects for swifts to eat.

Experts say many swifts are returning to Africa early, putting population levels further at risk.

The RSPB says swifts are also facing a lack of nesting sites in the roofs of UK buildings as old properties are renovated and new homes built with no access or space for nests.

RSPB conservation director Martin Harper said: "The last thing this struggling species needed was to be hit hard by the wet weather this year.

"But they are at the mercy of more than just a wet summer. Their ability to nest depends on our buildings having spaces for them.

"They fly as many as 6,000 miles each spring to get here from Africa to breed, only to find that changes in the way we're building and renovating means there are fewer nest spaces."

Continued:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18993582

UK butterflies suffering from wet weather - Attenborough asks "How much?"

Butterfly warning as deluge takes toll

July 2012. Butterfly Conservation President Sir David Attenborough has warned that butterflies could suffer serious population crashes this year following record-breaking wet weather.

Sir David is urging the UK public to take part in the world's biggest butterfly survey - The Big Butterfly Count - to see how species have fared following several exceptionally damp months.

April, the wettest for a century, was followed by the dampest June on record which saw flooding across parts of the UK, and the start of July is, if anything, looking even worse. It is feared butterflies may have suffered poor breeding seasons as a result, which could lead to population crashes later this year or next spring.

2007 wet summer caused butterfly numbers to plummet
Conservationists are drawing parallels with the wet summer of 2007 which resulted in widespread flooding across parts of the UK and saw butterfly numbers plummet. Prolonged cold, wet weather delays emergence periods, reduces butterflies' life span and hampers mating and egg laying leading to fewer offspring.

Big Butterfly Count
The results of this year's Big Butterfly Count will help assess the impact of the wet weather on our butterflies.

Read on:  http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/butterfly-2012-weather.html#cr

Rural Reading: Rare orchids enjoy wet summers

Being an optimist is pretty tough right now. When we should be enjoying summer we are faced with this never-ending rain, with grey skies and cool (for the time of year anyway) temperatures.

It seems to have become a bit of a pattern, the last few summers have been similar, perhaps not quite as bad, but still the summer of blue sunny skies and warm weather seems a myth now.

There has been a devastating impact on a lot of our wildlife, and along with the endless grey skies this can make the wildlife enthusiast, or indeed anyone who enjoys a bustling and vibrant countryside, quite depressed.

Some things benefit. The number of common spotted orchids (which are not common, although they are spotted!) has increased tremendously.

I found 60 in one place last week, although I won’t let on where that is because I have noticed some others at a more popular site have been picked.

Now that is what I find really depressing. People picking wildflowers, especially rare ones.

There was a time when every orchid that flowered in Reading was picked. Someone who knows where to look and how to identify these flowers also has enough knowledge to know that picking them will ultimately destroy them.

Continued:http://www.getreading.co.uk/lifestyle/home_and_garden/s/2117046_rural_reading_rare_orchids_enjoy_wet_summers

Hummingbirds shake their heads to deal with rain

Slow-motion footage has revealed how a hovering hummingbird is able to cope with wet weather.

The cameras show that the delicate bird shakes its head with such acceleration that it can reach a g-force of 34 (Formula 1 racing cars typically reach less than 6g).

This mid-air manoeuvre takes just 0.1 seconds and removes almost all of the water droplets from its feathers.

The research is published in the journal of the Royal Society Interface.

Professor Robert Dudley, one of the authors of the study, from the University of California, Berkeley, said: "It is the extreme mobility - its head is going through 180 degrees in a 10th of a second or less - it is just extraordinary."

Artificial rain The Anna's hummingbird is found in cloud forests and the neo-tropics where rainy days are common, and is able to remain active even in very wet weather.
Read more ...

By Rebecca Morelle Science reporter, BBC News