2007 Magazine Version 05.indd - Butterfly Conservation Warwickshire

Welches Meadow, Leam Valley - Guided Walk 9 July 2006
by Phil Parr
This visit to Welches Meadow, Leam Valley was my first. As usual my timing to get
there was a bit on the tight side, so when I arrived at Newbold Comyn Leisure Centre I
did not know its relationship to the reserve. I must have missed the rest of the party by
seconds, but fortunately bumped into John & Maureen from Polesworth. They also did
not know the area, but John had found the reserve entrance so we set off to explore.
We first found woodland near the river and then found ourselves on the edge of playing
fields with hedge rows and patches of bramble. We found the summer brood of Comma
were on the wing – glorious in their freshness – first one, then two together, and
then another, and then three more. Some were sunning themselves and others were
challenging each other in spectacular aerobatic flight. The tick list grew quickly with
Red Admirals, Meadow Browns and Ringlets added but more Commas kept appearing.
A Humming-bird Hawkmoth seemed to take a particular interest in a patch of nettles
– we couldn’t understand why – but then it zoomed right under our noses to give us a
really good look. Yet another Comma landed on my shirt front – maybe that’s where the
beer lands!
As we neared Radford Semele just over the river we were greeted by the ringing of
church bells – most pleasant on a sunny afternoon. Then we came across a bird hide,
and to find what view it would give we opened the door. Inside was a surprised Jack
Watkins with the rest of the party. It was good to meet up with them. The pool in front
of the hide, dug only a year or two ago, had islands and shore suitable for waders, and
Jack pointed out reeds he and the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust team planted over a year
ago, that were getting established and will provide further habitats for bird life. A Red
Admiral glided into view.
Jack kindly retraced his steps to show us work he and his team have been doing in
the woodland – ride widening and the creation of glades. They certainly have done a
lot of work to improve the site. He said the trees were planted very close together as
originally the site was a tree nursery, the idea being that the trees would then be moved
to other locations, but that never happened. On our way we were still totting up more
Commas and found seven in just one small glade. He said there seemed to be more
than ever this year. He then directed us to the meadow and spoil bank before chasing
off to catch up with the rest of the group. We found Marbled Whites
but missed the Clouded Yellow that had been seen
earlier. We puzzled over whether a Skipper was Small
or Essex and then found another that definitely was
Essex. We arrived back at the leisure centre having
had a very enjoyable afternoon butterflying and
chatting. We totalled up the number of Commas
seen and were amazed to find a figure of
42. Thank you Jack, and also John and
Maureen for a good outing.
Phil Parr
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Butterfly Conservation Warwickshire Branch Magazine 2007