Holly blues breeding in the garden

When we first came to live in Co. Durham in 1975 several butterflies that I had been familiar with in the south of the country were nowhere to be seen. Commas had been extinct here for a century and speckled woods, small skippers and ringlets were very uncommon. Since then they have all become common and speckled woods even breed in my garden. 

But in all that time holly blues remained rare. Until 2014, when I found one under the Byker viaducts in Newcastle, of all places, I hadn't seen any. Then in 2017 I saw another in Sunderland.

This year they turned up in my garden in Durham in spring and it's clear that they must have laid eggs on the holly hedge, because the summer generation has now emerged. This one seemed attracted to a few alkanet flowers that were still in bloom in the garden, but it has also been nectaring on devil's bit scabious, marjoram and thyme flowers. 

I'm hoping that this will be the start of a long-lasting colony here. There were numerous other reports on Twitter of holly blues in the North east this spring.

The change in fortunes of these five butterfly species here suggests that the theory that climate change, bringing a lengthening breeding season, is a factor allowing them to extend their range northwards might well be true.

Underneath the arches

Thursday's Guardian Country Diary concerns a remarkable haven of biodiversity underneath these three bridges that span the Ouseburn in Newcastle.

The nearest carries the East Coast mainline railway, the middle one carries the Tyne and Wear Metro tracks and the distant brick arches are the Byker viaduct that carries the main road. Below and beyond that lies the wonderful Ouseburn City Farm, which you can read about here.

The triangle of land where the arches converge is a nature reserve and community orchard, and includes ...

...... this pond and boardwork, where school parties can come to pond dip. It's seething with life, including these .........

....... common darter dragonflies that fluttered all around us. But the star of the show on this visit was this .....

.... exquisite holly blue butterfly.






















From a distance it looked like a little piece of silvery litter in the mud on the edge of the pond, where it was 'puddling' - sucking up mineral-laden liquid that is essential for its reproductive success.
















Holly blues have been recorded here in the past but this is the first that I've seen. It's near the northern limit of its distribution here.

There's woodland where the Byker bridge passes under the Metro bridge ....

..... and grassland under the mainline railway arches.

Purple loosestrife near the pond .....

....... a Phragmites reed bed......

... agrimony, with its hooked fruits ......

great hairy willow herb .........

..... teasels.....

.... wild parsnip ....

.... meadow browns on field scabious ... 

.... together with skippers.

A crucible of biodiversity in an area which was once one of the most heavily industrialised parts of Newcastle.