Over three thousand painted lady butterflies were counted at WWT Slimbridge yesterday in what is thought to be the largest migration of the species in over a decade.

Millions of the species have been arriving in Britain in the past week after an amazing 1,000 mile migration from North Africa and reserve wardens at Slimbridge have been frantically counting the fast-flying insects ever since.

James Lees, WWT Reserve Warden said: “We have all heard about the great migration of monarch butterflies in North America but to see this on our doorstep is superb. We are used to seeing great bird migration at Slimbridge but to see butterfly migration in such huge numbers is a real privilege and very exciting.”

Butterfly Conservation received reports at the start of the Bank Holiday weekend of sightings of large numbers of these butterflies and believe this could indicate the largest migration to Britain in over a decade.

Butterfly Conservation’s Chief Executive, Dr Martin Warren said: “There are literally millions of painted lady butterflies arriving right across Britain with more expected this weekend. We need the public’s help to get better information on the nature and scale of this spectacular and unprecedented migration. If you can spare two hours on Saturday morning, take part in our UK-wide count. Visit www.butterfly-conservation.org for more information.”

Scientists have been predicting an unusually large migration since late winter. The butterflies originate from the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, where heavy winter rains allowed good germination of the caterpillar food-plants. A Spanish researcher, Constanti Stefanescu had reported seeing hundreds of thousands emerging in mid February and beginning their long flight north. They were seen in large numbers in Spain during April and a few weeks later in France.

Painted ladies like rough grasslands with knapweed and thistles and the reserve at WWT Slimbridge, which is currently covered in wild flowers and wild clover, provides these butterflies with excellent refuelling snacks during their epic migration.

James Lees added: “It’s truly amazing to stand on the River Severn and see thousands of these small dainty butterflies flying past all heading in the same direction and it is remarkable that despite being lighter than paper they are able to navigate and travel thousands of miles over land and sea.”

The latest assessment of the status of all of the UK’s 246 regularly occurring birds – Birds of Conservation Concern 3 – shows 52 are now of the highest conservation concern and have been placed on the assessment’s red list. The revised red list now includes even more familiar countryside birds, including the cuckoo, lapwing and yellow wagtail, joining other widespread species such as the turtle dove, grey partridge, house sparrow and starling.

Alarmingly, red listed species now account for more than one-in-five (21 per cent) of all the UK’s bird species. This is a far higher proportion than compared to the last assessment in 2002, when 40 species (16 per cent) were red listed. Most species on the red list have suffered a recent halving of range or population in the UK, or have undergone a historical decline since 1800.

Rich Hearn, WWT’s Head of Species Monitoring, said:

“The inclusion of wintering waterbirds on the red list for the first time due to severe declines in numbers highlights an increasingly widespread phenomenon, that of climate-change driven shifts in distribution. These migrant waterbirds, along with many others on the amber list, are visiting the UK in smaller numbers.

“Whilst they may not currently be declining at a population scale, uncertainties exist over whether such shifts will have detrimental effects in the longer term. Furthermore, our ability to track their status will become more difficult unless there is greater investment elsewhere in developing monitoring schemes like those well-established in the UK.

“Breeding waterbirds are declining too. Our common scoter population has fallen by more than 80 percent, and almost 50 percent in the past 12 years. Despite this, relatively little is known about this unobtrusive duck and ecological research is thus urgently required in order to ascertain the causes of its rapid decline.”

WWT’s project Wetland Management for Sustainable Livelihoods at Koshi Tappu, Nepal received a special commendation for CIWEM’s World of Difference Award. This project addressed the issues of unsustainable exploitation at Ramsar site Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve through proper water and environmental management, education and research.

Seb Buckton, Community Wetlands Programme Manager at The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, said:

“People living around Koshi are dependent on wetland resources, but pressures on people’s livelihoods are bringing them into conflict with the reserve, because people perceive that the site’s conservation means reduced benefits for them. Many people view the reserve negatively, but even those that don’t are often forced to exploit resources in a damaging way.

“Our project has focussed on identifying innovative livelihood options that provide a real benefit to people, without resulting in unsustainable use. Key to success has been identifying marginalised groups of people and empowering them to take control over their resource use. As a result, local people are starting to recognise the benefits to them and their families of looking after the wetlands at Koshi.”

WWT has taken an important step in the conservation of the UK’s near-extinct tadpole shrimp population this week, hatching an amazing 200 tank bred triops at its reserve at Caerlaverock, Scotland, after only the first attempt.

The tadpole shrimp (Triops cancriformis) is a living fossil, thought to be the oldest living creature on the planet. Resembling a small horseshoe crab, it was recorded at least 220 million years ago in the Triassic period, even before dinosaurs roamed the earth. A colony does exist in a single pool in the New Forest, but another was found at WWT Caerlaverock last year, during our particularly wet August.

Triops live for between just 12 days and four months, but lay eggs which can lay dormant in dried pools for decades. So, in an attempt to safeguard the population, last September WWT collected four adult hermaphrodite females from the colony at Caerlaverock under licence from Scottish Natural Heritage. They were kept in a three foot fish tank filled with a muddy substrate to allow them to forage and ultimately dig their egg pits before they died.

WWT researcher Dr Larry Griffin explained: “This was the first time we had ever done this so we weren’t sure whether or not it would work. The tank was dried down over several weeks and the mud divided up into portions in which it was hoped there would be 100 or so eggs laid. The mud samples were then bagged up and put in the freezer for a few days, before being removed, placed in a small tank and wetted up again at about 20 degrees. It was really exciting because after only 48 hours the tiny nymphs could be seen swimming about the tank with the orange hatched eggs floating on the surface, despite being only 1mm in diameter.”

WWT are currently working with WildCru to investigate other historic sites, and will look into the species’ history, ecology and requirements in more detail. Dr Griffin said: “In theory, the unhatched eggs in the mud samples here at Caerlaverock could remain viable on the shelf for anything from two to three decades and as such will remain an extremely effective ex situ conservation tool for the preservation of this species, much as a seed bank does for plants.”

On 14 May, the new Red List update for birds was published. Set up by Sir Peter Scott in 1962, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is the world’s most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plants and animal species. It evaluates the extinction risk of thousands of species and subspecies. The aim is to convey the urgency of conservation issues to the public and policy makers, as well as help the international community to try to reduce species extinction.

BirdLife International’s latest evaluation of the world’s birds, on behalf of IUCN, has revealed that more species than ever are threatened with extinction. A staggering 1,227 species (12%) are now classified as globally threatened, including 192 as critically endangered, the highest threat category, a total of two more than in 2008. This includes the Brazilian merganser and Madagascar pochard, both priority species for the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust.

WWT is drafting a research and monitoring strategy for the Brazilian merganser. This follows a successful expedition with Terra Brasilis to Serra da Canastra, Brazil, in 2008 where 14 Brazilian mergansers were caught and colour-ringed – a conservation first. The Brazilian merganser is extremely sensitive to habitat loss and disturbance caused by factors such as logging, river siltation, mining and tourism. There are currently just 200-250 known to exist in the wild, almost all in Brazil.

The Madagascar pochard, is the rarest duck in the world. Only 25 birds are thought to remain in the wild, all at a single lake in northern Madagascar. Without dedicated conservation action, there is a significant possibility it may become extinct in the near future. WWT has joined up with Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and The Peregrine Fund in a major conservation project to save this endangered species. This will establish a viable population of Madagascar pochards in the wild through a conservation-breeding and release programme. A site visit will take place in July to identify the best place for a breeding facility.

Peter Cranswick, Head of Species Planning, explains: “At WWT, saving threatened species is a key focus for our activity. Critically endangered species, such as the Brazilian merganser and Madagascar pochard need urgent help if they are to survive. In this, Sir Peter Scott’s centenary year, we are working as hard as ever to continue his legacy to improve the outlook for these special birds.”

This weekend, World Migratory Bird Day (9-10 May) throws the spotlight on the threat posed by man-made barriers to the migration of hundreds of thousands of ducks, geese and swans. Over the years, studies by conservation organisations including WWT have shown that migrating birds have to navigate a multitude of man-made barriers on their arduous journeys.

Migration flyways can be hindered by wind farms, power lines, and TV and mobile phone transmission masts. Apart from direct fatalities or injuries via collision, such structures can also lead to habitat loss, displacement and disturbance.

WWT welcomes World Migratory Bird Day’s ‘barriers to migration’ campaign which aims to raise awareness of these man-made obstacles and encourage sustainable development along major migratory routes to minimise the threats to migrating birds.

One of the biggest issues is the increasing use of renewable technologies, such as wind farms, which whilst better for the environment, can have an impact on migrating birds. Recognising this, WWT is assessing the impact of technologies such as wind farms. For example, working with COWRIE (Collaborative Offshore Wind Research into the Environment) to monitor the migratory paths of 40 whooper swans in relation to existing offshore wind farms positioned in the Greater Wash and East Irish Sea areas, as well as other potential wind farm sites. The study is due to report at the end of the year.

This type of conservation work is extremely important to mitigate the impacts on bird migration. Since 2000, WWT has been carrying out aerial surveys in Welsh waters as part of the All Wales Common Scoter Survey. These revealed the presence of considerable numbers of common scoters in Liverpool Bay, Cardigan Bay and Carmarthen Bay – including some previously unknown concentrations. Through this work, WWT helped to secure Carmarthen Bay as the UK’s first marine Special Protection Area (SPA), and helped ensure that offshore wind farms in Liverpool Bay were sited away from the main scoter sites.

Eileen Rees, Head of UK Waterbird Conservation Programme, explains: “At WWT, we believe that renewable technologies are an important solution in the fight against climate change; we just need to be careful that there is minimal impact on important species. This year, World Migratory Bird Day is playing an important role in throwing the spotlight on some of the key barriers to migration so we can continue to make sure that our activities as humans and the desire for sustainable energy generation does not affect ducks, geese and swans both in their natural habitats, and on their migratory paths”.

In a fitting gesture to celebrate Sir Peter Scott’s centenary year, a mute swan has laid a clutch of eggs at the foot of Scott’s commemorative statue at WWT London Wetland Centre. The statue is on a small island in the middle of the entrance lake and visitors can see the nest as they enter the centre.

The pair started building the nest around three weeks ago, after fending off two Canada geese that wanted to nest on the same island. Swans usually sit on their eggs for 35-41 days and will then carry the cygnets on their back to protect them from predators for the first ten days. The swans will feed their young underwater vegetation and small animals including tadpoles and worms.

‘We are delighted that the mute swans have nested onsite. There are at least six eggs in the nest and we expect them to all hatch because the swans are very protective of the eggs.’ says Adam Salmon, Reserve Manager. ‘Mute swans typically build their nests on water banks, mostly with mounds of rushes, reeds and other vegetation.’

Sir Peter Scott’s statue recognises him as the founder of the Wildfowl & Wetland’s Trust and marks his significant contribution to wildlife conservation. Long before it became widely acknowledged, Sir Peter Scott recognised the threat that human activity posed to the environment. He foresaw that the conservation of wildlife depended on safeguarding habitats and crucially, on involving and inspiring people. He remained at the forefront of conservation throughout his life.WWT London Wetland Centre was Scott’s vision in his last years and was opened in 2000, just 11 years after his death.

The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust is off to Hell, near Trondheim in Norway, to head up a workshop on the lesser white-fronted goose on behalf of the Norwegian government on 4-6 May.

The aim of the project is to assess the feasibility of re-introducing lesser white-fronted geese Anser erythropus to Norway. Over the last century, numbers have fallen from around 10,000 individuals in Fennoscandia to just 20-30 pairs in more recent years, all now confined to Norway. It is listed as vulnerable on the upcoming IUCN Red List, no change from the last time this list was published. Conservation is therefore key to halt the decline in numbers, and this workshop is the first step towards this aim.

The breeding range of lesser white fronted-geese is now largely restricted to northern Russia, though significant numbers still winter in southeast Europe. Although only a very rare visitor to western Europe, ones or twos occurred regularly at Slimbridge in Gloucestershire. It was finding two of these rare geese on his initial visit that inspired Sir Peter Scott to establish what is now the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust at that site in 1946.

Peter Cranswick, Head of Species Planning, explains: “There have been an increasing number of successful re-introduction schemes for birds over the last decade. That lesser white-fronted geese are migratory will make this project more difficult than most. A major conservation problem for this species is that the threats – especially hunting – occur elsewhere in the flyway, and this poses an additional challenge for a re-introduction programme. We hope that the findings of this project will therefore be of use for other species also.”

The workshop is to be attended by conservation and government organisations and the Secretariat of the African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement, a reflection of the complex nature of re-introduction schemes and of the broad range of support needed to ensure they are successful.