A year of ‘traditional’ weather benefits wildlife

WILDLIFE in Britain has benefited following the first traditional year of weather for a generation, scientists have revealed.

The coldest winter for more than 30 years was followed by a delayed, sunny spring and warm, wet summer, which led to many species enjoying a bumper year, the National Trust said.

Despite 2010 starting and ending with much of the country swathed in snow, threatened species such as the puffin and the rare heath fritillary butterfly enjoyed successful breeding seasons.

The warm spring enabled insects to thrive, which in turn resulted in a bumper berry crop this autumn.

Wildlife has flourished because weather patterns have behaved more or less as they should, scientists said.

Matthew Oates, National Trust nature conservation adviser, explained: “For the first time in a generation we have experienced a traditional year of weather and our wildlife has mostly responded favourably.

“A cold winter enabled wildlife to hibernate properly while a warm spring and early summer created ideal conditions for insects and led to bumper autumn berry crops in our orchards, woods and hedgerows.”

He said that very early springs can prove disastrous for species who breed too early making their offspring susceptible to unexpected cold or wet snaps later in the season.

The National Trust said endangered species such as the rare heath fritillary butterfly on Exmoor, netted carpet moth in Cumbria, and puffins on the Farne Islands have all enjoyed a good year.

Resident insects have also thrived as a dry spring enabled them to produce several large broods.

And, despite the late spring, plants and flowers thrived as dry weather stopped them from being overgrown by vigorous grasses.

Unusually, bluebells were still in flower at the end of May as far south-west as Devon, and autumn produced a bumper crop of grassland fungi.

But some species have struggled despite the favourable conditions.

The emergence of the common cranefly, commonly known as the daddy long legs, failed again for the third time in three years.

And Britain’s rarest crow — the chough, which has been re-colonising Cornwall — suffered a disaster after none of this year’s chicks survived.

Insect-eating birds such as the rare Dartford warbler are expected to struggle as winter temperatures once again plummet dramatically meaning their food sources all but disappear.