June 30, 2022 • 13 mins
After 5 years of climate change and fluctuating weather, we catch up with the highs and lows of our fluttery friends, the Silver Studded Blue butterfly in this revisted episode.
Ranger Kate Martin hears how the team at Hafod Garregog nature reserve have been caring for the habitat of this peculiar butterfly species away from their usual home on the coast and learns how a team in Devon are making best use of some robotic helpers.
Production
Host: Kate Martin
Producer: Jack Glover
Sound editor: Jesus Gomez and Jack Glover
Discover more
For more information about the places mentioned in this episode please visit: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/wales/hafod-estate
and
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/devon/sidmouth-countryside/salcombe-hill-circular-walk
For more information on the Silver Studded Blue and more butterflies and moths please visit our friends at Butterfly Conservation.
https://butterfly-conservation.org/butterflies/silver-studded-blue
To take part in the Big Butterfly Count organised by Butterfly Conservation please visit Big Butterfly Count (butterfly-conservation.org)
Follow the National Trust Podcast on your favourite podcast app. If you'd like to get in touch with feedback, or have a story connected with the National Trust, you can contact us at podcasts@nationaltrust.org.uk
Ranger Kate Martin hears how the team at Hafod Garregog nature reserve have been caring for the habitat of this peculiar butterfly species away from their usual home on the coast and learns how a team in Devon are making best use of some robotic helpers.
Production
Host: Kate Martin
Producer: Jack Glover
Sound editor: Jesus Gomez and Jack Glover
Discover more
For more information about the places mentioned in this episode please visit: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/wales/hafod-estate
and
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/devon/sidmouth-countryside/salcombe-hill-circular-walk
For more information on the Silver Studded Blue and more butterflies and moths please visit our friends at Butterfly Conservation.
https://butterfly-conservation.org/butterflies/silver-studded-blue
To take part in the Big Butterfly Count organised by Butterfly Conservation please visit Big Butterfly Count (butterfly-conservation.org)
Follow the National Trust Podcast on your favourite podcast app. If you'd like to get in touch with feedback, or have a story connected with the National Trust, you can contact us at podcasts@nationaltrust.org.uk
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
[National Trust Podcast Theme Music]
(00:07):
Hello and welcome to the National Trust Podcast.
I'm Kate Martin.
Lead ranger at Formby in Liverpool.
And today I'm going back in time.
Five years ago in season two
I made my way to the small Snowdonia Village of Beddgelert.
A short walk from this picturesque town is Hafod Garegog nature reserve,
which is home to some rather peculiar winged creatures.
(00:30):
Our story begins deep in the heart of the North
Wales countryside.
[Music Starts – Unfinished Business]
We've just entered
Hafod Garegog Nature Reserve [SFX - Boggy Footsteps]
This is Sabine, a ranger for South Snowdonia.
It's pretty boggy. So watch your step.
(00:51):
Sabine is leading me
through a dense, waterlogged landscape,which is pretty challenging underfoot.
But among the thigh, deep mudand scraps of heather are thorny gorse and
clumps of bog myrtle.
This bog is enclosed in acircle of woodland and towering above us
beyond is the Snowdonia mountain range.
This place is awesome.
(01:15):
Some of us in the team here would callthis the jewel in the Snowdonia portfolio.
It's really one of our favorite spots. [SFX - Bird Song]
You just feel like you're in the middle
of a naturalist's candy store.
One of the creaturesthat calls this candy store home is
the Silver Studded Blue Butterfly.
(01:36):
Each Year, Sabine has to counthow many of them are in the area
to make sure that the populationisn't in decline. [Music Ends]
[SFX- Bird Song] So we're going to spotwhere I normally count the butterflies
and I get to tell you whythey're such special species [Music Starts - Feather Light 6 String]
[SFX- Insects Moving]Silver studded blues are a tiny little butterfly,
(01:58):
and they've got a really pretty lacy whiteedge to the underside of their wings.
The Silver Studded Blue butterflies are an endangered species,and although they can be found
around the UK, there are some thingsthat make this a perfect spot
for our winged friends. [Music Ends]
(02:18):
[SFX - Bird Song]The bog has lots of different plants
flowering and the butterfliesfeed on the nectar from all those flowers.
And when they've done that, they canthen lay their eggs on the dry
hills on the heather.
And it's this unique habitatthat is partly responsible
for the success of this speciesin this tiny pocket of Welsh wilderness.
But even this perfect habitat forthe butterflies is under threat,
(02:39):
but not by man or pollution,but from Mother Nature herself.
The bog is at threat of getting overgrownwith bushes and tall grasses. [SFX - Plants Rustling]
To make sure things stay tip top.
The team have had tobring in some special help.
[Music Start - Hush Hush] [SFX - Cows]Us land managers.
We've brought in cows.
(03:00):
It will come as no surprise that cowsare UDDERLY brilliant at grazing.
The way they eat is by rasping atthe thick grass and vegetation
with their tongues,and that tears up the landscape
to make a perfect spot for butterfliesto nest and lay their eggs.
They do a really good job at that.
That means we've got lots of flowersfor the butterflies in the bog.
But just like our overgrowing plants,our cows can also cause
(03:23):
a bit of a headache for the butterflies.[SFX - Hooves Trotting]
The problem isthat they go up on the dry hills
and then they trample the eggsand the grubs of the butterfly.
So they can cause a lot of damageto the butterfly population,
even though they're benefiting themby maintaining the flower rich bog.
It's just this complicated balancethat you're always
manipulating and playing with.[Music Ends]
(03:48):
So whydid the species that needed so much care
and attention choose this ratherunforgiving landscape as its habitat?
Well, Silver Studded Blueshave a surprising little secret.
[SFX - Gulls, Coastal Sound]This spot used to be coastal
In the olden days.
In 1805, a cobor a seawall was built eight miles away
(04:10):
to reclaim land for agricultureand for industry.
This turned the landscape from a coastalsite into an inland nature reserve.
We think that this population is
is a remnant populationfrom when this was a coastal site.
Because of the change of environment
These butterflies need a lot of extra helpto keep their habitat in order.
(04:30):
[Music Starts - Exuma]So five years on,
I wanted to find out how the butterfliesare faring so far away from the seaside.
We called up lead rangerDavid Smith to find out more.
[SFX – Phone dialing, Phone being Answered] Hi, David. Hi Kate.
So, David, since we were here in 2017,how have things been going?
Since you were last year in 2017?
The numbers haven't been great,to be honest. [Music Abrupt Pause – Exuma]
(04:52):
They're still there, but
their numbers are pretty low.
We're not really sure why.[Music Resumes – Exuma]
It dependsan awful lot just on the weather.
It's a
wetland site and rivers nearby,so it's always quite humid.
At the same time,we're at the foot of the mountain,
so you've got a mountain influenceas well.
(05:12):
The temperatures can be fairly extreme,more extreme than coastal
a sea as a sort of leveling effect overin Hafod Garegog it can be very,
very hot and in the winterit can get very, very cold. [Music Ends – Exuma]
[Music Starts – The Streets of Edo]So what hope is there for the future?
Is it going to look any betterthis time next year, do you think?
I'm hoping that the workthat we're doing to manage
(05:35):
the habitat will increase the numbers.
Obviously, that depends
to an extent on our management,but it depends an awful lot
just on the weather, really.
With the weather and climate changecausing havoc all around the world,
we have to find out if these butterflieshave been affected elsewhere.
So we tracked downsome of their coastal cousins in Devon.
(05:56):
We called up our ranger in Salcombeto find out what they do there.
And her answer was a little bitmore bionic than bovine.
[SFX – Phone dialing, Phone being answered]Hi, Emma. Hi, Kate. [Music Ends – The Streets of Edo]
So a little birdie tells meyou've got some seaside Silver Studded Blues?
Yeah,we have a strong population of Silver Studded
Blue butterflies here on the coast.
Oh, that's good.
So are these onesany different from the ones
(06:17):
we've just been looking at in Wales?
The butterflies here in SouthDevon are in very different habitat.
Butterflies arein their adult form in the summer
and this habitat is on the lower cliffs.
They're really good warm
microclimates, which the butterfliesand lots of other insects survive in.
I Know what it's likebeing on the coast in the winter.
(06:38):
But those warm microclimates soundabsolutely idyllic.
So are there other butterfliesthere as well? [Music Starts – Ephemeris]
Yes. So we have lots of different butterflyspecies around the area that have,
you know, flying around and easyto see from the coastal footpaths.
The dark green fritillaryis the one of the bigger ones we get,
so they're really beautiful.
(06:59):
They almost look slightly orangewhen they're flying,
but they're under wings, have gotlike a bit of a green tinge to it.
And the Red Admiral butterflies are called
that because they've got a bigred stripes on their wings.
Theysort of almost look black and white.
When you see them flying.And we get butterflies called Peacocks,
which are quite a sort of maroonyred color, and they have beautiful
(07:22):
blue dots on them,which is where they get their name from.
And then there's other specieswhich are yellow, like the Brimstone
butterflies, and we get the crazylooking Orange Tip butterflies,
which literally, like someone has dipped,
the end of their wing into an orangepaint pot.
We get a lot of those.
They sound really unusual, butthey're actually quite common. As you come
up, the butterflies, some of whichwill fly around your sort of knee height.
(07:46):
And some of the other species
that are bigger and strongerflyers will be around your head height. [Music Ends - Ephemeris]
With all those colours, you've paintedan absolutely gorgeous picture
of what lifeis like in Salcombe for the butterflies.
[SFX – Gulls calling, Coastal Sea Sounds]The coastal grassland
itself is full of lotsof different wildflowers around your feet.
You've got the the yellows and the pinksand the purples, and then also you've
(08:09):
because you're walking along the coaston one side, if you've got that beautiful
blue sea as well, and hopefully a blue skyif you get a good day.
So our little rare Silver Studded,Blues included in that sea of color.
They're actually quite tricky to find.
And you have to go off the beaten trackinto the little enclosed areas
where they have their colonieson the lower cliffs away from the path.
(08:31):
They sound like they're quite tuckedaway really...
How do you look after the spotswhere they live?
Well, the habitats that we have well,anything you want to maintain
in terms of conservation managementneeds, livestock grazing. The area where
the butterflies are found is fantasticin that we have quite a mix of livestock.
[Music Starts – Talk it Out]Through the winter there's sheep that graze the cliffs
(08:53):
and they're brilliant
because they go right down the steepcliff faces quite happily and they graze
the shorter areas of grassland
and keep it short,which is good for the butterflies.
We also have herds of cattle
and in particular we have Highlandcows out there with their big curly horns
and they always look fantasticand they do a great job
(09:14):
because they're a bitmore like bulldozers.
They sort of bosh through the scruband quite happily roam around really,
you know, sort of dense areas of scruband bashing about which
keeps it under control.
And then we also haveDartmoor ponies on the cliffs out there,
which, again, do a good job.
at sort of grazing the shorter bits of grasslandand they create nice sort of tussocky
(09:36):
areas.
So having thatmix of grazing is really important.
Ideally, you can't always do itfor various reasons.
So not too dissimilarfrom what they do in Wales then.
But I've got to be honest, cows and cliffsdon't really sound like a brilliant mix.
So what do you do to keep ontop of the butterflies habitat
The closer you get to the sea?[Music Ends – Talk it Out]
(09:59):
[SFX – Bird Song, Garden Machinery]So we use something called a remote flail.
Remote controls flail or robo flail,
basically...
Well, there's different types of them,but they're a spinning head of metal teeth
so basically rips through anything scrubby
and breaks it up into really small,tiny little pieces. [SFX – Machinery, Plants being cut, Branches Snapping]
(10:19):
It's a fantastic bit of kitthat's on Caterpillar tracks.
It's just over a meter wideand probably just under a meter tall.
And the machine is usedremotely by an operator
with a control box,and they send it off down the cliffs.
It's got really good gripand it's not particularly big as well,
(10:40):
so it's not got too much weight behind it,which means that you can send it down
quite steep.
Cliff faces and the flail then cuts through
the gorse and blackthorn and shreds it up.[SFX – Machinery, Chainsaw Plants being cut, Branches Snapping]
It means that following springall of the wildflowers
and the grasslands can come back inthose areas that have been cut.
Wow. Well,with all those great big spinning teeth,
(11:01):
it sounds like it's going to be moreat home on robot wars.
But why not just let the sheepdo what they need to do? [Music Starts – Rainbow Land]
The sheep do a fantastic job, but there'sonly so much that they can get onto.
And they also won't eat the scrubby bushes
because, you know, they're just feedingon the grass and the wildflowers.
Doing that additional flailing,additional scrub control means that
(11:23):
we get really good pockets of scrubamong the grassland.
You can see on cliff areaswhere that isn't done, you get these huge
great banks of scrub, which means thatthe light is much more blocked out
and there's no other thingsof surviving underneath it.
The robotic flail
has been really revolutionaryfor a lot of our conservation management.
(11:44):
Historically, the...well,the cutting wasn't done
or the farmers or contractorswould be in a digger or a crawler
trying to take it onto steep cliffs,which is obviously incredibly dangerous.
So it's just greathaving to take away the operator risk.
And also
the size of the machine meansthat you can really get around
(12:07):
a little rocky outcropsand you can get to bits
that would never have been ableto be controlled before. [Music Ends – Rainbow Land]
So with all the hard work
that you, the teamand our cyborg colleagues are putting in,
how is the future looking likefor the Silver Studded Blues in South Devon?
[Music Starts – Exponential] We're really pleased that overallthe numbers are going up.
They've been studied locally since 2016,I think it is, and they've been surveyed.
(12:30):
So we've got good data there.
And the trend is thatthey're increasing the
as with all butterfly species,they are very affected by the weather.
So last year we had quite a wet spring.
The weather was all over the place,so last year's numbers weren't as good.
But the overall trendis an increasing population. [Music Ends – Exponential]
(12:57):
[National Trust Theme Music Starts]Thanks for
listening to this episode of the NationalTrust Podcast.
To find more of our episodes,go to nationaltrust.org.uk/podcasts,
follow us on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
And while you're there,do leave us a review
and let us know what you think of it.
We'll be back soon with a new episode.
(13:17):
But for now, from me, Kate Martin.
Goodbye. [National Trust Theme Music ends]
[National Trust Podcast Theme Music]
(00:07):
Hello and welcome to the National Trust Podcast.
I'm Kate Martin.
Lead ranger at Formby in Liverpool.
And today I'm going back in time.
Five years ago in season two
I made my way to the small Snowdonia Village of Beddgelert.
A short walk from this picturesque town is Hafod Garegog nature reserve,
which is home to some rather peculiar winged creatures.
(00:30):
Our story begins deep in the heart of the North
Wales countryside.
[Music Starts – Unfinished Business]
We've just entered
Hafod Garegog Nature Reserve [SFX - Boggy Footsteps]
This is Sabine, a ranger for South Snowdonia.
It's pretty boggy. So watch your step.
(00:51):
Sabine is leading me
through a dense, waterlogged landscape,which is pretty challenging underfoot.
But among the thigh, deep mudand scraps of heather are thorny gorse and
clumps of bog myrtle.
This bog is enclosed in acircle of woodland and towering above us
beyond is the Snowdonia mountain range.
This place is awesome.
(01:15):
Some of us in the team here would callthis the jewel in the Snowdonia portfolio.
It's really one of our favorite spots. [SFX - Bird Song]
You just feel like you're in the middle
of a naturalist's candy store.
One of the creaturesthat calls this candy store home is
the Silver Studded Blue Butterfly.
(01:36):
Each Year, Sabine has to counthow many of them are in the area
to make sure that the populationisn't in decline. [Music Ends]
[SFX- Bird Song] So we're going to spotwhere I normally count the butterflies
and I get to tell you whythey're such special species [Music Starts - Feather Light 6 String]
[SFX- Insects Moving]Silver studded blues are a tiny little butterfly,
(01:58):
and they've got a really pretty lacy whiteedge to the underside of their wings.
The Silver Studded Blue butterflies are an endangered species,and although they can be found
around the UK, there are some thingsthat make this a perfect spot
for our winged friends. [Music Ends]
(02:18):
[SFX - Bird Song]The bog has lots of different plants
flowering and the butterfliesfeed on the nectar from all those flowers.
And when they've done that, they canthen lay their eggs on the dry
hills on the heather.
And it's this unique habitatthat is partly responsible
for the success of this speciesin this tiny pocket of Welsh wilderness.
But even this perfect habitat forthe butterflies is under threat,
(02:39):
but not by man or pollution,but from Mother Nature herself.
The bog is at threat of getting overgrownwith bushes and tall grasses. [SFX - Plants Rustling]
To make sure things stay tip top.
The team have had tobring in some special help.
[Music Start - Hush Hush] [SFX - Cows]Us land managers.
We've brought in cows.
(03:00):
It will come as no surprise that cowsare UDDERLY brilliant at grazing.
The way they eat is by rasping atthe thick grass and vegetation
with their tongues,and that tears up the landscape
to make a perfect spot for butterfliesto nest and lay their eggs.
They do a really good job at that.
That means we've got lots of flowersfor the butterflies in the bog.
But just like our overgrowing plants,our cows can also cause
(03:23):
a bit of a headache for the butterflies.[SFX - Hooves Trotting]
The problem isthat they go up on the dry hills
and then they trample the eggsand the grubs of the butterfly.
So they can cause a lot of damageto the butterfly population,
even though they're benefiting themby maintaining the flower rich bog.
It's just this complicated balancethat you're always
manipulating and playing with.[Music Ends]
(03:48):
So whydid the species that needed so much care
and attention choose this ratherunforgiving landscape as its habitat?
Well, Silver Studded Blueshave a surprising little secret.
[SFX - Gulls, Coastal Sound]This spot used to be coastal
In the olden days.
In 1805, a cobor a seawall was built eight miles away
(04:10):
to reclaim land for agricultureand for industry.
This turned the landscape from a coastalsite into an inland nature reserve.
We think that this population is
is a remnant populationfrom when this was a coastal site.
Because of the change of environment
These butterflies need a lot of extra helpto keep their habitat in order.
(04:30):
[Music Starts - Exuma]So five years on,
I wanted to find out how the butterfliesare faring so far away from the seaside.
We called up lead rangerDavid Smith to find out more.
[SFX – Phone dialing, Phone being Answered] Hi, David. Hi Kate.
So, David, since we were here in 2017,how have things been going?
Since you were last year in 2017?
The numbers haven't been great,to be honest. [Music Abrupt Pause – Exuma]
(04:52):
They're still there, but
their numbers are pretty low.
We're not really sure why.[Music Resumes – Exuma]
It dependsan awful lot just on the weather.
It's a
wetland site and rivers nearby,so it's always quite humid.
At the same time,we're at the foot of the mountain,
so you've got a mountain influenceas well.
(05:12):
The temperatures can be fairly extreme,more extreme than coastal
a sea as a sort of leveling effect overin Hafod Garegog it can be very,
very hot and in the winterit can get very, very cold. [Music Ends – Exuma]
[Music Starts – The Streets of Edo]So what hope is there for the future?
Is it going to look any betterthis time next year, do you think?
I'm hoping that the workthat we're doing to manage
(05:35):
the habitat will increase the numbers.
Obviously, that depends
to an extent on our management,but it depends an awful lot
just on the weather, really.
With the weather and climate changecausing havoc all around the world,
we have to find out if these butterflieshave been affected elsewhere.
So we tracked downsome of their coastal cousins in Devon.
(05:56):
We called up our ranger in Salcombeto find out what they do there.
And her answer was a little bitmore bionic than bovine.
[SFX – Phone dialing, Phone being answered]Hi, Emma. Hi, Kate. [Music Ends – The Streets of Edo]
So a little birdie tells meyou've got some seaside Silver Studded Blues?
Yeah,we have a strong population of Silver Studded
Blue butterflies here on the coast.
Oh, that's good.
So are these onesany different from the ones
(06:17):
we've just been looking at in Wales?
The butterflies here in SouthDevon are in very different habitat.
Butterflies arein their adult form in the summer
and this habitat is on the lower cliffs.
They're really good warm
microclimates, which the butterfliesand lots of other insects survive in.
I Know what it's likebeing on the coast in the winter.
(06:38):
But those warm microclimates soundabsolutely idyllic.
So are there other butterfliesthere as well? [Music Starts – Ephemeris]
Yes. So we have lots of different butterflyspecies around the area that have,
you know, flying around and easyto see from the coastal footpaths.
The dark green fritillaryis the one of the bigger ones we get,
so they're really beautiful.
(06:59):
They almost look slightly orangewhen they're flying,
but they're under wings, have gotlike a bit of a green tinge to it.
And the Red Admiral butterflies are called
that because they've got a bigred stripes on their wings.
Theysort of almost look black and white.
When you see them flying.And we get butterflies called Peacocks,
which are quite a sort of maroonyred color, and they have beautiful
(07:22):
blue dots on them,which is where they get their name from.
And then there's other specieswhich are yellow, like the Brimstone
butterflies, and we get the crazylooking Orange Tip butterflies,
which literally, like someone has dipped,
the end of their wing into an orangepaint pot.
We get a lot of those.
They sound really unusual, butthey're actually quite common. As you come
up, the butterflies, some of whichwill fly around your sort of knee height.
(07:46):
And some of the other species
that are bigger and strongerflyers will be around your head height. [Music Ends - Ephemeris]
With all those colours, you've paintedan absolutely gorgeous picture
of what lifeis like in Salcombe for the butterflies.
[SFX – Gulls calling, Coastal Sea Sounds]The coastal grassland
itself is full of lotsof different wildflowers around your feet.
You've got the the yellows and the pinksand the purples, and then also you've
(08:09):
because you're walking along the coaston one side, if you've got that beautiful
blue sea as well, and hopefully a blue skyif you get a good day.
So our little rare Silver Studded,Blues included in that sea of color.
They're actually quite tricky to find.
And you have to go off the beaten trackinto the little enclosed areas
where they have their colonieson the lower cliffs away from the path.
(08:31):
They sound like they're quite tuckedaway really...
How do you look after the spotswhere they live?
Well, the habitats that we have well,anything you want to maintain
in terms of conservation managementneeds, livestock grazing. The area where
the butterflies are found is fantasticin that we have quite a mix of livestock.
[Music Starts – Talk it Out]Through the winter there's sheep that graze the cliffs
(08:53):
and they're brilliant
because they go right down the steepcliff faces quite happily and they graze
the shorter areas of grassland
and keep it short,which is good for the butterflies.
We also have herds of cattle
and in particular we have Highlandcows out there with their big curly horns
and they always look fantasticand they do a great job
(09:14):
because they're a bitmore like bulldozers.
They sort of bosh through the scruband quite happily roam around really,
you know, sort of dense areas of scruband bashing about which
keeps it under control.
And then we also haveDartmoor ponies on the cliffs out there,
which, again, do a good job.
at sort of grazing the shorter bits of grasslandand they create nice sort of tussocky
(09:36):
areas.
So having thatmix of grazing is really important.
Ideally, you can't always do itfor various reasons.
So not too dissimilarfrom what they do in Wales then.
But I've got to be honest, cows and cliffsdon't really sound like a brilliant mix.
So what do you do to keep ontop of the butterflies habitat
The closer you get to the sea?[Music Ends – Talk it Out]
(09:59):
[SFX – Bird Song, Garden Machinery]So we use something called a remote flail.
Remote controls flail or robo flail,
basically...
Well, there's different types of them,but they're a spinning head of metal teeth
so basically rips through anything scrubby
and breaks it up into really small,tiny little pieces. [SFX – Machinery, Plants being cut, Branches Snapping]
(10:19):
It's a fantastic bit of kitthat's on Caterpillar tracks.
It's just over a meter wideand probably just under a meter tall.
And the machine is usedremotely by an operator
with a control box,and they send it off down the cliffs.
It's got really good gripand it's not particularly big as well,
(10:40):
so it's not got too much weight behind it,which means that you can send it down
quite steep.
Cliff faces and the flail then cuts through
the gorse and blackthorn and shreds it up.[SFX – Machinery, Chainsaw Plants being cut, Branches Snapping]
It means that following springall of the wildflowers
and the grasslands can come back inthose areas that have been cut.
Wow. Well,with all those great big spinning teeth,
(11:01):
it sounds like it's going to be moreat home on robot wars.
But why not just let the sheepdo what they need to do? [Music Starts – Rainbow Land]
The sheep do a fantastic job, but there'sonly so much that they can get onto.
And they also won't eat the scrubby bushes
because, you know, they're just feedingon the grass and the wildflowers.
Doing that additional flailing,additional scrub control means that
(11:23):
we get really good pockets of scrubamong the grassland.
You can see on cliff areaswhere that isn't done, you get these huge
great banks of scrub, which means thatthe light is much more blocked out
and there's no other thingsof surviving underneath it.
The robotic flail
has been really revolutionaryfor a lot of our conservation management.
(11:44):
Historically, the...well,the cutting wasn't done
or the farmers or contractorswould be in a digger or a crawler
trying to take it onto steep cliffs,which is obviously incredibly dangerous.
So it's just greathaving to take away the operator risk.
And also
the size of the machine meansthat you can really get around
(12:07):
a little rocky outcropsand you can get to bits
that would never have been ableto be controlled before. [Music Ends – Rainbow Land]
So with all the hard work
that you, the teamand our cyborg colleagues are putting in,
how is the future looking likefor the Silver Studded Blues in South Devon?
[Music Starts – Exponential] We're really pleased that overallthe numbers are going up.
They've been studied locally since 2016,I think it is, and they've been surveyed.
(12:30):
So we've got good data there.
And the trend is thatthey're increasing the
as with all butterfly species,they are very affected by the weather.
So last year we had quite a wet spring.
The weather was all over the place,so last year's numbers weren't as good.
But the overall trendis an increasing population. [Music Ends – Exponential]
(12:57):
[National Trust Theme Music Starts]Thanks for
listening to this episode of the NationalTrust Podcast.
To find more of our episodes,go to nationaltrust.org.uk/podcasts,
follow us on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
And while you're there,do leave us a review
and let us know what you think of it.
We'll be back soon with a new episode.
(13:17):
But for now, from me, Kate Martin.
Goodbye. [National Trust Theme Music ends]
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