On Sunday 25th May, 22 Warwickshire members attended the advanced class on how to find butterflies. Ordinary Butterfly Conservation branches hold there guided walks on sunny days but this is far too easy for the Warwickshire branch - we hold them in the rain, or to be more precise torrential downpours and gale force wind.

Careful planning brought instant success. Selecting a Bank Holiday date guaranteed rain. On arrival at 11am, 6 members tested their skills in erecting two gazebos in a force 6 gale. Using wire, sleepers and rocks, the group found no difficulty in erecting the gazebos and securing them down. To make doubly sure, Val Weston brought enough food to feed a hundred people (thanks to sponsorship by Barclays Bank) and this extra weight secured the gazebos firmly. That was until Mike Slater had his seventh slice of chocolate cake just to be sociable.

Phase one of the guided walk was to describe the recent management work that had been carried out on the Warwickshire Branch Butterfly Conservation reserve. The talk was finished by outlining the future aspirations for conservation management.

This is where the plan went slightly wrong as Mike had talked for so long and people had eaten so much that they were too sated to take part in phase two – the actual walk. A branch official denies that the lack of volunteers for this phase was anything to do with the rain turning into driving rain and the wind becoming even stronger.

When only Terry Southgate and Mike Slater eventual went on phase two - the walk, they were awash with butterflies. A total of 6 species were located within 10 minutes and these were two Common Blues, a Dingy Skipper, a Grizzled Skipper, a Brimstone, an Orange Tip and a Green Hairstreak. To be fair the only adult butterflies seen were the Common Blues found at rest which goes to prove that you should always take an eggspurt with you on a walk round Ryton Wood Meadows!

All in all a very successful day, with £750 pounds raised by sales and donations. This money will be matched by Whitbread and all the monies raised will be ploughed back into the reserve to improve the habitat further for the benefit of its butterflies and moths.