Through the winter months Friends of Rowley Hills volunteers continued cutting down hawthorn scrub and clearing bramble to retain open grassland areas on the Portway Hill reserve for the butterflies and other invertebrates found here.

A project carried out this year was to create a small pond near the summit of Portway Hill a short distance in from the road. We were told by residents who had lived in the area for many years that there was once a pond here although nobody could be sure of the exact spot. A site was chosen for the new pond, and the first task was clearing the area of brambles and course vegetation. Once this was done, we set to work digging. The top foot of soil was removed relatively quickly but we soon came to clay which was more time consuming to dig out. With a great deal of effort over several weeks the task was completed. Clay soils are made up of small, fine particles that retain water and
drain slowly, so by treading down the bottom and sides, known as ‘puddling’ the pond was made as watertight as possible. Although the pond is likely to dry out during the summer it is hoped that some water will remain long enough for tadpoles of any amphibians that might be present to metamorphosise. A concrete post, uncovered while digging, was placed upright in the middle of the pond to provide a perching post for birds and to give us an idea of the depth of the water at any given time. Within no more than a week from completion, and after heavy rain, the water level in the pond slowly started to rise, and by late summer the water-level had almost risen to the top of
the post.

In early May the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country were given the green light to deliver the ‘Dudley’s Path to Nature Recovery Project’. This new project, funded by the West Midlands Combined Authority, will help to connect local communities to nature across Dudley’s rich landscape of hills through five interlinked activities; conservation work, community engagement, citizen science, partnership development, and the creation of new walking routes. Community engagement will include working with local schools and community groups, and Conservation works will be undertaken at sites along Dudley’s hills, specifically; Rowley Hills, Saltwells National
Nature Reserve, Castle Hill, and Sedgley Beacon. Part of the project was to establish and facilitate a Birmingham and Black Country Invertebrates Recording Group (BIG) with surveys carried out at various sites during the summer. Two of the surveys were carried out on Rowley Hills, the first on Dudley Golf Course, and the other on Portway Hill. Both surveys were well attended, and a wide range of invertebrates were recorded, some of them new for Rowley Hills.

Dudley Golf Course survey
Turners Hill is the highest point in the county of West Midlands standing at 271 metres above sea level. Dudley Golf Club therefore has the distinction of being the highest golf course above sea-level in the West Midlands, and the views from the course on clear days can be quite exceptional. The undulating fairways of this 18-hole course are separated by narrow bands of deciduous and coniferous semi-mature trees. Banks of native wildflowers and grasses surround the fairways, and in spring the wooded slopes are turned blue from 1000s of native bluebells. Sympathetic management is the key, and credit for this goes to Stewart Marshall and his colleagues who manage the course. Nothing is perfect, and in places Himalayan Balsam has become a pest and has formed a monoculture, shading out the native vegetation. On the plus side, the numerous flowers of this invasive annual do provide a valuable nectar source for invertebrates.

Dudley Golf course is on the watershed, with rain falling on one side of the course eventually ending up in the Bristol Channel via the rivers Stour and Severn, and rain falling on the other side of the course ending up in the Humber Estuary via the Tame and Trent.
On June 28th a BIG survey took place within the boundary of the golf course. During the day 76 invertebrates species were recorded, several previously not recorded before on Rowley Hills. One insect of particular interest was the Yellow-barred Longhorn Nemophora degeerella which was recorded in several places. The male of this small day-flying moth has antennae that are several times the length of its body.
A full list of species recorded can be found at https://uk.inaturalist.org/observations?nelat=52.50055797022656&nelng=-2.049092586178558&on=2024-06-28&place_id=any&subview=map&swlat=52.492719809196856&swlng=-2.059735591549652

Funding from the Dudley’s Path to Nature Recovery Project was used to provide manpower and machinery for dredging the two choked up ponds on the golf course. Spring fed they are linked by narrow drainage channels. As both Common Toad and Smooth Newt are known to occur on the golf course land. The restoration of the pond to open water will enable spawning to hopefully take place in the spring.

Portway Hill Survey
The second of the two Rowley Hills BIG surveys was carried out on Portway Hill on July 13th. This was a well-attended event and resulted in 139 different species of invertebrates being recorded, including several ‘first’ records for the site. The capture of a larva of a Green Hairstreak butterfly caught in a sweep net was a bonus as both caterpillar and butterfly are seen rarely on this site. Common Toad is the only amphibian known to reside here and as the survey progressed one eagle-eyed recorder spotted a well camouflaged toadlet clinging to the rockface on the Wildlife Trust
owned land.

2024 will be remembered for the record rainfall experienced in many parts of the UK, resulting in damaging floods in some parts of the country. Here on Rowley Hills, there is very little likelihood of this ever happening, but in some places the ground does become waterlogged, making some of the paths difficult to negotiate. Widening the paths with the Tracmaster does help to make negotiating the wet areas a little easier, but to do this first requires the removal of any protruding rocks, stones, and lumps of buried concrete to be removed first to prevent damage to the cutters. Carrying out this task is a reminder that most of the Portway Hill site was quarries that were landfilled. The
Tracmaster has also been put to good use in reducing the height of the vegetation in front of the rockface, now enabling visitors to get up close to look at the interesting exposure.

To maintain a species-rich wildflower meadow involves cutting and removing the arisings on an annual basis at an appropriate time of the year. The Wildlife Trust meadow is now a well-established wildflower meadow and by the early part of September when flowering and seeding was at an end, the meadow was ready for its annual cut. Volunteers set to work, and the resulting hay was raked into piles and then moved off the site. Reducing fertility is a key part of managing a wildflower meadow, as the poorer the soil the better it is for native wildflowers and grasses. During the raking and piling up process any seeds present will fall to the ground. Over time pernicious
weeds such as nettles, docks, ragwort, brambles, and thistles become less problematic as their preference is for ground left undisturbed.

To further reduce the vigour of more dominant meadow grasses, a sowing of Yellow-rattle seeds is made. The roots of this semi-parasitic annual, germinates in spring and their roots attach to grass roots on which they are dependent for water and mineral
nutrients, thus reducing the host grasses vigour. Yellow rattle is already well-established in the meadow from previous sowings but is still poorly established in parts of the meadow, particularly in the extended parts only recently cleared of bramble and hawthorn, so following the meadow cut a sowing of Yellow-rattle seeds was carried out in these areas.

As autumn approached fungi started to appear. Those that caught our attention were
photographed and shown below along with some of the interesting lichens found on trees and shrubs.

In December a joint meeting of the Black Country Geological Society and the Wildlife Trust was held on Portway Hill. Over the day another section of spheroidal weathering on the rockface was revealed.

On 15th December, as part of the Dudley Path’s for Nature project, an EventBright walk entitled ‘The Peaks and Dales of Dudley’ took place, partly on the Rowley Hills starting from Bury Hill Park, and eventually ending in the centre of Dudley. After introductions by our two joint leaders Andy and Daniella, the group first took in the view towards Birmingham and beyond from the summit of the park, and then headed downhill through Bob’s Canyon to the cairn on the Wildlife Trust’s land, where Andy talked about Dudley born mountaineer Bert Bissel’s accomplishments and the peace cairn on the summit of Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the UK. The next stopping place was the
Millennium Beacon on Massey’s Bank where we looked at engravings on the large boulders. From here we moved on to the landscaped Council managed Darby’s Hill Quarry where Andy pointed out the methane vents disguised as street lampposts. After taking in a different landscape from the hill at the top of Darby’s Hill Road we headed towards Warrens Hall Riding School and onwards towards Bumble Hole, eventually ending up at the fountain in Dudley marketplace.

To end the year, on New Year’s Eve a group of us assembled at the top end of Portway Hill, and on the stroke of midnight looking in the direction of Birmingham we were treated to a spectacular display of fireworks that lit up the whole horizon. A memorable occasion enjoyed by all who were there.

Nick Horton’s 2024 Rowley Hills Bird Report

2024 overall was a disappointing year for birds on the Rowley Hills but there were some highlights and surprises. Here is Nick’s birds sightings on Rowley Hills in 2024. He has given a total number to birds not that common in Rowley.
 
Gulls 
Lesser Black Back Gull 
Herring gull
Black Headed Gull 
Common Gull (2)
Waterfowl 
Mallard 
Teal (5)
Canada Geese 

Goosander (3 male, 5 female)
Coot 
Moorhen 
Water Rail (1)
Mute Swan 
White-fronted Goose (skeen of approx. 200 heading south following M5 towards Severn estuary in November)
Pochard (1 female at Bumble hole)
Tufted Duck (10+ at Bumble hole)
Little Grebe 
Cormorant (over flying)
Little Egret (1 at Bumble Hole)
Grey Heron 
Birds of prey 
Kestrel 
Sparrowhawk
Buzzard
Merlin (1 sighting high above Dudley Golf Course)
Red Kite (lots of sightings between January 24 and April 24, none after mid-April)
Peregrine (sightings down on passed years)
Tawny Owl (1 male, 1 female calling on Portway)
Waders 
Lapwing (flock of 40+ forced to land during Storm Kathleen on Portway Farm Fields, absent the next
day)
Woodcock (regular winter visitors)
Snipe (2 at Warren Hall Stables larger pool)
Pigeons and Doves 
Feral Pigeon 
Wood Pigeon 
Stock Dove (4 at Warren Hall Stables)
Collared Dove 
Corvids 
Magpie 
Jay (two adults feeding two young on Turner’s Hill)
Carrion Crow 
Jackdaw (2 near to the derelict Wheatsheaf p. h.)
Raven (sightings down on passed years)
Finches, Tits and Sparrows
Goldfinch 
Chaffinch 
Bullfinch (numbers seem to be increasing)
Greenfinch (only one male and one female seen all year)
Long-tailed Tit 

Great Tit 
Blue Tit 
Coal Tit
House Sparrow 
Dunnock 
Warblers
Blackcap (overwintering)
Chiffchaff 
Willow Warbler (only one singing male this year)
Whitethroat.
Thrushes 
Blackbirds
Song thrush
Mistle Thrush (1)
Others
Robin 
Wren
Reed Bunting 
Kingfisher (over flying towards Edale Pool)
Green Woodpecker 
Great Spotted Woodpecker 
Ring necked Parakeet 
Swallow 
House Martin (several nests around Newbury Lane)
Swift (4) Once a bird that would fly over the hills in large flocks each evening now reduced to just a handful.
Birds on migration and nice surprises 
Red wings (100+)
Fieldfare (10+)
Redstart (1 in spring 3 in Autumn)
Whinchat (2 in spring 1 in Autumn)
Tree Pipits (3 in Autumn)
Meadow Pipits (2 in Winter. Once a common bird on Rowley Hills
While it was disappointing to have not seen any Lesser White Throats, Stonechats, Linnets or Garden Warblers on site, the Water Rail on the small pool at Warren Hall Stables, the grounded flock of Lapwing at Portway Farm and the Kingfisher heading to Edale Pool meant that three birds could be added to the site list. Also, the number of visiting winter woodcocks is a real delight early on a winters morning.

Andrew Cook’s 2024 Butterfly Transect on Portway Hill SINC

01/04/24 – 29/09/24

This year, as observed elsewhere, has not been good for butterflies and day flying moths on The Rowley Hills. With a cold, wet and windy start to the season it was well into June before sightings climbed to anything approaching previous years.
The first five weekly counts were below 20, week 4 being zero, with no species on weekly counts getting into double figures. The main species recorded during this early period were Peacock (14) and Small Tortoiseshell (24), with low number sightings of Brimstone (3), Comma (1), Green-veined White (1), Orange-tip (3) and Speckled Wood (2). Weeks 6 to 11 were slightly better with counts in the 30’s with an increase in week 12 to a count of 47, this was primarily due to Small Heath (28) peaking for the season.
With an improvement in the weather sightings noticeably increased in week 13, beginning 26/06/24, with an increase in numbers to 232, over half of this number being the emergence of Ringlet’s (139) supported by the first Marbled White’s (38) of the year, Meadow Brown (31) and Small Heath (22). This was followed by the peak of the year in Week 14 with 360 butterflies and day flying moths recorded. Ringlets accounted for 267 of this number, with 41 Marbled White, 26 Meadow Brown, 11 Small Skipper and 10 Small Heath.
Weeks 15 to 19 bobbed up and down between 180 & 258 recordings, Ringlet numbers began to slowly decline along with Marbled White whilst Meadow Brown were slowly increasing during this period. Gatekeepers appeared during Week 16 with numbers peaking at 95 during Week 19 after which sightings began to decline with none recorded after Week 22.
Apart from Gatekeepers and Meadow Browns, other species were seen in single figures from Week 19 onwards along with a decline in the number of species observed. This trend continued for the remainder of the season with the number of total sightings for the year being well down when compared to the previous two years of recording.
Total sightings for 2024 came in at 2198, compared to 2022 & 2023 with 2740* & 3171
respectively. The number of species observed at 31 is slightly down on 2022 (33) but noticeably down against 2023 (36).

Notable species absent from this year’s recording were Painted Lady, Mother Shipton and Green Hairstreak, although I had been reliably informed of the latter being seen by Mike Poulton on the B&BC Wildlife Trust’s Portway Hill Nature Reserve during a volunteer day in mid-May. On a more positive note, Ringlet numbers were higher this year than the previous two with 641 recorded, compared to 589 in 2022 and 413 in 2023. This was a surprise considering that other species were generally all down in numbers.
Two firsts for the site were the recording of a Scarlet Tiger Moth and Small Blue. The Scarlet Tiger was seen on the top area of Portway Hill during Week 13. The Small Blue was seen at the end of August, Week 22, on the hillside near to Kenford Close struggling against the wind on the pathway. Hopefully there will be an improvement in both sightings and weather in 2025.

• Please note during 2022 recording did not begin until Week 5 which contributed to a slightly lower figure.

Comparison of 2023 to 2024

Position 23 Species Recorded Position 24 Species Recorded
1 Meadow Brown 596 1 Ringlet 641
2 Gatekeeper 468 2 Meadow Brown 459
3 Marbled White 464 3 Gatekeeper 349
4 Ringlet 413 4 Marbled White 145
5 Small Heath 201 5 Small Heath 111
6 Small Skipper 126 6 Small Skipper 64
7 Large White 109 7 Burnet Companion 53
8 Small Tortoiseshell 86 8 Speckled Wood 54
9 Peacock 78 9 Small Tortoiseshell 45
10 Small White 70 10 Large White 36
11 Common Blue 65 11 Small White 41
12 Burnet Companion 54 12 Peacock 32
13 Speckled Wood 52 13 Essex Skipper 29
14 Essex Skipper 47 14 Common Blue 20
15 Comma 45 15 Orange-tip 16
16 Latticed Heath 45 16 Latticed Heath 15
17 Orange-tip 42 17 Six-Spot Burnet 14
18 Red Admiral 51 18 Large Skipper 10
19 Large Skipper 30 19 Silver Y 10
20 Green-veined White 29 20 Green-veined White 10
21 Shaded Broad-bar 20 21 Red Admiral 11
22 Six-Spot Burnet 18 22 Comma 9
23 Small Copper 16 23 Shaded Broad-bar 6

24 Green Hairstreak 6 24 Narrow-B’d 5-spot Burnet 5
25 Narrow-B’d 5-spot Burnet 6 25 Brimstone 4
26 Brimstone 6 26 Holly Blue 3
27 Holly Blue 5 27 Small Copper 2
28 Silver Y 4 28 Common Carpet 1
29 Chimney Sweeper 3 29 Scarlet Tiger 1
30 Hummingbird Hawk Moth 1 30 Yellow Shell 1
31 Large Yellow Underwing 1 31 Small Blue 1
32 Mother Shipton 1 32 –
33 Painted Lady 1 33 –
34 Small Yellow Underwing 1 34 –
35 Yellow Shell 1 35 –
36 Common Carpet 1 36 –
Total 3171 Total 2198