Giant Reeds, Eucalyptus Trees and Rubbish Destroy a River in Portugal

Ribeira do Marchante is a vanishing river

There is a river in Quinta do Conde in Portugal known as the Ribeira do Marchante or the Ribeira de Coina. It was once a navigable river that had a lot of water and even supported rice fields back in the 1800s. Today it can be difficult to see, and difficult to find any stretches of water that are not choked with Giant Reeds (Arundo donax) and other vegetation.

In the droughts that are now a new normal in Portugal due to Climate Change, the bed of this river is often dry for much of its course, and for much of the year. Rubbish and fly-tipping litter its banks and surrounding areas.

Some of this trash is in the river itself. This river is disappearing. The land next to it has many Eucalyptus trees. They are known to take a lot of groundwater from any land they are growing in. This non-endemic tree is adding to the threats to the river’s health. I have lived in Quinta do Conde for eight years and have seen the Ribeira do Marchante in much better condition in the first years I was here. In the past I have seen ducks swimming on it, Iberian Water Frogs (Pelophylax perezi)

in many parts, and I have even seen a rare European Pond Tortoise (Emys orbicularis) dive into the water. On World Rivers Day (24 September), with the EcoGrupo Trevo, local environmental conservation group, I went walking the route of the Ribeira do Marchante, including a part that I was not familiar with. I was horrified to see how much Giant Reed is now growing in and along the river. If it continues like this there will be no water flowing. The Giant Reed is an invasive species and creates problems in many parts of the world. It is resistant to fires because it can regenerate, it uses up a lot of water, its roots go deep into the soil making it hard to remove, it spreads rapidly, it grows very quickly, and it displaces native vegetation while destroying wildlife habitat. As for the Eucalyptus trees, several years ago a team of men cut down some of the trees near the Sports Stadium, which is close to the river. However, they left the stumps and soon after the trees sprouted again. 

The Eucalyptus recovers quickly when felled, and also regenerates after being burned in wildfires. This tree is causing a big problem in many parts of Portugal. In addition to all this, paths through the woodland on the banks of the river are being churned up by trail bike riders, people on 4-wheelers, and we even encountered a car actually driving along the riverbed in one part. All of this causes sand to wash down into the river in storms. My conclusion is that the Ribeira do Marchante needs help, and needs help urgently or it will continue to decline fast and will eventually be no more than a memory. I am a member of ESRAG (Environmental Sustainability Rotary Action Group) and this group is very concerned with restoration of rivers and wetland. There is an Adopt a River group. I am also an active member in SAVE THE FROGS! a charitable organisation that, as its name suggests, is dedicated to saving frogs and other amphibians worldwide. There are grants available from Rotary and from SAVE THE FROGS to fund the sort of work that would be needed to save the Ribeira do Marchante. I am hoping that the money can be found to fund a restoration project. I think something should be done to halt the destruction of this river before it is too late.

Portuguese:

A Ribeira do Marchante é um rio em extinção

Existe um rio na Quinta do Conde em Portugal conhecido como Ribeira do Marchante ou Ribeira de Coina. Já foi um rio navegável que tinha muita água e até sustentava campos de arroz no século XIX. Hoje pode ser difícil ver e encontrar trechos de água que não estejam obstruídos por Canas/Juncos gigantes (Arundo donax) e outras vegetações. Nas secas que são agora uma nova normalidade em Portugal devido às Alterações Climáticas, o leito deste rio fica frequentemente seco durante grande parte do seu curso e durante grande parte do ano. Lixo e despejos espalhados pelas margens e áreas adjacentes. Parte desse lixo está no próprio rio. Este rio está desaparecendo. O terreno ao lado possui muitos eucaliptos. Sabe-se que retiram muita água subterrânea de qualquer terreno onde crescem. Esta árvore não endémica está a aumentar as ameaças à saúde do rio. Moro na Quinta do Conde há oito anos e vi a Ribeira do Marchante em muito melhores condições nos primeiros anos que aqui estive. No passado, vi patos nadando nele, rãs d'água ibéricas (Pelophylax perezi) em muitas partes, e até vi uma rara tartaruga europeia (Emys orbicularis) mergulhar na água.

No Dia Mundial dos Rios (24 de Setembro), com o EcoGrupo Trevo, grupo local de conservação ambiental, fui percorrer o percurso da Ribeira do Marchante, incluindo uma parte que não conhecia. Fiquei horrorizado ao ver quanto Cana está crescendo agora dentro e ao longo do rio. Se continuar assim não haverá água fluindo. A Cana é uma espécie invasora e cria problemas em muitas partes do mundo. É resistente ao fogo porque pode se regenerar, consome muita água, suas raízes penetram profundamente no solo dificultando sua remoção, se espalha rapidamente, cresce muito rapidamente e desloca a vegetação nativa ao mesmo tempo que destrói o habitat da vida selvagem. Quanto aos eucaliptos, há vários anos uma equipa de homens derrubou algumas árvores perto do Estádio Desportivo, que fica perto do rio. Porém, eles abandonaram os tocos e logo depois as árvores voltaram a brotar. O eucalipto se recupera rapidamente quando derrubado, e também se regenera após ser queimado em incêndios florestais. Esta árvore está a causar um grande problema em muitas zonas de Portugal.Além de tudo isso, os caminhos pela mata às margens do rio estão sendo agitados por ciclistas de trilha, pessoas em veículos de quatro rodas, e até encontramos um carro passando pelo leito do rio em um trecho. Tudo isso faz com que a areia desça para o rio durante as tempestades. A minha conclusão é que a Ribeira do Marchante precisa de ajuda, e precisa de ajuda urgentemente ou continuará a diminuir rapidamente e acabará por não passar de uma memória.Sou membro do ESRAG (Grupo de Ação Rotary para Sustentabilidade Ambiental) e este grupo está muito preocupado com a restauração de rios e zonas húmidas. Existe um grupo Adote um Rio.

Também sou um membro ativo do SAVE THE FROGS! uma organização de caridade que, como o próprio nome sugere, se dedica a salvar sapos e outros anfíbios em todo o mundo. Existem subsídios disponíveis do Rotary e da SAVE THE FROGS para financiar o tipo de trabalho que seria necessário para salvar a Ribeira do Marchante. Espero que o dinheiro possa ser encontrado para financiar um projeto de restauração. Penso que algo deveria ser feito para impedir a destruição deste rio antes que seja tarde demais.

My Protest Songs and Songs About the Environment

With the ongoing Climate Crisis and serious threat of extinction for so many species I have been writing and performing protests songs and songs that draw attention to the environment and to dangers to the wildlife of the world. I have four songs like this on my recent album Songs of the Now and Then, which is released in CD format and as a digital release on bandcamp, and was produced by Jayce Lewis. The CD is environmentally friendly because the tray and packaging is made from recycled eggbox. But now let’s take a look at the songs!

Where Does All The Plastic Go?

Where Does All The Plastic Go? Started life as a poem but I decided to make a song out of it because no one else in the world of music was singing about this problem that affects us all. There is a video made by Filipe Rafael and filmed in Portugal, and this video has had over 19,200 views on Facebook.

My song has been featured in The Portugal News and I was featured on the front page with a caption: “Singing Against Pollution P11.” It has also been featured in a book by Italian radio host and author Filippo Solibello.

In SPAM Stop Plastic A Mare, the author has given a 4-page chapter to it entitled Where Does All The Plastic Go? Filippo has been promoting his book and my song all over Italy and managed to get a copy to Pope Francis. He is also spreading the word about my idea for an Ocean Aid concert, like Band Aid and Live Aid but this time to raise awareness of the crisis at sea caused by plastic pollution , as well as overfishing and other threats to life in the oceans.

I am hoping that this concert will happen and will attract not only big sponsors but very big name bands and singers, who will be willing to take part. Money raised can be distributed to charities helping the oceans. Which ones is yet to be decided on but there are many. Streaming and free downloads of Where Does All The Plastic Go? are available at Reverb Nation.

The Nightingale

The Nightingale, is a song that not only talks about the threat of habitat destruction that is causing a serious decline in this iconic songbird , but talks about the problems caused by development schemes all over the UK and elsewhere. Land-grabs of green belt and forested areas are causing an incredible amount of destruction of the homes of a vast number of species of wildlife. It makes reference too, to the ongoing felling of trees in cities and towns. The song starts with the lyrics: “You’ll never hear a nightingale if their homes are no longer there, destroyed by a developer who doesn’t really care, despite their claims otherwise about biodiversity, ripped up hedges and bulldozed land’s the reality I see.” The Nightingale features vocals from well-known Welsh poet Mab Jones on the choruses. This song is very topical due to all the protests that continue in the UK, where people are trying their best to stop the destruction of the forests and countryside. As I write, there are ongoing demonstrations to Stop HS2, but many more protests are taking place to save the wild places of Britain.

Citizen of Earth

Citizen Of Earth is actually an old song of mine that has been brought up to date with a new recording. I have been aware of the problems the world faces for a long time but everything has got so much worse. This is why I am making protest songs my focus. Citizen of Earth makes reference to the cult TV series The Prisoner, which starred Patrick McGoohan as Number Six. It talks about social unrest and about how people are trapped in a system that is similar in many ways to the Roman Empire. “The Roman Empire was much like today, Patricians and Plebeians and social decay, until the fires burned it all away, the ghost of Nero’s still fiddling. Citizen of Earth has been played on Roque Duarte’s show on the radio in Portugal and has inspired two very different videos. One was made by Ludgero Corvo and the other is an animation by Simon C. Watch them both and see which one you like best!

 

Butterfly In My Beard

Butterfly In My Beard is the most lighthearted of these songs, though it still raises awareness about wildlife, in this case it is talking about butterflies. I rear these insects and the verses of my song refer to real-life incidents. I have had Monarch butterflies on my beard. The second verse goes: “They called me the Bugman on the news one time…. they called me the Bugman on the news, a Hissing Cockroach on my head got plenty of views…” These lyrics are about the time I was in the South Wales Echo in an article about how I kept exotic insects. 

When I perform the song live I get the audience to join in by “making butterflies” with their linked outstretched hands and by giving me a “yeah” at the right places. I am hoping to audition this song in front of the judges of Britain’s Got Talent.

Butterfly In My Beard at CamonesCinebar in Lisbon

What Do Butterflies Do In A Drought in Portugal When Their Food-plants Are Dead?

How do Small Coppers and Meadow Browns survive a drought?

Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas) Photo in Public Domain/Pixabay

As I walk the burning sandy path through local scrub and woodland here in Portugal I often wonder where do the remaining butterfly females lay their eggs? The once lush vegetation has been shrivelled in the heat of the ongoing drought and what is left is tinder-dry and brown. The Meadow Brown and Small Copper are two butterflies confronted with this problem. Earlier in the year the same location was covered in masses of wildflowers, clumps of Rockrose were in bloom, green grass was plentiful, as were other forms of greenery. There were lots of butterfly species to be seen, including, the Swallowtail, Clouded Yellow, Speckled Wood, Red Admiral, Green Hairstreak, Spanish Festoon, Small White, Bath White, and Small Copper.

Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina) Photo: Public Domain/Pixabay

Meadow Browns become common in early summer here in the same location. It looks like a paradise for butterflies, and for other forms of wildlife, but as the long days of sun and heat take their toll, all short vegetation dies back to the ground, shrivels up or becomes dead and brown. The butterflies seen flying become less and less as the drought intensifies its hold with no rain at all, or if there are a few scattered showers, the water evaporates as soon as it falls. This year has been particularly bad. Even plants like Echium creticum (Cretan Viper’s Bugloss) failed to bloom successfully and shrivelled in the heat.

Echium creticum in the drought (Photo: Steve Andrews)

One of the only plants that has stood up to the drought conditions is the Rush Skeletonweed, which is an invasive species suited to very arid and semi-desert conditions. On top of this, the local Portuguese authorities have employed teams of workers to clear the land of dry scrub and vegetation in many places. This is a new legal move aimed to be a precaution against wildfires, which have become a new ‘norm’ here.

Land clearance (Photo: Steve Andrews)
In earlier summer I have seen groups of the last of the first emergence of Meadow Browns sheltering under the shade of some old trees here. A few Scabious plants provide nectar and some grass is still alive right under the trees and under bushes. Most other butterflies, such as the Swallowtail and Small White are sustained by the gardens of the town where people water their plants, and some caterpillars can feed on Rue and and plants in the cabbage tribe respectively. But my question remains for the next brood of Meadow Browns and the Small Coppers. As for the Speckled Woods they seem to have vanished. The Meadow Brown female must find grass to lay her eggs on but there is none still green. I wonder, is it possible for the larvae to feed on dried up grass?

The Small Copper I think has an even more difficult, if not impossible task. It has to find any species of Sorrel (Rumex species) or Dock. From what I can tell from my studies in books and online there are no other food-plants. Of course, I do not have as keen a sense of sight and smell as a butterfly, but I am still very able to observe signs of life in any location. As far as I can tell, all Sorrel species have shrivelled away to the ground. I cannot find any. Meanwhile, every time I walk the woodland path here I witness several male Small Coppers in battles and chasing each other. There is an established colony and they don’t seem to mind the heat or intense sunshine. But where can the females find anywhere to lay their eggs? Had I known how bad it was going to get, maybe I could have grown some Sorrel in pots in the garden? If I had taken a pot to the Small Copper territory I am sure the females would have gladly used it for their eggs. There is no Sorrel there as as as I can see. Even flowers of any sort to provide nectar are in very short supply with just a few dried up and struggling Carline Thistles.
A mile or so from this location I was walking down the main road and came upon a single Meadow Brown female fluttering along a dried up and strimmed roadside. She did find a single Scabious in bloom that had missed the strimmer in the land clearance effort but there was no green grass anywhere to be seen. But she had her job to do, she must keep going in search of a few blades of grass on which to lay here eggs. Looking around didn't give a very optimistic outlook for her, and if she was blown or strayed into the traffic she would become another victim of roadkill. Living here in Portugal has shown me graphically one reason that butterfly species are declining: they are unable to find food-plants in good condition because the natural growing seasons have been disrupted and destroyed by the terrible effects of the Climate Crisis. I wonder how many other people here are wondering how the butterflies manage?

Watching the Desertification of Portugal

Climate Breakdown and Desertification

Dried up pond (Photo: Steve Andrews)
I have been living in Portugal since late 2014 and over the years have been watching the changes in the weather and to the countryside. Every year we have had very hot weather and wildfires and droughts are becoming the new ‘normal’ here due to Climate Breakdown. It is getting worse and I feel I am watching the early stages of the desertification of Portugal.

Ponds Dry Up

Cracked mud (Photo: Steve Andrews)

I am sure that amphibians and other aquatic wildlife are having a hard time due to the lack of water. A river near where I live has run dry in the past and this year some roadside pools have already dried up and are just cracked mud. This is very unfortunate news for the small colony of Iberian Water Frogs that were breeding there. Only a month or so back there were thousands of tadpoles in these pools and Water Starwort was an aquatic plant that was growing.

Iberian Water Frog tadpoles (Photo: Steve Andrews)

Sadly the hot, dry weather has evaporated all the water before the tadpoles could complete their metamorphosis and they have all perished. I had moved some to the deeper pools but it was in vain because they dried up too.

Wildflowers

French lavender (Photo: Steve Andrews)

The wildflowers here are spectacular in spring with so many species bringing a splash of colour to the countryside. French Lavender, Candytuft, Campanula lusitanica, Silene colorata (a bright pink Catchfly), Common Poppies, Three-leafed Snowflake, Narrow-leafed Lupin, St John’s Wort, Crown Daisy, Asphodel, Toadflax, Tassel Hyacinth, Blue Hound’s Tongue, Scrambling Gromwell, and Sage-leafed Cistus are just some of the colourful plants that beautified my country walks back in April and May. It is hard to think that all these pretty flowers were growing well not long ago on ground which is now brown and tinder dry. Where even the grass has died down and the paths are dust.

Flowers in Spring (Photo: Steve Andrews)

Earlier in the year there were countless butterflies. I would expect to see Swallowtails, Red Admirals, Green Hairstreaks, Spanish Festoons, Clouded Yellows, Speckled Woods, Small Coppers, and Small Whites and would never fail to be disappointed.

Green Hairstreak (Photo: Steve Andrews)

A bit later the Meadow Browns became the most commonly seen butterfly but now there are hardly any about.  There are hardly any flowers left from which they could feed and the vegetation has died back or is conspicuously brown and shrivelled up. In the four years before this year I have never seen it so dry and so dead looking as it is now. I live in Quinta Do Conde, a town between Lisbon and Setubal, so am not in the hot south of the country. If it is like this here I dread to think what it must be like in the Algarve.

Skeleton Weed (Photo: Steve Andrews)

But not all plants are doing badly in the hot and dry conditions. Some are colonising new ground and others are adapting. The Skeleton Weed (Chondrilla juncea) is a species that is happy growing in arid places and I see more and more of the plant on waste ground where I live and even growing in cracks in paving. It is an invasive weed that has become a problem in many parts of the world and after wildfires it will rapidly colonise new ground where other vegetation has been killed.
Black Mustard, or a species of mustard that earlier in the season looks very like Black Mustard, is forming bushy clumps when it goes to seed here. They resemble tumbleweeds and can easily break off helping to distribute the plant.

Mustard clump (Photo: Steve Andrews)

Wildfires

As already mentioned, wildfires are becoming a new ‘norm’ for Portugal and can now occur all year round, due to Climate Breakdown and droughts which can now take place even in the winter. These fires, in addition to destroying farms and houses, are killing animals and people, as well as vast numbers of trees of native species. Pines and Cork Oak can regenerate if not too badly burned but when the trees are weakened and if drought continues they become very susceptible to disease. The Pine Wilt Nematode, spread by various wood-boring beetles is killing pines throughout the country. When the rains finally do arrive another problem the countryside faces is the erosion of the fertile top soil that is washed away.

The Portuguese authorities have implemented legal measures requiring landowners to take action by clearing undergrowth,  brushwood and scrub that could easily burn. Many areas where this has been done will have destroyed wildlife habitat and many dormant and active species sheltering in the vegetation. Efforts to provide safety for farmers and residents of Portugal, are surely taking a toll on the flora and fauna of the country.

Permaculture as the Solution

Desertification of Spain and Portugal

I have known about the predicted desertification of Mediterranean countries including Spain and Portugal before I came to live here. Sadly I am now watching the problem in action. I was searching online for information on desertification in Portugal and found this very detailed and excellent lecture by Doug Crouch, who describes how the system of modern farming is degrading the land further. He also proposes permaculture as the solution. He explains what has been going wrong and what can be done to reverse the ongoing growth of what he calls the “New Sahara.”

The Heart of the World’s on Fire: Arhuaco and Kogi Need Our Help!

Fires in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta

The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is a massive pyramid-shaped mountain in Colombia and home to the Kogi, Arhuaco, Wiwa and Kankuamo indigenous people. To these tribes, who represent all that is left of the ancient Tairona culture, it is “The Heart of the World.” At least 800 hectares have been ravaged by fires, family homes and livelihoods destroyed, as well as rare flora and fauna also destroyed in the blaze. Traditionally constructed houses and buildings used for the ceremonies of these people have been burned to the ground. The Arhuaco and Kogi communities have been devastated.

The village of Séynimin sustained terrible damage. It is located in the eastern part of the Arhuaco territory. In the foothills of the Guatapurí river, jurisdiction of the municipality of Valledupar. The village of Waniyaka is reported to have been razed to the ground as well. The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta has in the past been declared as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, and yet now that disaster has struck, the English media has been ominously silent, leaving only the Spanish press to get the story out to the world. I only know of one report in English!

As many as 80 families have been affected by the fires and 50 houses have been reported to have been destroyed. The Arhuaco and Kogi people are appealing for help. On 1 March  they declared themselves in a state of economic, social, cultural and ecological emergency, with fires still active in several points of the Sierra Nevada. Firefighters battling the blaze have had difficulty accessing the affected areas due to the location high on the mountain, 3,500 metres above sea level. Smoke has made a difficult situation worse.
Kogi Mamos
The leaders of the Kogis, who are known as Mamos or Mamas, came to the world’s attention back in 1990 in a ground-breaking BBC documentary entitled The Heart of the World: The Elder Brother’s Warning. It was directed by Alan Ereira and explained how the Kogis, who regard themselves as the “ Elder Brother” and call us the “Younger Brother” wanted to break their silence by issuing a warning to the world. They had seen more than enough signs in the ecosystem of their sacred mountain to know that we are in danger of destroying life on Earth. The top of the Sierra Nevada was no longer covered in ice and snow, the clouds had gone. These were signs we now recognise as being caused by Climate Change. It was this film that first enabled me to understand what was happening with regard to what was then called Global Warming. By the way the transcript for the film can be read and the documentary viewed HERE. I really recommend it to anyone who didn’t see it when it was first broadcast or who has not heard about the Kogis until now.
How to Help

I have known about this since 25 February after being alerted by my Arhuaco friend Iku de Gonawindua, who is an an ambassador for his people, and who had tweeted about the disaster. Since then I have been spreading the word on social media. I have been waiting in vain for the world media to report the story but, as already explained, the English language media have been silent. This is why I am blogging about it here. This is a copy of information I was given: “These families lost everything after saving their lives in fires that took 3 days, requesting support from the relevant entities and required from blankets, cooking utensils, food, work tools to rebuild the town ...In the city of Valledupar-Cesar will be the headquarters of aid to the Carrera 9 # 3-69 barrio los campanos headquarters indigenous house resguardo arhuaco, in Bogotá headquarters Redepaz Carrera 10 # 19-65 office 905.” Please help in any way you can! Sharing the news helps if you are not in a position to help with donations!

Everybody’s Talking About American Monarch Butterflies

American Monarchs are in the news

Male Monarch Butterfly, Female Monarch (Photos: Steve Andrews)

Every time the Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) makes the news it is the latest on the iconic insect’s struggles in America, where it has migrated in billions from Canada and the northern states down to California and Mexico each autumn. Over the past decade there have been reports of the butterfly’s alarming decline, due to habitat loss, pesticides, herbicides, disease and climate change. Modern farming using the herbicide Roundup (Glyphosate) on maize and soya-bean crops, is eliminating the once common milkweed species that grew in farmlands throughout the United States.  Legal and illegal felling of trees in Mexico in areas where the monarch overwintered is another big problem.

A disease known as “OE,” which is the abbreviation for Ophryocystis elektroscirrha, a protozoan parasite, takes its toll on the butterflies causing severe weakness, and cripples with deformed wings that do not live long. Some butterflies are so weak they fail to be able to emerge from their chrysalises, others that do die shortly after. It appears that OE is widely distributed among all Monarch populations. The microscopic spores are spread from infected adult butterflies onto the leaves of milkweed plants. Caterpillars that eat them become infected. OE is not a threat to other types of butterfly apart from other species in the Danaus genus.

It is very distressing to see how badly Monarch butterflies have been doing in recent years, and there is even talk of the butterfly being threatened with extinction.

Saving the Monarch

Conservationists and concerned citizens of America have been doing all they can to halt the decline in Monarchs and to help the butterfly survive in great numbers again. One of the main methods being used is the cultivation of milkweed (Asclepias) species. Many people have taken to growing these plants and rearing the butterflies in captivity by keeping, eggs, caterpillars and chrysalises indoors or in protective enclosures. The idea is to keep them safe from predators, such as wasps.

Tropical Milkweed (Photo: Steve Andrews)

The problem with these methods is that one of the most commonly grown milkweeds known as Tropical Milkweed (A. curassavica) is a non-native species that is suited to tropical and subtropical areas. With warmer weather due to climate change it is being grown in many places where once it would not have survived. It can cause a very real problem because it can build up large numbers of OE spores and become a source of infection. This happens in places like Florida where it is warm enough for the plant to grow all year around. This also means that Monarchs can continue to breed in such areas and will not have any need to fly elsewhere. Many scientists and Monarch conservation and research groups, such as the Xerces Society, are recommending that only native milkweeds should be grown. This is good advice. There are many species of Asclepias that grow in all zones of North America and right up into Canada. These plants die down for the winter and resume growth again the following year. These native species do not allow the build-up of OE on them. These endemic milkweeds encourage the Monarchs to migrate because it means that late in the year there are no food-plants available for the females to lay their eggs on. It was all working really well until humans interfered by destroying milkweeds with herbicide and then, in an effort to help, by growing a plant not native to the north American states. The Tropical Milkweed is getting a bad name but the reason is due to the very real problems it can cause in America. However, in some places there is no other choice!

Elsewhere in the World

Female Monarch on Balloonplant (Photo: Steve Andrews)

Monarchs live in non-migratory populations in many other parts of the world, including the Canary Islands, Portugal, Spain, New Zealand and Australia. In these countries there are no native milkweeds, and indeed, the butterflies have only been able to colonise large areas due to the prevalence of the introduced Tropical Milkweed and two other plants that were formerly in the Asclepias genus. The Balloonplant (Gomphocarpus physocarpus) and the Swan Milkweed (G. fruticosus) are naturalised in all the places named above and are both used as Monarch caterpillar food-plants.

Female Monarch returns to my garden to lay eggs on Tropical Milkweed

I lived in Tenerife in the Canary islands for nine years, and it was there that I started successfully rearing Monarchs. I fed the caterpillars on Tropical Milkweed, which is the only milkweed found on the island, apart from very occasional specimens of the Gomphocarpus species. It is because the Tropical Milkweed was brought to the island as an ornamental garden flower that Monarchs were able to colonise Tenerife, where it is said they were first seen back in 1887. How they reached the islands is uncertain. Now that Monarchs are on Tenerife, they have no need for migration because, although it gets plenty of snow and ice up on Mt Teide, around the coasts and in the south, the temperatures remain warm enough for Tropical Milkweed to keep growing and the butterflies to keep breeding. The situation is similar in parts of mainland Spain and Portugal where this non-native milkweed has been grown in gardens and where the Gomphocarpus species have become naturalised.

Monarch Butterflies in Portugal

Recently eclosed Monarchs (Photo: Steve Andrews)

I have lived in Portugal for the past four years, and this year I was successful in rearing four generations of Monarchs with the caterpillars feeding on plants of Tropical Milkweed and Balloonplant I managed to grow enough of in the garden here. I had at least 30 butterflies each time. The last lot of adult butterflies emerged in late November but where they went I have no way of knowing. I have cut what was left of the milkweeds down to short stalks so if any females came back they would have found nowhere to lay their eggs. I originally obtained eggs from someone I know who has a butterfly farm up in Aveiro further north. He tells me there are no Monarchs there in winter and he gets his eggs sent up each year from the Algarve. According to As Borboletas De Portugal, a Portuguese butterfly book I have, along with the Algarve, the northern coastal city of Aveiro, is one of the only places that Monarchs can be found in the country. Is this because of the butterfly farmer I know there, or are there naturally occurring wild ones, and how did they get there? I have been told that the butterflies can sometimes be seen in the Lisbon area too. Where did they come from? Did they migrate from the south? I often wonder what happens in winter. Do any Monarchs go south here to the Algarve where there are non-migratory populations or do all the butterflies in central and northern parts, such as the ones I released, simply live short lives and fail to breed due to the cold weather and lack of food-plants. There is very little information available online or in books about the behaviour of Monarchs in Portugal and Spain, and indeed in Europe. Is anyone else studying these butterflies here apart from me? Google for information on Monarchs and most of the results are about those in America.

I have had the idea that the non-migratory resident Monarch populations, wherever they are worldwide, are forming a genetic reservoir of the species. If its migratory populations ever do become extinct, the species could be reintroduced by moving some from the resident colonies elsewhere.

The Wanderer

I have wondered whether as climate change causes milder winters would the butterflies colonise other more northerly countries if the non-native food-plants grew in sufficient numbers there? Would any Monarchs eventually evolve into a migratory form like their American cousins? A very small number of Monarchs reach the UK some years but are unable to breed due to lack of any type of milkweed growing there and are unable to survive the cold winters. But the fact that they got there at all reveals their wandering nature, which is why an alternative name for the Monarch Butterfly is the Wanderer.

The Coal-yard

The Coal-yard That Became Housing

Restharrow - Ononis repens (Photo: Public Domain)

Today, I am going to write about somewhere my family called “The Coal-yard.” It was on the other side of the railway line and railway bank behind where we lived. As a child fascinated by nature, I used to go there to look for wildflowers, butterflies, moths and once common reptiles. The coal-yard was a wonderful unrecognised nature reserve because it supported so many species of wildlife. It was presumably viewed by the local authorities as little more than waste ground, of no use now the coal mines were no longer a thriving business and British Railways were no longer using it. What was once my coal-yard was destroyed and became a site for housing and a short road, together with the almost obligatory lawns.

All of the wildflowers and wildlife have gone, including the common lizards that lived there.

Small Copper (Photo: Public Domain) 

I recently blogged about habitat destruction and natural environments that I have seen destroyed and vanish locally. The same picture is happening globally. Just think about how many woods, fields, ponds or other wild places that have gone from the area you live in. I am sure you will know what I mean.

Here is a poem I wrote describing the coal-yard and what was once there.

Common Lizard (photo: Public Domain)

The Coal-yard of my Vanishing World

The coal-yard has long gone,

Once there were wildflowers in the abandoned sidings,

Pink restharrow, golden bird’s-foot trefoil and purplish tufted vetch

Added colour to the picture

And nectar for the bees and butterflies;

Small heath, small copper,

Common blue, grayling,

Wall brown, meadow brown,

Small tortoiseshell, and the day-flying burnet moths,

Once added their beauty on the wing,

Flitting from one floral delight to the next,

Basking in the sunlight.

Lizards sunned on sleepers and anthill mounds,

Slow-worms slithered under rusty corrugated iron;

Catch them if you can, and I often did.

It was a boy naturalist’s paradise,

Over the railway bank,

A secret heaven,

A pasture of delights.

Now apartment blocks, a cul-de-sac

And manicured lawns are the replacements.

Plums and apples fall in season

And rot on the grass,

Where tenants leave them,

And passers-by pass by.

People are starving elsewhere in my vanishing world.

About the Butterflies

Several species of the butterflies mentioned are now recognised as being in a serious decline in numbers throughout the UK. The small heath (Coenonympha pamphilus) is, as its name implies, a small butterfly and fairly inconspicuous with its yellowish-brown wings. It likes a grassy area and its caterpillars feed on various grasses. It was once very plentiful, and although still widely distributed, many of its former colonies have gone.

The wall brown, or simply wall butterfly (Lasiomammata megera) was once very common but has suffered serious declines, although Climate Change is thought to be a reason behind its disappearance. Like the small heath, its caterpillars feed on grasses, so lack of food-plants is not a problem for these species.

Small Tortoiseshell (Photo: Public Domain)

The small tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) was once one of the most common British butterflies and was found in a  wide range of habitats, including our gardens. Over the past decades, however, it has experienced a dramatic slump in its number. This is not adequately explained because its food-plant is the stinging nettle and there are plenty of these plants about. It is thought that changes in weather brought about by Climate Change are negatively affecting this pretty butterfly.