By Tracy Munro, Species on the Edge Project Officer for the East Coast, Butterfly Conservation
The historic complex of Fort George sits on an isolated spit of land to the east of Inverness, where it commands stunning views over the Moray Firth and is popular with marine wildlife enthusiasts. It is also home to some lesser well known wildlife, such as the UK’s smallest butterfly, the Small Blue. Originally built after the 1745 Jacobite uprising, the huge fort covers 45 acres and remains one of Europe’s best examples of early military barracks. The wider dry training areas cover over 600 acres including the shoreline habitat crucial to many of our threatened sand dune lepidoptera. Like many of the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) training areas it is – perhaps surprisingly – rich in biodiversity, where the absence of development and intensive agriculture has allowed wildlife to flourish.
While the primary purpose of the Rifle Ranges at Fort George is Military Operational Training and live firing, the MoD is also committed to the environmental stewardship of the land. Over the last few years, the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) team has worked closely with Butterfly Conservation and Species on the Edge (SotE) to identify areas where habitat management could benefit priority lepidoptera. Species such as Small Blue, Grayling, Dingy Skipper and Portland Moth all require open habitats with a mosaic of bare sandy soils and the presence of their appropriate larval foodplant.
Habitat work parties run by SotE during the winter of 2023/2024 cleared an area of gorse on the north shore of the complex near a large patch of Kidney Vetch, the larval foodplant of the Small Blue. While Small Blue had previously only been spotted to the west of the fort, we were hopeful that they were also making use of this large patch of recently discovered Kidney Vetch. Until a volunteer notified us in late 2023, we had been unaware of the presence of this patch of Kidney Vetch. This is where the community aspect of SotE really comes into its own; without SotE raising local awareness, running ID courses, work parties and organising butterfly walks this particular dog walker says he would never have known that the lovely yellow flower he was walking over was of key importance to the UK’s smallest butterfly!
Imagine my delight then when I returned to survey the area in June 2024 and saw not only adult Small Blue butterflies, but also eggs! I watched several female laying eggs in the recently cleared areas – a joy to watch and a just reward for all the volunteers’ hard work.
SotE will work closely with MoD again over the coming winter to clear more gorse and allow the Kidney Vetch to flourish. Some scattering of locally sourced Kidney Vetch seed into the disturbed areas will also be advantageous; by allowing kidney vetch to spread along shore and path edges we will be creating corridors of habitat which will build greater resilience into the Small Blue populations that currently exist between Ardersier and Whiteness.
This partnership-building led to the inaugural meeting of the Fort George Conservation Group, held in November 2023. The work of this conservation group is contributing to the wider biodiversity in the Ardersier area, and helping to reverse the declining fortunes of this wonderful little butterfly, the Small Blue. SotE is helping monitor the Small Blue population on the training area, along with sharing advice and information on the conservation of the butterfly and its habitats.
