Author: Molly Fleming

The Hook has been awarded its second coveted Green Flag Award, celebrating the site as one of the UK’s best green spaces! The reserve has been named among 2,250 other parks and green places across the UK that have received the award, which sets the benchmark standard for the management of recreational outdoor spaces across the UK and around the world.

RBC’s Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Wellbeing, ICT and Member Development Cllr Jonathan Wheeler recently joined members of FroTH and Council officers to raise the prestigious flag.

Cllr Wheeler said: “Building on last year’s achievement, we’re delighted to announce that The Hook has received its second consecutive Green Flag Award and is recognised as one of the leading green spaces in the UK!

“Receiving this award acknowledges all the hard work that goes into maintaining this space. Thank you to the Friends of The Hook volunteer group, Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, our staff and Streetwise for their excellent work in protecting and conserving the site.”

FroTH Chair Jeffrey Mackintosh said: “We’ve received our second prestigious Green Flag Award for providing a green space that is good for the community and the environment.

This nature reserve hosts many different types of flora and fauna. It’s also a fantastic place for butterfly conservation and our Vice-Chair David co-ordinates a butterfly survey every week as part of the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme – one week 300 butterflies were counted! 

“The habitats here have shown great improvements, and our volunteers continue to work hard to protect this reserve for all to enjoy.”

Each summer volunteers complete a weekly butterfly survey on The Hook. On 25th of July there was excitement as Phil Read and Mark Jones spotted a Brown Argus butterfly. Only one has been spotted in the last 5 years, and this one was captured on camera by Annette Roe – what a beauty!

Find out more about the butterflies of The Hook and the work volunteers do in the insects section of the website.

It’s been a summer of butterflies on The Hook nature reserve this year, with numbers well up on last year. Every week from April to the end of September volunteers carry out a transect, walking the same route and counting the species and numbers. Our records are sent through to form a national picture of how butterflies are doing.

By week 15 last year, volunteers had counted 273 – this year it was 1064. So the number of butterflies is well up, helped by the dry weather which has enabled them to fly, feed and breed. However, the range of species is narrower than in previous years standing at 17, compared with 21 previously. We have not yet seen Small Copper, Painted Lady or Brown Argus, although these have been seen in Nottinghamshire.

We’ll be looking to see if the reserve is offering the range of plants needed for butterflies and caterpillars to feed and breed. If there are gaps, we’ll then find out how to fill them.

Find out how you can get involved in The Big Butterfly Count and some of the brilliant birds that have been spotted recently on The Hook in our July newsletter. Or sign up to get monthly updates in your inbox.