The Great Butterfly Count takes place from 18th July – 10th August
The charity Butterfly Conservation has been collecting data on butterfly numbers for 15 years. Last year was one of the worst years for butterflies, the result of a wet spring and relatively cool summer. This also followed a long term pattern of decline in the number of butterflies due to loss of habitat, climate change and pesticide use. An SOS for butterflies was declared by the charity.
How can we help?
By spending 15 minutes outside counting the butterflies and day-flying moths, then submitting your sightings, helps build an interactive map. This information will help scientists understand where butterflies are thriving or struggling due to habitat loss or improvement.
Butterflies are valuable indicators of environmental change. Their short life cycles and limited ability to disperse as well as specialised larval food plants, makes butterflies particularly sensitive to small changes in climate and weather. They are relatively easy to observe and because they are insects, recording their numbers are likely to reflect changes in other insect groups and thus the overall state of biodiversity. When butterflies and moths struggle, so do bees, birds, bats and entire ecosystems.
Monitoring and recording wildlife forms crucial information to help target our actions. If you want to do more for butterflies beyond this year’s count, then creating more habitat is really useful. The simplest way to do this is to allow parts of the garden to grow wild. Long grass directly supports butterflies and moths and other wildlife. The popular concept of ‘No mow May’ can ideally be extended to September. If you don’t have a garden then growing pollinator friendly plants in pots such as lavender, marjoram or purple-top (Verbena bonariensis) directly supports butterflies, whilst nicotiana or evening primrose plants help moths.
How to take part in the count:
- Download the free Big Butterfly Count app or visit bigbutterflycount.org . You do not need to be an expert, the app has an identification guide.
- Between 18 July and 10 August, spend 15 minutes in any outdoor space and count the number and type of butterflies and day flying moths you see.
- Log your sightings on the website or app and help protect UK wildlife for future generations.
By taking part you are directly supporting nature and creating a live map of UK biodiversity, visible in real time through the Big Butterfly Count website and free app.
The photographs below are a selection of some of the butterflies and moths spotted in Horsforth as part of our ongoing Bioblitz project.
