Rare and gentle things
Get outside this weekend and join in the Big Butterfly Count urges Anthony Mccluskey
One of the joys of summer is seeing butterflies flit gracefully from flower to flower on warm days. But reports have found that most species have declined in the past few decades, and the recent run of wet summers in Scotland has meant that they have had an especially hard time here. This summer could be critical for populations, and Butterfly Conservation want the public’s help to find out how they are faring.
The organisation is asking everyone to get involved in the Big Butterfly Count survey which is launched this weekend and runs until 6 August. All you have to do is spend 15 minutes outdoors on a sunny day, and tell us what butterflies you find. This could be as you sit in the garden, or when you’re out and about during a walk. The survey coincides with the school holidays, so it’s a great opportunity for children to learn more about wildlife and contribute to science, as well as spending more time outside experiencing nature.
Mid- and late-summer are key times for butterflies, when they must feed up on nectar and breed. Wet weather can make it difficult for them to fly, and recent poor summers have resulted in sharp declines of even the commonest species such as Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock.
Butterfly Conservation President Sir David Attenborough said: “Worryingly, we are now seeing the fortunes of some of our once common butterflies mirror those of our rarest species and they too are now also suffering significant declines with butterflies declining more rapidly in urban areas than in the countryside.
“In the last decade our butterflies have experienced several poor years and although resilient, they simply cannot sustain repeated losses, especially if the habitats they need in order to rebuild their populations are also under threat.”
Sir David added: “Taking part in the Big Butterfly Count is good for butterflies and it is also good for us all. The Count is good for butterflies because your sightings will tell us which species need help and in which areas we need to help them.
“But the Big Butterfly Count is also good for you because 15 minutes spent watching butterflies in the summer sunshine is priceless; spending time with butterflies lifts the spirits and reinvigorates that sense of wonder in the natural world.”
The count runs from 14 July to 6 August. Taking part is easy – find a sunny spot and spend 15 minutes counting the butterflies you see and then submit sightings online at www. bigbutterflycount.org or via the free Big Butterfly Count app. What can you expect to see? In Scotland our most common garden butterflies in July and August are those brightly-coloured species which feed on nectar-rich plants such as Buddleia and Sedum. These include the Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock and Red Admiral, which may also be joined by the graceful Painted Lady. Painted Ladies undergo a mass migration from their main breeding ground in Africa, and make a 9,000-mile trip from there to northern Europe and back again each year. No one butterfly makes the whole trip; rather, it’s like a relay race with successive generations carrying on the journey.
If you’re out and about in the countryside, do keep an eye out for Common Blue butterflies. They’re usually found in short grassland or along road verges where the food plant for their caterpillars (a wildflower called Bird’s-foot Trefoil) grows. Their bright blue colour is brilliant when seen in full sun, and we are particularly interested in records of this species as they seem to have had a very bad time of it in recent years.
Some gardeners may be less pleased to see the “cabbage white”, which is actually two similar species which we know as the Small White and Large White. A free identification guide can be found on bigbutterflycount.org and the free app which is available for both Android and Apple devices. n