The idea of the survey is to help assess the health of the environment as butterflies react rapidly to changes and are, therefore, excellent biodiversity indicators. The survey may reveal decreases in particular species which can act as a warning of other potential wildlife losses. The count will also help show trends in species so that action can be taken for declining species and also show how climate change is affecting butterflies.
All you have to do is pick a location, such as your garden or a park or wood, and look for butterflies and moths over a 15 minute period and then enter your records on the website. There is an interactive map so you can check what other species have been seen in your area.
If you are interested in taking part the website can be found at:
www.bigbutterflycount.org
I watched our garden for 15 minutes at lunchtime today seeing 1 red admiral, 2 speckled wood and 2 large white. The holly blues and small whites decided to put in an appearance after the 15 minutes had ended! - Very reminiscent of the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch when all the interesting species descend just after the hour is up!
Speckled Wood
and a very poor record shot of a Large White which only alighted and kept still for about a nano second!
Edit - Many thanks to Dean for pointing out that this is a Green-veined White!
Lovely photos, Caroline. But is that Large White not a Green-veined ?
ReplyDeleteThanks Dean.
ReplyDeleteOops re: id! I've had another look at the photos and checked some id guides and I think you may be right. Unfortunately, I didn't get a look at the underside of the wings which is the id feature I usually use. Size wise it seemed a bit big for Green-veined but it didn't hang around for long and I was that busy trying to take a photo I could have over judged size.
Thanks for the help :D As always its really appreciated.