The results from the UK’s Big Butterfly Count 2020 were released last week. This summer, between 17th July to 9th August over 1.4 million butterflies were counted. However, while the amount of people taking part increased, overall the average numbers of butterflies were down 34% from the previous year (and were the lowest average since 2009 when the first count took place).
One difference from the 2019 results was the amount of Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) butterflies. Last year was great for this species as a huge migration of Painted Ladies arrived to the UK from the continent; this spectacle wasn’t repeated this summer. Whatever other reasons for the results this year, it does show the fragility of nature and how quickly things can change.
Yet there are things we can do to improve this situation in the future; for example, growing food for caterpillars as well as providing shelter and nectar. The Butterfly Conservation website provides helpful tips on how we can help butterflies within our gardens.
More information on the results, including the breakdown of the individual species, can be seen on the Butterfly Conservation website too (see here).
It is still possible to see Butterflies on sunny days, along with moths, even in this month as shown on the picture below (also provided by the Butterfly Conservation charity).
Bee in the Moment 