Good morning! Today is the big butterfly count! It's a great little activity and you and your child(ren) will be taking part in a wonderful citizen science project. You need to download the spotting chart or get the free app and then sit somewhere for 15 minutes and record all the butterflies you see. If you live near a salt marsh, its lovely to do a comparison between the ones you spot in a garden or wild space and the ones you see down on the marshes.
Some butterfly facts for you (and some information about why this is important!):
The UK has 59 species of butterflies – 57 resident species of butterflies and two regular migrants – the Painted Lady and Clouded Yellow.
Five species of butterfly have become extinct in the last 150 years. These are the Mazarine Blue, Large Tortoiseshell, Black-veined White, Large Copper and Large Blue. (Large Blue was successfully reintroduced in 1992)
The State of the UK’s Butterflies 2015 report found that 76% of the UK’s resident and regular migrant butterflies declined in abundance, occurrence or both over the last four decades.
