Big Butterfly Count

So the Big Butterfly Count is over! My total number of counts is about 6, if I had more of a garden I would have done several more. I have seen a few butterflies that I haven't seen before, which is always a nice a surprise, the biggest of which was on my birthday. So the total count of my counts is:

Large White (Pieris brassicae) x1

Speckled Wood (Paragre aegeria) x5

Small White (Pieris rapae) x8

*Small Copper (Lycaena phlaes) x1

Green Veined White (Pieris napi)

*Clouded Yellow (Colias croceus)

*Gatekeeper (Pyronia tithanus) 

The (*) butterflies are the species that I have never seen before. My personal favourite was the Clouded Yellow. I spotted this when out for a walk on my birthday, its bright yellow wings flashed in the Himalayan Balsalm. We chased after it and thought it may have been another species but the shape and brightness of the wings proved that it was in fact a Clouded Yellow. It is a migrant to the UK, so not something you are able to see that often.

There were plenty of other butterflies that I saw out of the count, like Peacock and Red Adrimals. But butterflies wasn't the only firsts for me this summer. I was lucky enough to see Gooseanders and a Black-Tailed Skimmer, photos of both are below. It just shows that once you get out and enjoy nature, even if you are just sat around in a field you will see lots of new things and increase your knowledge of the area around you.

Top (left to right); Red Adrimal, Speckled Wood
Bottom (left to right); Gooseander, Black-Tailed Skimmer

You can still upload your results from your surveys until the end of August by clicking on this: Big Butterfly Count


I hope you guys have seen special things this summer. What is your total surveys and what did you see? Please comment and let me know.