HOW TO RECORD BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS

There are several schemes in place in Dorset for monitoring our butterflies and moths, so you can choose which suit you best, whether you want to just note odd butterflies you see, or go out looking for them on a regular basis.

 

N.B.  We ask for your sightings to be recorded using grid references. If you need help with these (and for two jolly useful websites) see the grid references page.

 

BUTTERFLY CASUAL RECORDING:

This is for when you see butterflies anywhere and everywhere in the course of your daily life in Dorset - whether this is in town or country: we need both.

To report your casual sightings to us you can choose between three option, whichever is best for you:

  • If you like a bit of paper to fill in, download the casual record sheet and print it out.
  • If you are happy with having a spreadsheet on your computer to fill in as the year goes on,
    • download the casual recording spreadsheet;
    • there is a version with examples here (it's in pdf format so you can't mistakenly use it - it would give us a lot of extra work if you did!)
    • the spreadsheet asks for "habitat type numbers" - you can find the key here.
  • If you prefer to key them in online: go to our on-line sightings form

 

BUTTERFLIES - FILLING THE WHITE HOLES:

This is the next step on from casual recording. We record butterflies on a five-year cycle and aim to record in as many areas of Dorset as possible. 2012 is year three of the current cycle - go to the White Holes page to see where we particularly need butterfly records. Then treat them like the casual recording sightings above.

GARDEN BUTTERFLY RECORDING:

You can use the Site Recording sheet (above) for this if you want to send in on-going records from your garden, but there is limited value to recording the same butterfly several days running. A simpler approach to garden recording is to just record the date you see the first of each species, and we have a special form for this - Garden Recording Form

RECORDING THE AREA AROUND YOUR HOME:

A bit more than recording just in your garden, this asks you to record in the nine kilmetre squares which are centred on your house. If you like the idea but working out the area covered by the squares confuses you, contact Bill Shreeves for help - see Committee page. To record what you see, use one of the methods for Butterfly Casual Recording, above.

BUTTERFLY TRANSECT AND TARGET SPECIES RECORDING: 

Transect walks are regular walks along pre-defined routes. Dorset is one of the best recorded counties in transect walk terms, but it means we need lots of people to help, all over Dorset.

Target species recording is aimed at those butterflies which are less common, so you are looking for a certain species and will be guided as to where and when you might find it.

If you are interested in becoming involved in either of these types of recording, please contact Bill Shreeves - see Committee page.

WIDER COUNTRYSIDE BUTTERFLY SURVEY:

The Wider Countryside Butterfly Survey (WCBS) IS organised by a partnership formed by Butterfly Conservation, the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) and the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO). It is a national survey of common and widespread butterfly species and will enable us to more effectively monitor the changing abundance of these species in the general countryside. There are set areas within Dorset, to be monitored at least three times a year. If you are interested, please contact Adrian Neil.

News of 2011's WCBS recording can be seen by clicking here.

MOTH RECORDING:

There are quite a lot of day-flying moths, and even night-flying ones are sometimes seen in the day, especially if you disturb their resting place. If you are serious about seeing moths, you need a moth trap, which is run overnight to attract the moths so you can identify them and then let them go. You can report your sightings electronically via www.dorsetmothgroup.org.uk.

YOUR RECORDS - THE LEGAL STUFF:

For information on the use of your data please see the Legal Stuff page