Massive thanks to all of you who have sent in 59,128 butterfly sightings of 49 species so far this year! We would love to have even more. Don’t forget to do one (or more) 15 minute counts for the Big Butterfly Count, but think about investigating some of our White Holes, too.

White Holes are our local name for kilometre squares on the map where no butterflies have been recorded yet in this five-year recording cycle. If you go to our White Holes page you can find a map which shows what species have been seen where so far: this information is fairly up-to-date,  but some records cannot go in until the end of the year, so don’t worry if you send in records via other means, they will be added in due course. The map actually differentiates between squares where no butterflies have been recorded, those where 1-9 species have been recorded and those with over 10 species. So don’t just head for the pure white holes, think about the pale red ones as well: you may be able to add a species nobody else has reported.

The photo at the top is of Chalkhill Blues: a species which is in trouble in some areas of Dorset, so we are particularly interested in hearing about them: they usually peak in August, though the exceptionally hot weather may make them finish earlier this year. This year’s figure is already up on last year: 2021 saw a total of 1,476 reported, while we are already up to 1,593 this year. They are being seen in large numbers on some sites: 200 at Tout Quarry on Portland and 95 at Badbury Rings in east Dorset. Our Chalkhill Blue species page will give you lots of hints on how to identify it, and an idea of what areas of the county in which it tends to appear.

If you do a Big Butterfly Count, please send your records in to the Big Butterfly Count website not Dorset Branch: we will receive your records in due course, but it keeps things clearer and avoids duplicate counting.