Dorset butterfly updates
As we said in an earlier article, we are trying to beat our previous record of filling 2609 (89.5%) of the kilometre squares in Dorset with at least one butterfly record.
As of now (1 December) we are up to 2,606: just 4 squares short of beating our record. Continue reading
We need help counting butterflies at Brackett’s Coppice (West Dorset), The Milldown (Blandford) and Bind Barrow (Burton Bradstock). Continue reading
We are working on bringing you the full 2020 Butterfly Report, which has sent us trawling through our database of butterfly records. The number of butterflies counted from the mid 1990s to May 2021 is 5,608,000, Continue reading
The coronavirus situation has progressed rapidly over the last few days and Butterfly Conservation has regretfully decided to suspend all butterfly monitoring activities until further notice. You can still record the butterflies in your garden. Continue reading
Compared to last year, most of this year has been better, though mid-June was actually down on last year’s totals. However, the recent spell of sunny weather has changed that with numbers being up by 38% Continue reading
Earlier in June we appealed for records in an area around Ibberton in North Dorset where nothing had been reported in five years. We are delighted that John and Sue East stepped up and found butterflies in Continue reading
We’ve had reports of Brimstones in Bournemouth, Peacocks and Painted Ladies in Poole and Hairstreaks in Hazelbury Bryan. But one of the loveliest, most rural patches of Dorset is currently looking like a butterfly desert.
One of the nationwide schemes for seeing how butterflies are doing is the “Wider Countryside Scheme” (WCS). We need volunteers to walk the following areas Continue reading
The butterfly season is very much underway now, with 20 species reported to this website, including the Green Hairstreak and Dingy and Grizzled Skippers, but we need lots more records throughout 2019 as Continue reading
The current spell of good weather, without the intense heat and drought of the summer, is bringing out the butterflies which are still on the wing at this time of year. Continue reading