Count

The 2015 Big Butterfly Count is now underway, so why not take 15 minutes in your garden, or out on a walk, and record the butterflies you see.

It seems to be a good year for the Small Skippers with plenty about both in the derelict lots in the city centre, like this one, and out on the moor.

We are still north of the range of the very similar Essex Skipper, so I don't have to worry too much about misidentification, but this image shows off one of the Small Skipper's identifying features nicely - the orange on the underside of the antennae tip. Those of the Essex Skipper are black.

And my count for this one small derelict plot of land today:

Small Tortoiseshell - 7
Large Skipper - 3
Small Skipper - 7
Ringlet - 9
Meadow Brown - 5
Cinnabar - 1