A good year for butterflies?

Butterflies have been enjoying the sunny weather and a visit to a flower rich grassland, garden or verge has a good display of fluttering wings.

It is a good year for our migrant species who travel hundreds of miles to breed here travelling from Asia and Africa to Europe.. The Painted Lady is one such species and have been sighted feeding on Teasel and Black Knapweed in the Country Park.

One of the best places to look in the Country Park is on High Hill where the trees meet the grassland, as they feed on the bramble flowers.

Clouded Yellows have recently arrived from Southern Europe and can usually be seen flying fast in the opposite direction. Another cool migrant is the Hummingbird Hawk-moth which can be seen hovering around flowers such as Valerian with its long proboscis probing into the flowers for nectar.

However, the national picture of butterflies and moths is of a decline in many species.

The Butterfly Conservation compiles data from regular surveys and ask that the public get involved with the Big Butterfly Count.

It is easy to take part using an app on your mobile phone - you just need to spend 15 minutes counting the species you see in an area near you. They then compile the count results and it gives a picture of the overall health of butterflies nationally. The count ends on 9 August.

Butterflies are important indicators of healthy habitats, because if they are not there it probably means the ecosystem is not as varied as it could be and the plants they need and the creatures that feed on them will also not be present.

Painted Lady Butterfly