2024 Garden Butterfly Sightings Up Until 1 August

 

This dainty Brown Argus is the most recent butterfly to appear in our garden this year. It represents the 15th species spotted within our boundary. The chart below shows my records for the Garden Butterfly Survey. Naturally, some days produce more sightings than others depending on factors such as time in the garden, weather and butterfly cycles. 

The garden had a large white Buddleia when we moved in over twelve years ago. It also had a range of trees and bushes. We have allowed the grass to grow long and have added a butterfly house, a large trough of Nasturtiums (I never know if these are primarily for the Large White caterpillars to eat or for us to enjoy!), Verbena bonariensis and some herbs. We also have three mini-ponds and a water bowl for the hedgehog, so water is always available.

The list will enlarge with a double-click. 

The first column is for the scientific species name, followed by the common English name. Next comes the family name, e.g. Pieridae refers to the white (and 'white-ish') butterflies. The number column gives the total of butterflies seen between the dates of the first 2024 sighting on the left (column 5) and the most recent on the right. If my calculations are correct, the chart shows a total of 195 butterfly records since the late start of the 2024 butterfly season.  

I would hope to see a Small Heath and a Common Blue by the end of the season. Watch this space!

 

 

My Results: Butterfly Conservation Garden Butterfly Survey, 2022

One of last year's Comma butterflies. I love the proboscis!

I noticed on Twitter that early butterfly sightings are being recorded so it seemed the right moment to post my complete Garden Butterfly Survey (Butterfly Conservation) list of 371 butterflies for 2022. 

The list shows my total number of sightings (18 species in total) and the chart below it shows the top ten species seen each month:

 

It comes as little surprise that Small Whites were my most frequently recorded butterfly. The three Graylings and a single Clouded Yellow were garden firsts. 

I tend to jot down 'bonus' sightings as well in my notebook, and note that in addition to the butterflies listed, I saw several Hummingbird hawk-moths and a couple of Silver Ys. A passing shimmer of red could have been either a Cinnabar or a Burnet moth. 

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“Garden Butterfly Survey (2022) by Butterfly Conservation supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, licensed under CC BY 4.0”. 

Butterflies in the Garden in June 2020

I am a summer-lover and always feel a twinge of sadness when we reach the end of June, knowing that the longest day is behind us. A new month means it is time to post my Garden Butterfly Survey charts for the last four weeks or so.

The figures you see do not necessarily mean the total number I have seen of a particular species. The folk at Butterfly Conservation who run the survey ask us to record the highest number of a given species seen at one time. I saw two Ringlets, a new species to our garden, but since I failed to see them at the same time, you will not see a '2' in their box. Holly Blues were well down on May, but it has been a joy to see several Small Skippers, all at different times.

David, who has been walking round the block almost every day, has amassed what I think are astonishing statistics for a very 'suburban' pavement walk here in Suffolk. I hope you can just about make these out on his graph below: it will probably enlarge if you click on it. Blue represents sightings in April, orange in May and red in June. These results from an environment so very close to home make me wonder what (bushes? trees?) we lack here in the garden. There are signs of flowers on the Buddleia, but it will still be some days before these open.

I am glad to report that we had a beautiful Cinnabar moth in the garden a few days ago. I am also delighted to add that my home-patch insect list has finally reached *100*. More of that tomorrow...