It's been a good start to the Spring for butterflies at Conwy, thanks to warm, sunny weather in late March and early April. Brimstones, small tortoiseshell and peacock butterflies were first out, on 15 March, with comma from 25th, orange tip and large white from 8 April, small white from 9th and speckled woods from 15 April.
We have published a list of the butterflies recorded at the nature reserve (click on the link below), with their earliest and latest dates up to the end of 2016. As you'll see, our 2017 brimstone, orange tip and large white were all our earliest ever records. A couple of species - dingy skipper and dark green fritillary - have not been seen here for a number of years, but most of the others have been recorded in the last couple of seasons, including the first ever white-letter hairstreak that was photographed by a visitor last summer.
Volunteers undertake a weekly census of the butterflies from April to September, but if you see butterflies while you're here, do report them in the sightings book in the Visitor Centre, as we collect all this information for the reserve records. Holly blue and green-veined white should be the next two species to emerge from their cocoons - keep your eyes open!
Julian HughesSite Manager, Conwy