It's half way through July and the time that Butterfly Conservation calls on all of us to take part in the Big Butterfly Count 2016. If you are a reader of this blog, I can tell you that there is no better time to visit the West Hayling Reserve or any of your local patches and take part in this survey to monitor the state of our butterfly populations - you could even do one in your garden!
Marbled White Underwing
The survey will take only 15 minutes of your time, and you can find a useful butterfly ID chart provided by Butterfly Conservation at the link below. These stunning little creatures are a fantastic indicator of the state of nature, due to the fact they are easily affected by changes to their environment, and so monitoring them will be helping us to take 'natures pulse'. I'll certainly be doing as many as possible down at the Hayling Oysterbeds, so if you see me around and want to get involved for a worthy cause, do come and say hello.
Small Skipper on Knapweed
The survey runs from July 15th to August 7th, so there is plenty of time to get involved. Visit http://www.bigbutterflycount.org/about for more information on how to take part.
So what are you waiting for? Let's go outside and get counting!