Welcome to Butterfly Conservation in Somerset and Bristol
The Big Butterfly Count has begun
The Big Butterfly Count, which is the world’s largest butterfly survey, started on 14 July and runs to 6 August. Taking part in the Count is easy. If you need it, you can downlard a ID chart of the species that we want recorded from http://www.bigbutterflycount.org . Then find a sunny spot and spend 15 minutes counting the butterflies you see and after that submit your sightings online at www.bigbutterflycount.org or via the free Big Butterfly Count app.
Although a few species seem to have done well this year, several have done very poorly. The reasons for this are unclear and the collection of data is essential to unravelling the causes and, we hope, finding solutions. Remember that nil returns are also valuable. Even if you expect to see nothing, it is useful to us to have that fact confirmed by a 15 minute survey. You are not wasting your time doing it!
The Red Admiral citizen science project
Dear All,
Associations and institutions from 24 countries collating biodiversity data collected by “citizen scientists” provide their Red Admiral data to our project. Some of these organisations offer online and/or mobile tools to report Red Admiral sightings from anywhere in Europe.
All partners are listed on our project page (Greece will be added soon):https://insectmigration.wordpress.com/red-admiral-migration/
With the help of this European network of associations and collaborators we are gathering an impressive dataset for our study on the spatio-temporal dynamics of the Red Admiral. We have a very good coverage for Western, Central and Northern Europe – the coverage for Eastern Europe, however, reflects the lack of citizen science portals open for butterfly observations there. This is partly compensated by the above mentioned tools that also allow observers in Eastern Europe to report sightings.
The project relies on awareness and the involvement of the public as citizen science observers. Therefore, we would be grateful if you would publish a call motivating the observers to report Red Admirals. For this purpose you can use the material (maps, images) attached.
I’d like to thank you all for supporting our research!
With kind regards,
Marco Thoma, Insect Migration & Ecology Lab, University of Bern, Switzerland
Our social media accounts: https://insectmigration.wordpress.com/red-admiral-migration/
https://twitter.com/insectmigration
All the Moor Butterflies
The see Simon and Megan's first report from the new project and the list of summer events including walks and surveys on Exmoor, Dartmoor and Bodmin click here
Munching Caterpillar comes to Bristol
We now now launched the Munching Caterpillar project in Bristol. We have two goals. One is to engage inner-city children with with butterflies and moths. The other is to get families involved at summer events..
Driven by the infectious enthusiam of the project Officer Matt Brierley and with invaluable help from University of the West of England student volunteers plus some of our Branch members, things have got off to a very good start. For Matt's first project report click here
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Guided Walks
The Guided Walks programme has now started with well-attended events in the Blackdowns and on the Poldens. The final walk is on Saturday 12th August in the Mendips having in the intervening weeks been again in the Poldens, on the Levels, at the coast, on Exmoor and on traditional famland as well as woodland. With a bit of luck and good weather, all the butterflies that occur in the County will be seen, provided that you go on most if not all the walks!
The walks are led by knowledgeable and friendly people. We particularly like to meet new members, beginners and families with children. For the full details click here
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Species
The Species section is planned to hold information on all the butterfly species in Somerset and many day-flying moths as well. We will be building it over the coming weeks Read more...
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The Arion
The Arion is our Branch magazine. Written mostly by Branch members and illustrated with their splendid photographs, it is produced three times a year, covering our conservation work as well as reports of new findings, local events and far-flung holiday travels. Read more...
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Walks Booklet
Published in 2015 and so right up-to-date, Butterfly Walks in Somerset and Bristol gives full details of 37 walks at sites all across our area, with information on how to get there, parking, when to go and what you may expect to see. It costs £8.00 incl p&p Read more...
