Happening next week, our workshop on monitoring the Northern Brown Argus.
This under-appreciated butterfly is found in small colonies in northern England and Scotland.
We need more people to get involved with egg counts. Book your free place: butterfly-conservation.org/events/north...
Graph showing dramatic decline in Grayling, Hipparchia semele, and equally dramatic increase of Dark Green Fritillary, Argynnis aglaja, over the last 50 years at Ballard Down in south Dorset, UK
Our review of fifty year butterfly trends at Ballard Down is out. An amazing record that shows some fascinating ups and downs. Diversity has held up well. Winners are Dark Green Frit, Marbled White and Speckled Wood. Losers: Grayling, Green Hairstreak and Chalk Hill Blue. dispar.org/reference.ph...
60% of species had an above average year in the 2025 @ukbms.bsky.social results. Purple Emperor (📷 @iainhleach.bsky.social) & Black Hairstreak both had their 2nd best years on record. 🎉
Glanville Fritillary had its 3rd best year in 2025 according to the @ukbms.bsky.social results. This species has bucked the general pattern of long-term decline for habitat specialist butterflies in the UK - its numbers have increased by 244% @savebutterflies.bsky.social (📷Mark Searle)
📷 Mark Searle
Habitat generalist butterflies tend to be faring better in the UK. Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria) had its 4th best yr at @ukbms.bsky.social sites in 2025. It also had its best yr on record in Scotland. In the UK, its numbers are up 87% since 1976, but in Scotland abundance is 566% up this century
Thats a great count!
📷 Mark Searle
A deeper dive into the 2025 UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme results. Most species increased at monitored sites compared to 2024, but many were still below average. Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary (Boloria selene) had its 2nd worst year & has decreased by 74% since 1976. @savebutterflies.bsky.social
Northern Brown Argus butterfly on a thistle and headline 50 years of butterfly monitoring data reveal specialist species disappearing across UK
Pearl-bordered fritillary butterfly on bluebells
Extraordinary dataset of 44 million+ records of UK #butterflies collected by 782,000 volunteers in the past 50 years shows many species are in long-term decline eg Pearl-bordered Fritillary.
@ukbms.bsky.social is run by @savebutterflies.bsky.social, UKCEH, @btobirds.bsky.social, and JNCC.
🧪 1/
White Admiral (Limenitis camilla) also had a poor year in 2025, its 4th worst in 50 years. Its abundance has decreased by 63% at @ukbms.bsky.social sites over that time. @savebutterflies.bsky.social (📷 @iainhleach.bsky.social)
Its week three!
You can walk your transect on any day of the week. But its best to walk during the first suitable weather window - some weeks you may not get a second chance!
Remember the minimum temp 🌡️ is 13oC in sunshine, 17oC if its overcast.
UKBMS results out today!
Results from fifty years of butterfly monitoring! The UKBMS data reveals declines in 33 species over the last 50 years.
Check out the full story below butterfly-conservation.org/news-and-blo...
And the full 2025 statistics can be found here: jncc.gov.uk/our-work/off...
We need more people to help us monitor populations of the Northern Brown Argus.
This wonderful butterfly is found in small colonies in northern England and Scotland.
Join our free workshop to learn more:
butterfly-conservation.org/events/north...
@bchighland.bsky.social @bcyorkshire.bsky.social
🎺 The website is back online now! 🎉
Looks like the UKBMS website is down, along with the iRecord website.
Our partners @ukceh.bsky.social are working on fixing it.
Thanks for your patience!
Want to know where to see butterflies in Cambridgeshire?
I prepared a short guide to many of the best sites across the county. From the Small Blues of Magog Down, to Wall Brown in the Fens, to the Skippers of Swaddywell.
butterfly-conservation.org/in-your-area...
Lancashire based butterfly enthusiasts...
We are looking for volunteers to take on a 1km square as part of the Wider Countryside Butterfly Survey.
You visit twice during the summer to walk a transect and record all the butterflies you see. volunteer.butterfly-conservation.org/opportunitie...
Great to see the 2025 BBS report out now.
It also has an article from UKBMS about how the fantastic BBS volunteers also help us monitor butterflies as part of the Wider Countryside Butterfly Survey 👍
Today is the start of week two!
Butterfly transect Surveyors have had a great first week with the warm spring and sunshine resulting in lots of butterfly sightings.
What will week two bring..?
Want to get involved? Find out more - ukbms.org
Thats a great start!
A great start to the transect season!
Great to hear!
Butterfly enthusiasts needed in Kent!
We're working with @kentwildlife.bsky.social to recruit more butterfly surveyors on nature reserves in Kent. Can you ID butterflies and spare some time to walk a transect? If so find out more below, we'd love to work with you!
buff.ly/llcOz1Y
Two people carrying out a FIT Count in a flowery meadow, using a quadrat made out of tape to mark out the target flowers for the count. One person is using the FIT Count app, the other has a paper recording form on a clipboard.
Welcome to the new season for #pollinator FIT Counts! Our latest e-news was sent out this morning - read it here mailchi.mp/7e658beeba40... and subscribe at ukpoms.org.uk/subscribe As soon as the weather is warm enough we hope that you will enjoy watching and counting insects on flowers with us.
Want to get involved in monitoring butterflies and contribute to a 50yr dataset tracking populations of butterflies in the UK?
We have opporunities to join teams surveying transects in some great locations in Lancashire.
Find out more here: buff.ly/3cnIupq
@BC_Lancs
WEEK ONE!
The UKBMS surveys officially kick off today 🎺 🥳 🦋
If you're taking part, check the weather and choose a good day for your survey this week - temps above 13degrees, sun and light winds are best. Weeks run from each Wednesday to the following Tuesday this year.
Good luck!
We're enjoying the UK Butterfly Recorders meeting today! Fascinating talk on using UV torches to monitor Black Hairstreak larvae.
More great talks to come...
If you couldn't make it today the recording will be up on YouTube in a week or two.
📷: Iain H Leach
(3/) The third video covers the additional recording that you can do as part of surveying a BBS square. This includes how to record mammals, plus how to record butterflies as part of the Wider Countryside Butterfly Survey: youtu.be/htnTm7YMOwE @ukbms.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social
Orange-tips are nearly upon us and, surprisingly, Green Hairstreaks were seen today in Cheshire! www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/phpBB/viewto...
Its 2 weeks today until the start of the official Butterfly Monitoring season
But for any keen beans you can do early transect walks before April 1st if the weather is warm, above 13oC, dry, bright and still.
Early counts can be entered on our website as weeks -3, -2, -1, 0 etc.
Belmont Railway, Stanmore. This former railway line has some great habitats with oak woodland, scrub and wild flowers. Help us montior butterflies there. volunteer.butterfly-conservation.org/opportunitie...