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The results are in from Butterfly Conservation's Big Butterfly Count 2021! This year there was a fantastic uptick in recording from across the historic Wychwood area, with 531 of you spotting a collective 6,186 butterflies between 16th July and 8th August.
The top ten species spotted in the historic Wychwood area, stretching from Woodstock to Witney, Bruern to Bladon, Charlbury to Chipping Norton were (in descending order of abundance):
1. Small White (1090 counted)
2. Meadow Brown
3. Large White
4. Gatekeeper
5. Ringlet
6. Peacock
7. Marbled White
8. Red Admiral
9. Small Tortoiseshell
10. Green-veined White (219 counted)
You can see how this compares to the national picture and discover exactly what was spotted where by clicking here to see the full results.
The information gathered through butterfly recording is crucial for conservation, as it helps us understand how butterfly populations are faring, what threats they face, and how we can best help them. As Butterfly Conservation's Upper Thames Branch continue to number-crunch, we'll share with you how the results from this year compare with previous years', and what that tells us about our local butterfly populations.
Thank you to everyone who helped collect this critical data: we hope you enjoyed it!
September is the tail end of the butterfly season, but some are still on the wing! If you would like to keep recording butterflies (which conservationists thank you for!), you can do so using the iRecord Butterflies app. Butterfly Conservation's Upper Thames Branch has created a helpful identification guide to the butterflies you might spot locally in September, which you can find here.
Photograph by Tamás Nestor.