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A summer of butterfly seeking

Brimstone - John Bridges

Birdwatcher and nature enthusiast, Alan Last, added butterfly seeking to his summer agenda this year. Reporting over 1,500 individuals from June to September, Alan tells us about his experience participating in Butterfly Seekers.

Butterfly Seekers was established to help us understand more about the butterfly species we have in Essex. Given that the recent Butterfly Conservation report revealed that 80% of the UK’s butterfly species have declined in abundance or distribution since the 1970s, the data from this campaign will be invaluable for future butterfly conservation.

Alan Last was our top contributor to the Butterfly Seekers campaign this year, recording a grand total of 1,784 butterfly butterflies of various species while on his walks between Stambridge Mill and Paglesham, Rochford. Although Alan admits he is not a “butterfly expert”, he is a keen citizen scientist, having participated in Butterfly Conservation’s Big Butterfly Count previously.

“My most productive day was 18 July, when I counted a total of 507 butterflies of 12 species at Paglesham, including 6 walls, 11 green-veined whites and 94 peacocks.” – Alan Last

For Alan, it has been a memorable summer: “My tiny urban garden has been adorned with the bright colours of holly blues, red admirals, commas, and painted ladies.” While butterfly seeking, Alan has been lucky to spot other fascinating species too: “Incidentally, while doing the counts in the Roach estuary I came across three adders, including a pregnant female along the estuary bank and a black adder”.

Alan has a selected a few of his favourite butterfly species to comment on, including the marbled white, wall and green-veined butterfly.

Marbled white

One of Alan’s favourite butterfly species and one he is most knowledgeable on is the marbled white. Alan has witnessed its recent colonisation of the Roach valley, as he has been walking here since 2002. The first of his encounters with this intricately detailed species was a single individual along the riverbank in July 2012. This has now transformed into the perfect place to spot a marbled white, as the species has expanded along the grassy banks and tracks fringing the Roach estuary.

Marbled white butterfly on a leaf

Marbled white - James Adler

Wall

Delicately patterned with light brown and orange wings, wall butterflies are often found soaking up the warmth of the sun on walls or stony surfaces. Alan notes that although this year’s Butterfly Seeker survey did not see many reports of wall butterflies, he personally has observed a significant increase in this species (spotting 18 this summer).

Wall butterfly sits on a stone

Wall - Richard Burkmarr 

Green-veined white

Grab your binoculars for identifying this one, Alan advises. With Essex being home to a few white butterfly species, it is easy to mistake green-veined whites for small whites or large whites. Look for the veiny marks on their underwings to be certain you have a green-veined white. Unfortunately, this is a species which has suffered one of the most severe population declines since the 1970s.  

Green-veined white butterfly sits on white flowers

Green-veined white - Vaughn Matthews

Alan ends his Butterfly seeking account by sharing a quote from butterfly expert Jeffrey Glassberg, “Beautiful and graceful, varied and enchanting, small but approachable, butterflies lead you to the sunny side of life”.

 

Take a look at the Butterfly Seeker 2023 results

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