Here at Escot Estate we are proud of our work in land and estate management, supporting a biodiverse environment where native plants and wildlife can thrive.
Butterflies are a crucial part of the ecosystem. They are important pollinators as well as contributing to the food chain. Sadly, their numbers have been decreasing since the 1970s. This is of concern, because butterflies react quickly to changes in the environment. If they’re in trouble, then nature is in trouble.
Since 2010, the Butterfly Conservation Society has run the Big Butterfly Count, now the world’s biggest survey of butterflies. This year it runs from July 14th to August 6th.
The Society says: “Counting butterflies can be described as taking the pulse of nature and we depend on you, our citizen scientists, to help us assess how much help nature needs. The data from this and other counts will also help us to identify important trends in species that will assist us in planning how to protect butterflies from extinction, as well as understanding the effect of climate change on wildlife.”
We are fortunate to have lots of butterflies on the Estate, in our gardens, woods, wetlands, and the fields.
So why not take 15 minutes when you’re next walking at Escot to note down which varieties you see and how many? You can submit numbers via the website using an interactive map.
Some that you might see:
- Red Admiral
- Tortoiseshell
- Peacock
- Orange Tip
- Gatekeeper
- Common Blue
- Painted Lady
- Meadow Brown
- Ringlet
- Marsh Fritillery
You can find out more about the Big Butterfly Count and how to take part by following this link: Big Butterfly Count
