Riding the crest of a butterfly boom

28/7/2025

Transect 17 was carried out under classic butterfly-counting conditions: hot, humid, and with a sky that alternated between full sun and pockets of cloud. It was ideal weather for butterflies – and pretty good for spotting them too. With just eight transects left in the season, we may well be on course for a record-breaking year.
Gatekeepers, Meadow Browns, and Common Blues continue to dominate, with numbers remaining impressively high for a third consecutive week. It’s shaping up to be a vintage year for many other species too, with Chalkhill Blues, Silver-washed Fritillaries, Purple Hairstreaks, and both Small and Large Whites thriving in this long run of favourable weather.
A particularly exciting find was two second-brood Dingy Skippers – a rare late-summer appearance not seen since 2020. Normally an early-season species, this second emergence may be a response to the extended warm conditions, offering a fascinating glimpse into how climate and habitat interact to influence butterfly lifecycles.
Each transect now seems to bring a new highlight – what surprises will the next eight weeks hold?

Count details:
233 Gatekeeper
173 Meadow Brown
86 Common Blue
22 Small Heath
20 Silver-washed Fritillary
17 Chalkhill Blue
17 Large White
14 Small White
13 Purple Hairstreak
6 Brown Argus
5 Holly Blue
4 Speckled Wood
2 Dingy Skipper
2 Ringlet
1 Brimstone
1 Marbled White
1 Red Admiral
1 Small Copper
Count summary:
618 butterflies from 18 species.
For more info on these species visit
butterfly-conservation.org

Butterfly of the week

Dingy Skipper (Erynnis tages) – don’t let the name fool you!

Despite its modest colouring, the Dingy Skipper is actually a day-flying moth lookalike and a master of camouflage, often mistaken for a dead leaf or a patch of bare earth.
It prefers sunny, sheltered spots with sparse vegetation, often basking with wings outstretched to soak up the warmth.
Although usually a single-brood species, warm summers can trigger a rare second brood – as spotted in our transect this year for the first time since 2020!