On Transect 17, walked on Saturday 25th July, GH, LZ and BG were joined for the second time by Luka Mehew, who proved very useful for the day's busy counting. 
The weather was hot and quite humid, just right for a further surge in butterfly numbers to our second-highest ever transect count of 1,153 butterflies from 22 species (beaten only by our remarkable Week 14 total of 1,207 butterflies in 2019).
Once again, it was the prolific Meadow Browns who, with a count of 659, more than doubled their previous (2019) high of 299. Equally impressive were the 193 Common Blues, which in other years have struggled to reach 3-figure totals.
The ‘specials' continued: there were 6 Clouded Yellows (our first sightings for 4 years), a rare sighting of a Small Tortoiseshell, and our first Silver-spotted Skipper of the year.
Record numbers and notable rarities made Transect 17 one of the highlights of our outstanding 2026 butterfly season.

Count details:
​659 Meadow Brown
193 Common Blue
136 Gatekeeper
56 Small Heath
39 Chalkhill Blue
12 Small Copper
11 Small White
10 Purple Hairstreak
9 Brown Argus
6 Clouded Yellow
5 Silver-washed Fritillary
3 Red Admiral
3 Small Blue
2 Comma
2 Large White
1 Brimstone
1 Dingy Skipper
1 Holly Blue
1 Painted Lady
1 Silver-spotted Skipper
1 Small Tortoiseshell
1 Speckled Wood
Count summary:
1,153 butterflies from 22 species.

We missed transect 15 to avoid the uncomfortable heat levels of that week and, as conditions had eased, GH, LN and BG ventured out for week 16’s transect on the morning of Saturday 18th July. 
We had continuous sunshine, with warm and occasionally hot temperatures. The fine conditions were perfect for butterflies and once again they nudged the day’s count up to a new high of 822 (from 21 species) for this 2026 season. Butterflies were seen in good numbers in all 12 sections of our transect route, a sure indication of being at the season’s height. 
This remarkable count was largely due to our recording a massive increase in Meadow Brown numbers, our highest ever count of 450, but  we also saw 211 Gatekeepers and 85 Common Blues (second brood).
A strong supporting cast featured butterflies from 17 other species, including our first Chalkhill Blues of the year (see below) and a single Brown Hairstreak, Britain's last regular butterfly to emerge each season.

Count details
450 Meadow Brown
211 Gatekeeper
85 Common Blue
14 Small Copper
14 Small Heath
7 Chalkhill Blue
7 Purple Hairstreak
6 Brown Argus
4 Speckled Wood
3 Dark Green Fritillary
3 Silver-washed Fritillary
3 Dingy Skipper
3 Marbled White
3 Small Blue
2 Large White
2 Small White
1 Brown Hairstreak
1 Large Skipper
1 Comma
1 Red Admiral
1 Small/Essex Skipper
Count summary
822 butterflies from 21 species.

Transect 14 took place on the morning of Friday 3rd July in ideal butterfly spotting conditions – warm, sunny and with very little wind. It was a very busy session, and fortunately there were four of us (GH, LN, DJ and BG) to process the high number of sightings. 
The day’s total count was 779 butterflies (our 3rd highest ever count) from 22 species (exceeding last week’s record). The strong July sun brought out butterflies in good numbers across all 12 sections of the transect.
 We recorded a surge in the numbers of Meadow Browns and Small/Essex Skippers and a small increase in Marbled Whites. The Gatekeepers’ count also shot up from 1 last week to 57 this week. Purple Hairstreaks also increased from 2 a week ago to 30 – over the previous 10 years we had never reached double figures! On the minus side, the usually numerous  Common Blues are virtually absent so far this year. 
We hadn’t seen any Small Blues for 5 weeks but the sharp-eyed Duncan spotted one approaching and saw it land on Hither Field’s kidney vetch patch. It was a female and we witnessed her settle on the flower heads and lay eggs. That was nice to see and confirmation that this nationally scarce butterfly is continuing to breed on a site where years of habitat creation and kidney vetch planting are paying off.

Count details:
280 Meadow Brown
223 Marbled White
96 Small/Essex Skipper (inc. 17 Small and 4 Essex confirmed identifications)
57 Gatekeeper
30 Purple Hairstreak
20 Small Copper
8 Large Skipper
7 Silver-washed Fritillary
6 Dark Green Fritillary
6 Small Heath
6 Speckled Wood
5 Brimstone
5 Small White
4 Red Admiral
3 Large White
2 Peacock
1 Common Blue
1 Holly Blue
1 Painted Lady
1 Small Blue
Count summary:
779 butterflies from 22 species.
​

The high temperatures of the previous week had slackened off to a much more comfortably sunny 23 degrees, giving GH and BG a pleasant walk around on Monday morning. We’re now at the halfway point of the 26-week transect season and butterfly numbers are approaching their high-summer peak. 
This week’s count of 486 was the highest of this year and will probably be exceeded over the coming few weeks, depending on weather conditions.  It’s still the Marbled Whites and Meadow Browns plus a surge in the numbers of Ringlets that are responsible for the high count, but whereas at this time of year we normally record around 14 species, on this transect we counted an exceptional 18. Furthermore … new arrivals included the season’s first Purple Hairstreaks and a Gatekeeper. In short, our list of butterfly species showed a much wider range than normal.

Count details:
204 Marbled White
161 Meadow Brown
45 Ringlet
33 Small/Essex Skipper
​(including 1 confirmed Small Skipper)
8 Large White
6 Small Heath
4 Small Copper
3 Brimstone
3 Dark Green Fritillary
3 Red Admiral
3 Small White
3 Speckled Wood
2 Comma
2 Painted Lady
2 Purple Hairstreak
2 Silver-washed Fritillary
1 Gatekeeper
1 Holly Blue
Count summary:
486 butterflies from 18 species.