Keeping an eye on county butterflies

Wednesday 6th May 2009, 8:45AM BST

The red admiral is still a fairly common butterfly in Britain. By Bob Carter

The red admiral is still a fairly common butterfly in Britain. By Bob Carter.

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12 Comments

  1. Jake said:

    For an excellent collection of butterfly photos, many taken in Shropshire, check out Shrewsbury resident Danny Beath’s pictures on Flickr:
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/flickering_velvet/sets/72157600034228932/

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  2. eva land said:

    We had an orange tip in our garden last Sunday. I did not know that they were rare.

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  3. Sally said:

    I also briefly saw an orange tip in our garden last week – I used to see loads of them as a child and have noticed they have become an increasingly rare sight over the years.

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  4. merc said:

    Living at Attingham I can remember 1996/7 the year of the ‘Painted Lady’ invasion. Hardly seen one since.

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  5. Hilary said:

    I saw a butterfly in my garden the other day but it was so quick that I didn’t see what it was :(

    I can remember collecting caterpillars, when I was young and releasing them when they became butterflies. I wouldn’t know where to find the caterpillars these days!

    Perhaps we should have a survey in Shropshire, throughout the summer, of sightings and type. Anyone up for setting it up?

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  6. Hilary said:

    I saw a butterfly in the garden the other day but it was gone so quickly I didn’t see what type it was :(

    I remember when I was a child I would collect caterpillars and keep them until they emerged as butterflies. I wouldn’t know where to find them these days!!

    Perhaps we should set up some sort of survey for Shropshire butterflies i.e. where and type if someone is able to set it up online for us?

    Keeping fingers crossed that someone can and will :)

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  7. Huw Peach said:

    Hilary, this is a good idea.

    Maybe the Shropshire Star could keep this thread open in a prominent position, with handy pictures on a link to help amateur butterfly enthusiasts to identify them.

    Then people could add their sightings over the summer.

    Alternatively you and others might want to add your sightings to the Independent newspaper’s GREAT BRITISH BUTTERFLY HUNT ( http://community.livejournal.com/gbbutterflyhunt/ ), a survey praised by Sir David Attenborough, which started on 8th April.

    Good idea, though, Hilary.

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  8. Lucie said:

    I’ve seen the same 2 Orange Tips in our garden for a few weeks now. They flutter by together and always in the same place. I didn’t realise they were rare although thinking about it I can’t remember seeing one before. I feel very privileged!

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  9. Dan said:

    I’ve recently seen an Orange Tip so hopefully this year will be better than the last two. Lots of their food plant Cuckoo-flower out just now. There is a Shropshire Butterfly Group and they have a web site at:
    http://www.NaturalShropshire.org.uk
    There are species maps on this web site but not of butterflies yet. I’m involved and talking to Butterfly Conservation about sorting that out so keep looking… Dan

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  10. Huw Peach said:

    Thanks for the link, Dan. This is exactly what the internet is for. Good luck with your work.

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  11. danny p said:

    great i think this is nice news for a change from all the bad news, we must do more to support invertabrates because they support all the other species

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  12. Lucy W said:

    I have millions of Cabbage White caterpillars every year, literally stripping cabbage, brussel sprouts and swedes bare. I have some stematic spray left but now they have banned it, I don’t know what to do – does anyone have any tips?

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