The last of the Green-winged Orchid. Winks Meadow, Suffolk. For the #OrchidChallenge by #WildFlowerHour @bsbibotany.bsky.social @wildflowerhour.bsky.social @ukorchids.bsky.social @floraconuk.bsky.social

Churchyard project in full bloom. Great for us and pollinators. It should be rolled out across the country. Like if you agree.

It's a Painted Lady year. Dozens at a time being reported from place to place on the East Anglian coast, more waves arriving daily and quickly moving inland. Many from early May have bred already and the offspring are only a week or so from pupating (I have one from then). @bc-suffolk.bsky.social

I planted some buckthorn in the garden 7 years ago so it was fantastic to see a female brimstone visiting and egg laying @bc-suffolk.bsky.social

For #WildFlowerHour some local #TinyPlants Hoary Tare, Tamarisk and Common Fiddleneck. Lowestoft, Suffolk. @wildflowerhour.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social

VOTE NOW for Britain's Favourite Butterfly! 🦋 Flashy, adventurous or fantastically freaky. The UK is home to 60 species of butterfly, each with their own unique story. But who will be crowned the nation's favourite? 👑 Vote for your favourite 👉 britainsfavouritebutterfly.co.uk?utm_source=S...

Britons to vote in inaugural contest to find nation’s favourite butterfly

Late for #WildFlowerHour Lesser Celandine still going strong in east Suffolk, and, what I believe is Common Field Speedwell - happy to be corrected!

Green-winged Orchid (Anacamptis morio) in full bloom at SWT Winks Meadow. Purple, lilac, bicolour and white forms plus Cowslip, buttercups, Speedwell and sedges woven among them. Spectacular. #WildFlowerHour @bsbibotany.bsky.social @wildflowerhour.bsky.social @ukorchids.bsky.social

Green Hairstreak one of several that we saw at SWT Hazlewood Marshes on Saturday morning. @bc-suffolk.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social

Brown Argus out in big numbers at @nationaltrust.org.uk #Flatford now. 15 seen in 1/2 hour @bc-suffolk.bsky.social @jamescbr.bsky.social #savebutterflies #irecordbutterflies

Such understated beauty in our smaller flowers. Photographed locally except for bluebell wood. Herb Robert - G. robertianum Common Vetch - V. sativa Cuckooflower - C. pratense Bluebells around Silver Birch stump - H. non-scripta #WildFlowerHour

A buttercup that made me think. Lots of Bulbous and a few Meadow b'cup locally. The sepals suggest Meadow but it's diminutive (15cm). Any ideas? Spotted Medick and White Bryony now in flower. North east Suffolk, urban and coastal. #ButtercupChallenge #WildFlowerHourID #WildFlowetHour

Yay, Corfe Common is alive with Painted Ladies! Here are 4 of 20+ in 30 mins at 17:45, several getting stuck into Bluebell as the only nectar source! Assume these have come direct from Africa seeing as my car is covered in Saharan dust! @savebutterflies.bsky.social @dorsetbutterflies.bsky.social

@bc-suffolk.bsky.social @nationaltrust.org.uk #Flatford First Small Heath of the year. @jamescbr.bsky.social

A sunshine day reflected in the colours of the flowers. Bulbous Buttercup with it's recurved sepals, Daisy and Common Sorrel. Buttercups are used by Chelosia hoverfly larva, daisy by mining bee grubs and sorrels by Small Copper butterfly larva. #Pollinators #WildFlowerHour

Cheilosia caerulescens, a species of hoverfly. May be quite a rarity, although expanding its range quickly. Delighted to have it in our Suffolk garden today. Larvae feed on Sempervivens. @flygirlnhm.bsky.social @hoverflyspotter.bsky.social

It's a boy! A Small White pupa successfully overwintered in our Suffolk garden having fully grown as a caterpillar on Nasturtium. He's hatched and this is his profile before taking his maiden flight. Bon voyage. @bc-suffolk.bsky.social

Rather belatedly, Lucie and I went to the bluebell wood. Still at their peak and joined in places by Greater Stitchwort, Bugle, Primroses, Common Dog Violet but, sadly, no Early Purple Orchid. Good bird song too. #WildFlowerHour

Large Tortoiseshell seen today in Bury Sy Edmunds. Has obviously been around for some time. Possible hibernation?

Lords and Ladies (Arum maculatum). A plant with so many local names - cows and bulls, Jack in the pulpit, cuckoopint to name but a few. The most I have seen for a few years. Suffolk. #WildFlowerHour @wildflowerhour.bsky.social

iRecord is offline for maintenance. Records can't be uploaded at the moment. But you can keep collecting them (for example in the iRecord butterflies app) and upload them later when it's back.

Delighted to have seen my first Glass-winged Dronefly (Eristalis similis) yesterday in Lowestoft. A rarity indeed and a complete surprise. Confirmed by the Hoverfly Recording Scheme experts. #Pollinators #Hoverflies @hoverflyspotter.bsky.social

Spanish Bluebell escapee in Lowestoft, Suffolk today. English and hybrid bluebells just getting going here on the east coast. #WoodlandPlants #WildFlowerHour

Want to know where to see butterflies in Cambridgeshire? I prepared a short guide to many of the best sites across the county. From the Small Blues of Magog Down, to Wall Brown in the Fens, to the Skippers of Swaddywell. butterfly-conservation.org/in-your-area...

Holly Blue at RSPB Boyton Marshes this afternoon. @bc-suffolk.bsky.social

Largest ever govt investment in threatened species recovery. A total £90 million funding for species recovery across England... www.gov.uk/government/n...

One of my favourites, a Peacock butterfly nectaring on blossom in full sun and looking good for it. East Suffolk. @savebutterflies.bsky.social @bc-suffolk.bsky.social @suffolk-nats1929.bsky.social

A few butterflies were out in sun yesterday at Rushmere Common Ipswich in an hour and half whilst my other half visited a friend in hospital 2 Small White nfy, 4 Brimstone, 2 Comma and 9 Peacock noted

The sort of butterfly moment you dream of today - wandering around the office (Epping Forest) in the late afternoon sun when I flushed a lovely old Large Tortoiseshell from the sunny wall next to this old plum - just wonderful. Seems to be the second recent record from the forest #Butterflies

Brimstone and Comma Butterflies seen in Santon Downham Churchyard today, @bc-suffolk.bsky.social

The UKBMS Spring Newsltter is out now! Bringing you seasonal updates about the UKBMS. In this edition we have reminders to get you ready for the start of the season, a dayflying moth ID resource and opportunities to help monitor priority species. ukbms.org/sites/defaul...

This week's challenge is to identify the species whose pupae are represented here - one from each of the 6 butterfly families ... the final two in a reply to this post! I'll give it a few days before providing the answers!

Butterfly enthusiasts needed in Wiltshire! Help us survey 1km squares for butterflies as part of the Wider Countryside Butterfly Survey. Visits take place twice a year in July and August. Find out more: volunteer.butterfly-conservation.org/opportunitie...

Large tortoiseshell butterfly confirmed no longer extinct in UK

A fascinating PhD chapter looking at host plant nitrogen content and temperature trade-offs for Small Copper larvae. @bc-suffolk.bsky.social

Here is the full paper #conservationevidence @richardfoxbc.bsky.social @djhbutterflies.bsky.social @martinswarren.bsky.social @ukbutterflies.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social @chrisvanswaay.bsky.social @pietervantieghem.bsky.social besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Last call. If anyone has any butterfly records for Suffolk (2025) please submit them online this weekend. I plan a final download early next week for processing into the 2025 Suffolk Butterfly Report. Early signs are of a record breaking year for observations. Thank you. @bc-suffolk.bsky.social

The latest European Grassland Butterfly Indicator is out. It shows that grassland butterflies have declined by 47% since 1991, indicating a huge loss of grassland biodiversity. The data come from 16,150 transects & 15,000 volunteers. We are calling for urgent action. www.bc-europe.eu/documents/69...

Thank you to everyone who came along to our annual UK Moth Recorders' Meeting last weekend! All the brilliant talks from the day are now available to watch back on our YouTube channel. Grab a cuppa and catch up here 👇 www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiZE... #UKMRM #MothsMatter #TeamMoth

Fallow Deer at Shimpling, Suffolk. A small part of a herd that recently numbered 114+ animals. From the local Landscape Recovery project: 'the highest risk to the success of habitat enhancement and creation in the long-term, is the lack of deer management.' I'd never have guessed! 🦌🦌🦌.......

Save the date! Join us on Sat 28th March 2026 for the UK Butterfly Recorders meeting. This free event is open to anyone intersted in butterfly monitoring. We'll present the 2025 UKBMS results, update on other monitoring schemes and talks about butterfly ecology.

Here is the review of the 2025 butterfly season in Northamptonshire. It was certainly an interesting year, and it was fantastic to see records from two species that were considered extinct in the county making an appearance! www.northantsbutterflies.com/the-butterfl...

Lucie discovered this Peacock inside our home today. Not sure if this counts as a first of my year sighting or even when and how it got in but it's now safely settled down in our unheated summerhouse. 🙏🏻🦋 @bc-suffolk.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social

It was a good year for Clouded Yellow butterflies in Suffolk, being reported 100x more than 2024! Details later in my 2025 report. Here's one I photographed in Lowestoft, where I was also lucky enough to see a helice form and an egg-laying female. @bc-suffolk.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social

A good day to make plans for your garden? Planting a tree can support multiple species of moths and butterflies. e.g. an apple tree can host more than 50 types of caterpillar and their blossoms are a nectar source for butterflies. To discover more buff.ly/1M6bMCn

The BTO have just reported that 56% of UK butterfly species have been recorded in gardens. It shows how important gardens are to UK wildlife, to learn more sign up to the Butterfly Conservation newsletter for monthly tips on how to attract more butterflies to your garden buff.ly/6xHYo5j

For the first time, humans have tracked an individual butterfly, as shown in the Monarch migration of north America. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/s... @savebutterflies.bsky.social @bc-suffolk.bsky.social

The number of butterflies at risk of extinction across Europe has increased significantly in the past 15 years, a new assessment has warned:

Great news: