Wonderful to see so many butterfly and moth enthusiasts at our AGM and Members Day. Great to hear so much super work being done by our dedicated volunteers

** BRANCH AGM TOMORROW ** A reminder that the Cambridgeshire & Essex branch's AGM and Members' Day is in-person this year. Foxton Village Hall on Saturday November 8th at 2pm All Cambridgeshire & Essex BC branch members are invited to join us.

Hope Farm in Cambs uses a @ukbms.bsky.social transect as one of their methods to track biodiversity changes on the farm

A surprise find in our #pollinator garden this afternoon, 21st October. A very fresh looking female Holly Blue. Not seen one this late in the year before. @bc-cambs-essex.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social #irecordbutterflies

A trio of autumn greens from Peterborough... It's proving to be quite the year for Merveille du Jours - seven individuals in the last two nights, when normally we're lucky to see one or two...plus a scatter of more subtle Green-brindled Crescents and Red-green Carpets #teammoth #'mothsmatter

The moth survey across the @greatfen.org.uk this week produced some stunning results, including: the impressive Clifden Nonpareil (Blue Underwing), yet another L-album Wainscot, a magnificent male Great Silver Water Beetle, and plenty of the stunning Merveille du Jour.

Third phase of consultation opens for proposed reservoir in the Fens New details of the plans. Consultation open until December www.anglianwater.co.uk/news/third-p...

Press briefing today at IUCN Global Biodiversity Conference, giving results of the new Red List of European butterflies. It’s not good. Full details will be published tomorrow. Watch this space @europebutterfly.bsky.social

BBC News - Rare swallowtail butterfly project trialled at Ipswich farm - BBC News www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Will frozen Swallowtail eggs be viable? Might this be a suitable conservation strategy for our beleaguered sub-species. ARU is going to investigate @patrickbarkham.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/environment/...

2 Clouded Yellows at Gt Wigborough church this morning also 2 Wall Browns, Small Heath and Common Blues still on the wing. 6 + Goldcrests there also. Water levels still dropping at Abberton #essexbirding

Had a iRecord June record redetermined by the Simon, the country recorder to Horehound Long-horn Nemophora fasciella. A scarce species, distributed mainly in the south and south-east of England, but very local. Another good garden find. @mothiduk.bsky.social #moths @bc-cambs-essex.bsky.social

Mothing has picked up a little, warmer evening (didn't get below 10C here in Cambs for me) #teamMoth 42 of 21 species, including first Beaded Chestnut of the year. Usually arrives on this date give or take a day or two, although was a week earlier in 2021 and 2020, and not till November in 2019

If you pick up the Guardian Weekend Magazine today, please read about my daughter Milly’s battle with Lyme disease. And if you’re feeling bold, drop your copy into your local GP. There are thousands of Millys out there. Most are currently not helped at all by the NHS or, worse, not believed.

Banking on Trumpington Meadows. One of the best sites for butterflies in Cambridgeshire, has just got better. @tonyjuniper.bsky.social @brianecambs.bsky.social @craigbennett3.bsky.social

Very excited to share that I'm writing a new book, THE GHOSTS OF CHALK COUNTRY - about the loss of England's chalk downland: a tale of flowers, fascism & freedom. To be published by @wmcollinsbooks.bsky.social in April 2027: www.thebookseller.com/rights/willi... Website: ghostsofchalkcountry.org

Here’s a beauty from my Essex garden in August… A female Spongy Moth (aka Gypsy Moth) 🤍 🖤 #NatureWithin #TeamMoth

We are happy to share this on a political level very important paper from our team - The Grassland Butterfly Index for Germany. Especially for the last ten years the results show a negativ trend for grassland butterflies in Germany doi.org/10.3897/natu... @pensoft.net @ufz.de #NRR

A couple of hours spent at #greathollandpits today with good numbers of 3rd brood Common Blue and Small Copper on the wing. @lepimann.bsky.social #savebutterflies #irecordbutterflies @bc-cambs-essex.bsky.social

New Blog The Wild Side of Beth Chatto Gardens: autumn plenty www.chrisgibsonwildlife.co.uk/the-wild-sid... #NatureWriting

Clouded Yellow and Wall Brown Butterflies, Great Wigborough, Essex 20/9/25 @bc-cambs-essex.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social

A Convolvulus Hawk-moth this morning at Backwarden Nature Reserve, Essex. Also Antigastra catalaunalis and Small Mottled Willow. @migrantmothuk.bsky.social

Celebrating 50 years of the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme! 🎉 Join us for a day of butterfly talks, workshops and a celebration of volunteer citizen science. Book your free place 👉 buff.ly/tsGqc4S 📸: Iain H Leach #UKBMS50

Convolvulus Hawk-moth @Bawdsey_Hall last night. @BC_Suffolk @MigrantMothUK

Blackberry diversity at Swaddywell NR, a wonderfully rich reserve managed by Langdyke Countryside Trust and located in John Clare's home parish of Helpston, Cambridgeshire... www.theguardian.com/environment/... #johnclarecountryside

Paxton Pits Nature Reserve in Cambridgeshire to treble in size www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

While I was cleaning up the moth trap this morning a male southern small white was already flying around in the garden. See how the discal spot touches the surrounding veins over a few mm, in male small white this spot is smaller and does not or only barely touch the veins. #butterflyID

This graph from @metoffice.gov.uk says it all about this summer's weather. Every month was at least a degree warmer than the average 20 years ago. Butterflies mostly did well but how will the drought have affected them? @savebutterflies.bsky.social

About 8 Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) butterflies on the Ivy in my S. Cambs garden today. Pleased to see V. atalanta ab. millierei, a genetic aberration that lacks red pigmentation.

We have been described as "THE BEST NGO THAT NOBODY KNOWS ABOUT" Please help by following us & reposting!!!

Great Holland Pits reserve, Essex: with brother Brian and Marion. Great visit to this excellent site with highlights, pair of Wall Brown by sand bank where several Sphecodes bees observed in and out of holes. Hobby seen throughout visit hunting over reserve, Willow Emeralds by pond…. 1/2 ⬇️

One month to go until the UKBMS 50th Anniversary Conference! Are you joining us? www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/uk-butterf... #UKBMS50

In my garden in Ely, Cambridgeshire this week

Mating pair of Wall brown butterflies in Ely a week ago. 💚 📷 #photography

I am looking forward to this. Given my name, and that I am the transect coordinator covering Monks Wood it seems appropriate 😀 @richardfoxbc.bsky.social @djhbutterflies.bsky.social

Excited to be with countless UK nature recovery organisations at @wildsummituk.bsky.social today - lots of talk about how to turn around insect declines

Two reminders for today. First the Wellbrook Way open evening is on Monday 15th September and secondly the trail cam lending scheme is now open again. Please let us know if you would like to borrow it.

The #BigButterflyCount results are in 🦋 unfortunately, butterflies have failed to shine despite the hottest UK summer on record - find out more and help support @savebutterflies.bsky.social

The #BigButterflyCount results are in and it's official... 2025 was an average year for butterflies. See the full results and what can be done to help butterflies and moths 👇 https://butterfly-conservation.org/big-butterfly-count-results-2025

LANG'S SHORT-TAILED BLUE (Leptotes pirithous), taken in a light trap at Lizard, Cornwall on 7/9. Perhaps the 4th UK record (3rd likely genuine vagrant) #ukbutterflies #savebutterflies

According to David Corke in his Butterflies of Essex (1997): “the only colonies known ever to have existed in Essex were in the Roding Valley water catchment and the Saffron Walden region and none since four were reported from Epping Forest in 1857.”

Also the larval food plant for Marsh Fritillary. Sadly no longer found in our region. The last records in Cambs were over 100yrs ago at Wicken. I can't find any info on previous status in Essex @idwatts.bsky.social @lepimann.bsky.social

One of my favourite butterflies in today's @theguardian.com country diary by Amanda Thomson. #countrydiary #naturewriting

An interesting pattern for the abundance of the Common Blue (icarusblauwtje, P icarus) on Dutch Butterfly Monitoring transects: a large and early 1st gen, followed by a smaller 2nd gen (which is normally larger than the 1st gen) and a small 3rd gen right now. Food quality in summer has been poor.

@bc-cambs-essex.bsky.social plenty of late summer sun brings out the butterflies

Eight fresh Walls on Corfe Common transect yesterday. In a normal year I would say second brood, but this year I would say Third brood as the second appeared in July. Hopefully they will have time to develop and overwinter as young larvae @dorsetbutterflies.bsky.social

Ed, Suffolk are onto third gen also, starting approx 30th August and our earliest ever? We've had sightings from former locations too with a lot of dispersal and high numbers by modern standards. An early third gen bodes well for overwintering larvae which have to reach 3rd instar to survive.

I am delighted that I had not 1 but 2 Wall Brown is. The female rebuffed the male as far as I can see, she was previously mated. She went on apparently laying eggs.