Nature on your doorstep in August

THIS MONTH'S CHALLENGE IS:
Submit a picture to our iNaturalist project of a butterfly, moth or caterpillar (or, even better, one of each!)

THIS MONTH'S TIP:
Put out water for wildlife

Small birds can’t sweat and lose water through breathing. They need to drink at least twice a day.
Ground-level bowls are crucial for nocturnal mammals like hedgehogs and foxes. When it’s dry, worms burrow down deep, depriving hedgehogs of a primary food and hydration source
Frogs, toads and newts have permeable skin which requires a damp environment. Access to water provides them with essential shelter.
Pollinators like bees and butterflies can’t land safely on deep water without risking drowning. Shallow damp areas allow them to drink safely.
Please make sure you use shallow containers with an exit ramp like twigs or pebbles. Put them near ground cover and in the shade if possible. Change the water daily and scrub your container weekly and don’t use chemical cleaners.

FIVE FASCINATING FACTS ABOUT THE PAINTED LADY BUTTERFLY

There’s high hopes that this will be a ‘Painted Lady year’: see this Guardian article https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jun/13/country-diary-its-a-painted-lady-summer-the-stuff-of-lepidopterists-legend.
Numbers of Painted Ladies fluctuate wildly from year to year. In 2009, an estimated 11 million migrated here!
The Painted Lady carries out one of the longest migratory journeys in the animal kingdom- a mult-generational, 9000 mile trip from tropical Africa to the Arctic Circle, even crossing the Sahara Desert.
They often travel 100s of metres above ground to take advantage of favourable winds which can enable them to fly at speeds of 50km/h - far faster than they can fly under their own steam No individual Painted Lady butterfly makes the entire trip. Instead, a succession of up to 10 generations each complete a leg of the journey, breeding, emerging, and continuing Northward. At each stage, the butterfly’s breeding success depends on local conditions such as the availability of caterpillar foodplants.
If you saw Painted Ladies earlier this year, they probably would have crossed the Channel. There’s records of 1-2 per minute arriving in Norfolk one day in May from dawn to dusk. But if you see them in August, they are more likely to have emerged here.
[with thanks to Butterfly Conservation and Bird Guides]

THIS MONTH'S LINK IS TO:
Butterfly Conservation’s The Big Butterfly Count! Details are here https://bigbutterflycount.butterfly-conservation.org/about . It runs from 17 July until 9 August. You’ll need some sun, a green space, 15 minutes and a downloaded ID chart.

AND AN EXTRA ACTION:
This summer the Government has authorised the spraying of neonicotinoid pesticides during peak foraging times for butterflies and moths - despite previously promising to ‘change existing policies to ban the use of neonicotinoid pesticides that threaten vital pollinators like bees and butterflies’. Butterfly Conservation is asking you to sign their petition to end this practice, and the link to that petition is here: https://campaigns.butterfly-conservation.org/ban-pesticides

All events