Garden Butterfly Review 2018

A female Orange Tip butterfly visited the garden on the 4th May in 2018 as illustrated in the above photographs. This shows perfectly the underside and upperside of the wing patterns.

2018 overall was a pretty mediocre year for garden butterflies. 13 species were noted which is the average number seen since records began in 2003. Each month I record the first date that a butterfly is seen for each species and in 2018 this was on 26 occasions. This was down from the average of 30.

No one species dominated. July as is usual was the most prolific month with 7 species seen. The first sighting of the year was not until the 22nd April and for the first time this was a Holly Blue. This is the latest ever date since records began. There were no Small Tortoiseshells or Painted Ladies, however it was nice to see a Small Copper.