Butterfly Conservation Devon

Attached are a few snippets from the 2025 work parties at Lower Hurston, Miltor Mator, Little Breach Reserve and Lydford Reserve. Collectively, these sessions supported habitats for a range of rare butterfly species 🦋

Thankyou to @bcdevon.bsky.social and Peter Beale for their continued guidance!

Looking forward to taking part in this event this evening - I’ll be talking about butterflies and moths (not dancing like birds!)

Join us this weekend for our free annual open day! 🦋

We’ll have lots of fantastic speakers as well as tea, coffee and cakes. All you need to remember is a packed lunch!

#butterflyconservationdevon

The last weekend of this year’s #bigbutterflycount 🦋

That’s still so much time to head out and do one (or multiple) 15-minute counts this weekend!

#savebutterflies #butterflyconservation #devonbutterflyconservation #mothsmatter

Woohoo!

Devon is now the county that has carried out the most surveys during this year’s #BigButterflyCount 💚🎉

Keep counting; you have until the 10 August!

Speckled Wood butterfly lands on someone's hand as they enter their count into the Big Butterfly Count app

Painted Lady butterfly feeding on a pink scabious flower

Large White butterfly resting on a bright pink flower

A Red Admiral butterfly resting for a moment on a person's finger in a sunny courtyard

Big Butterfly Count week one in photos 🤩

Thank you for sending in all your fabulous photos, we love seeing what butterflies and moths you're finding during your counts!

The #BigButterflyCount runs until 10 August, so there is still plenty of time to get out and count.

Well done to everyone both in Devon and further afield who has been taking part in the #BigButterflyCount 🎉🦋

Keep counting, you have until the 10 August.

@savebutterflies.bsky.social

Large Heath butterfly (Coenonympha tullia), a brown butterfly with a row of black eyespots along the wing edge, rests on a green flower bud. Photo by Peter Eeles. Butterfly Conservation.

🌿🐛🦋📢 Two exciting new Peatland Project Officer jobs with @savebutterflies.bsky.social in northern England! Adventurous ecologists wanted to investigate how Large Heath and other butterflies & moths can benefit from extensive peatland restoration. butterfly-conservation.org/jobs

Tomorrow is the day! 🦋🎉

It’s the start of the Big Butterfly Count.

Between the 18 July - 10 August, spend 15 minutes recording the butterflies that you see.

1️⃣ Download the Big Butterfly Count App

2️⃣ Register

3️⃣ Get Recording

#savebutterflies #bigbutterflycount

A Meadow Brown butterfly resting on a purple-y blue hydrangea. Text overlay reads '2 days to go' with Butterfly Conservation's Big Butterfly Count logo

The Meadow Brown was the second most counted butterfly in last year’s #BigButterflyCount with 177,844 sightings 🦋👀

You don't have to be an expert to help butterflies and moths! Get ready to count from this Friday 18 July to Sunday 10 August.

📷: Miles Attenborough

A backlit Large White butterfly feeding on knapweed. Text overlay reads '3 days to go' with Big Butterfly Count logo

3 days until #BigButterflyCount 2025 lifts off! 🦋

The Large White took the third spot in last year's count with 138,424 sightings, down 38% from 2023.

📷: Mark Searle

Only a handful of purple hairstreaks out this evening at my local Hotspot. Hoping for many more in the next few weeks. Surprised to see this very confiding female low down on the bracken. Taken with my phone. Closest Ive been to one. Beautiful! @savebutterflies.bsky.social @bcdevon.bsky.social

A Yellow-legged Clearwing sitting on a roadside hedge this afternoon. Delighted 🙂

@bcdevon.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social
#moth #moths
#teammoth
#mothsmatter

Peacock caterpillars going to work on some nettles.
@bcdevon.bsky.social
#peacockbutterfly
#butterfly #butterflies
#caterpillars

High Brown Fritillary

High Brown Fritillary

Dark green Fritillary

Dark Green Fritillary

Visit to Aish Tor on Dartmoor to see the fritillaries which didn’t disappoint, though it was difficult to tell the High Browns from the Dark Greens - had to be patient to get underwing photos. Also saw a Small White & a few Brimstones.
@savebutterflies.bsky.social @bcdevon.bsky.social

Silver-washed fritillary my first of the year.

Is this a female can't see and sex glands

Beautiful underside of the High Brown fritillary

Dark Green Fritillary

All three of the larger fritillaries out now on Dartmoor and I love them! @savebutterflies.bsky.social @bcdevon.bsky.social @ukbutterflies.bsky.social

High Brown Fritillary underside

High Brown Fritillary, upperside. The 3rd dot from the top is tiny compared to the others. A useful ID feature

Cool enough today to get excellent views of these Dartmoor High Brown Fritillary.
@savebutterflies.bsky.social
@bcdevon.bsky.social
#butterflies #butterfly

High Brown Fritillary on Aish Tor, Dartmoor. One of 5 seen. Beautiful! @ukbutterflies.bsky.social @bcdevon.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social

Fresh High Brown not fully straightened out and orange yet

Crinkly high brown underside. You can still see the high brown spots that give the butterfly it's name.

Amazing vibrant orange. One of my favourite butterflies especially when so freshly emerged.

Classic underside shot. Beautiful.

High Brown Fritillaries out today on Dartmoor. Many were so fresh they weren't dry and fully orange yet. Still a bit crinkly. A fantastic vibrant butterfly which bombs all over the bracken hillside. @bcdevon.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social

Image shows a pair of Eyed Hawk-moths mating in a tree

Recently, we were sent these wonderful shots of a pair of mating Eyed Hawk-moths from a North Devon supporter.

Don’t forget to record your butterfly and moths sightings via the iRecordButterflies app.

#devonbutterflyconservation #savebutterflies #mothsmatter

Marsh fritillaries on Dartmoor. Quick trip after clocking off work a little early. @bcdevon.bsky.social @ukbutterflies.bsky.social All part of a count for @savebutterflies.bsky.social

Comma caterpillar. One to keep an eye on as it will become, hopefully, even better. 3rd instar? @ukbutterflies.bsky.social
@bcdevon.bsky.social
#caterpillar #caterpillars
#commabutterfly
#butterflies #butterfly

Sir David Attenborough in a blue shirt, smiling while holding up a butterfly on his hand

Happy 99th Birthday to our President, the legendary Sir David Attenborough 🎂🦋

Thank you for being an inspiration to millions across the globe.

Pearl-bordered Fritillary butterfly egg-laying on honeysuckle in dead bracken litter

Pearl-bordered Fritillary egg-laying on young violet in dead bracken litter

Delighted to see good numbers of Pearl-bordered Fritillary on Dartmoor yesterday. At least 50 in an hour at Aish Tor. They seemed to like egg-laying in the cut bracken areas which had abundant small violets. They rarely lay on the violet but often nearby, inc Honeysuckle! @bcdevon.bsky.social

This Engrailed was another crisp, fresh-looking visitor to the outside of my kitchen window last night. And my Orange-tip chrysalis from last year is definitely turning more orange now. That colour wasn't there a few days ago. #teammoth @bcdevon.bsky.social

Pearl Bordered Fritillary on the wing at Ramshorn Down, Devon. Approx 6-7 seen in the afternoon sun @bcdevon.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social #Butterflies

Took my neice for her first butterfly count for @savebutterflies.bsky.social 17 pearl bordered fritillaries in 20 minutes even though it was overcast. We had a great time @bcdevon.bsky.social

Pearl-Bordered Fritillary from Ramshorn Down, Devon. I think there were 7, but not a single other species seen there.
@bcdevon.bsky.social

I love getting a fresh one. This beautifully marked and pristine Herald was fluttering around my garage earlier today. Phone photo doesn't do it justice. @savebutterflies.bsky.social @bcdevon.bsky.social

Image shows a Heath Fritillary butterfly sat on a leaf against a green background.

Only 5 spaces left on the Help the Heath Fritillary Habitat Management Day at Haddon Hill, Exmoor on the 25 March.

The event runs from 10am-3pm; book your spot here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/help-the-h...

📸: Bob Eade

#savebutterflies #butterflyconservation