The Butterfly Summer: From the Sunday Times bestselling author of THE GARDEN OF LOST AND FOUND and THE WILDFLOWERS

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Despite concerns about the longer-term impact of the drought, 2022 was a good year for rare species including the purple emperor, large blue, chequered skipper and dark-green fritillary, all of which have been the focus of targeted conservation work in recent years. Nina grew up not knowing much about her father’s side of the family. He died when she was six months old. When things about her family are revealed out of the blue Nina finds herself digging for clues, determined to understand what’s going on. He also notes that the recent mass appearance of painted ladies – recalling the extraordinary summer of 2009, when tens of millions of these butterflies could be seen throughout the UK – has absolutely nothing to do with the weather here in Britain. Instead, it indicates that conditions were favourable on the fringes of the Sahara in Morocco, where these butterflies came from. In the UK there are currently 57 resident species of butterfly and two regular migrants. Of these, it is estimated that 76% have declined in abundance, occurrence or both over the past 40 years. Almost all of these losses can be attributed to man-made changes such as habitat destruction and pollution, along with larger patterns of weather and climate change.

Last year more than 100,000 people took part in the survey, logging almost a million individual butterflies during just 15 minutes of observations. This year’s count ends on 11 August, and so, weather permitting, you still have a chance to take part. As Sir David Attenborough, the organisation’s president, has pointed out, doing so helps contribute to our wider understanding of the UK’s wildlife: “The Big Butterfly Count is about more than just counting butterflies – we’ll be taking the pulse of nature.” The plot is much alike a minestrone (rather than a gourmet dish), only, one cooked with whatever was left in the fridge. Unplanned, or made up along the way in a rush, by throwing in a pot ingredients, attempting to create its flavour. It never pays off. Truly great butterfly years are the third good summer in a row – so the abundance of butterflies of in 1976 was helped by fine summers in 74 and 75,” said Oates. So, to sum up, some of Britain’s butterflies are enjoying the benefits of hotter-than-average summers – at least in the short term – while, as with all our wild creatures, they face an uncertain future in a rapidly changing world.

Hedgerows and Woodland-Edge

Anyone, anywhere, can create a Wild Space. Whether it’s leaving a patch of long grass in your garden or planting a small selection of nectar rich plants on a balcony, the opportunities are vast and everyone can make a difference. have been a fan of Harriet Evans books right since the beginning and especially enjoyed last year’s release A Place for Us and its follow up short story A Winterfold Christmas. Now Harriet takes on a new journey to a special, mysterious place which holds numerous secrets that have been passed down from generation to generation. This unique house Keepsake and its grounds are very difficult to find as the house prefers to remain hidden from the public allowing its residents both human and flora and fauna to flourish unnoticed by the outside world. But now the time is coming when Keepsake must reveal itself to someone who had no idea of its existence or the significance of the news she is about to hear. Nina Parr is about to discover a story/family legacy that has affected the women of the Parr household for hundreds of years and now she must be the one to put history to bed firmly for once and all or either embrace what so many struggled to cope with long before Nina was born. Unlike in 1976, today most British butterfly species are in decline, and therefore the negative effect of seasonal droughts could be more long-lasting. According to the 2022 State of the UK’s Butterflies report by Butterfly Conservation, 80% of species have declined in abundance or distribution or both since the 1970s. Although its numbers hardly changed compared to summer 2022, Green-veined White has the most severe Big Butterfly Count trend in the longer term, a decrease of 61%.

The gatekeeper, a butterfly of country hedgerows and grass verges, was the most common butterfly with 142,618 counted, up 58.6% on summer 2021, which was its second worst Big Butterfly Count result. This second (mainly) hot and dry summer in a row is good news for butterflies – and butterfly watchers. The charity Butterfly Conservation agrees: its latest statistics for the common blue show that last summer, numbers in England were up a whopping 110% on the year before. Butterfly Conservation predicts that this year’s hot weather could mean that the species will have its best ever summer. But we should remember that butterfly populations have always fluctuated from year to year, depending largely on the prevailing weather conditions. To assess these figures more carefully, we really need to look at the long-term trends, which are rather less positive. For many of Britain’s favourite summer butterflies, including the once-common and familiar small tortoiseshell, there has been a steady decline over the past 40 years or so. This is due to a combination of factors, of which the most serious are the intensification of farming, combined with a more general fragmentation and loss of habitat.It was a vintage year for the “cabbage whites”, with large whites up by 118%, small whites increasing by 155% and green-veined whites rising by 63%. Provides comprehensive coverage of all our resident and migratory butterflies, including the latest information on newly discovered species such as the Cryptic Wood White and the Geranium Bronze. The definitive book on the subject, it includes fully updated distribution maps.