The Grounds & Gardens team at Churchill College recently completed their second annual Big Butterfly Count, building on the success of last year’s inaugural participation in this nationwide citizen science project.
This year, Ben, Charlie, and Gardens Team Leader Kath spent six 15-minute sessions across two days in late July and early August, recording butterfly and moth species across the College’s diverse landscapes.
“Having established a baseline last year, we were keen to see how this year’s count would compare,” explains Kath. “We used the same three locations to ensure consistency: the Gardens of 68 and 70 Storey’s Way with their long grass and wildflowers, our herbaceous border with flowering plants, and the field and compost area where meadow grasses and self-sown plants create a particularly rich habitat.”
The team conducted three counts on 25th July during a sunny afternoon, then returned for three more counts two weeks later, on 8th August. While temperatures were similar between the two days, the August session felt noticeably hotter and drier.
Results and Discoveries
Across both counting days, the team identified 11 different species maintaining consistent patterns in terms of habitat preferences. The long grass areas and the field around the compost bins once again proved to be butterfly hotspots, far outperforming the more formal herbaceous border in terms of both species diversity and abundance.
Beyond the official count, the team have seen several other moth and butterfly species including two exciting discoveries: a White-letter Hairstreak and a Brown Argus. The White-letter Hairstreak sighting was particularly exciting, as Charlie notes these butterflies are quite rare. They breed on elm trees, two of which are located in the college grounds close to where the butterfly was spotted. Discover more about the White-letter Hairstreak and its high conservation status: White-letter Hairstreak | Butterfly Conservation
As in 2024, Gatekeepers and Meadow Browns dominated the counts, particularly thriving in the longer grass habitats that the College has been developing. Large Whites were consistently present across all locations, while the team was delighted to spot another Jersey Tiger moth – the striking species with creamy white stripes and bold orange underwings that had been a highlight of last year’s count.
Other sightings included Common Blues, Holly Blues, a Brimstone, Green-veined Whites, Speckled Wood, and a Red Admiral. The diversity was particularly impressive in areas where self-sown wildflower species had been allowed to establish naturally.
Conservation in Action
The results reinforce the team’s commitment to creating butterfly-friendly habitats across the College grounds. The difference in butterfly numbers between the naturalistic long grass areas and formal planted borders provides compelling evidence for their habitat management approach.
“It’s encouraging to see that our approach of maintaining longer grass areas and allowing wildflowers to self-seed is creating the conditions that butterflies need,” says Kath. “These results will help inform our ongoing landscape management decisions and demonstrate the value of having diverse habitats across our site.”
Photo credit for butterfly images: Charlie Ison, Gardener, Churchill College
Looking Forward
As with last year, participation in the Big Butterfly Count has sparked discussions about future conservation projects. The team plans to continue expanding native wildflower areas and will maintain their annual participation in the count to build a valuable long-term dataset.
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