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The Covid-19 lockdown saw record numbers of individuals taking part in the Big Butterfly Count 2020.
Despite a warm and sunny British summer, however, fewer butterflies than ever were recorded in each count by the biggest butterfly survey in the world.
Worryingly this summer's Count has seen a reduction in the average number of butterflies logged per count of -34% in comparison with 2019 and the lowest average number of butterflies logged overall since the event began eleven years ago. In all, during this year's Big Butterfly Count, over 1.4 million butterflies were counted across the UK.
But the low numbers may not be as bad as they appear because a record-breaking sunny spring caused many butterfly species to emerge earlier and complete their adult lifecycle before the count began on 17 July.
To read the full report CLICK HERE.
The 2020 Top Ten Recorded Butterflies were:
- Large white (+44%)
- Small white (+7%)
- Gatekeeper (-14%)
- Peacock (-42%)
- Meadow brown (-2%)
- Red admiral (-33%)
- Small tortoiseshell (-41%)
- Common blue (+9%)
- Ringlet (-18%)
- Comma (-29%)