Welcome to the Yorkshire Branch of Butterfly Conservation  

Butterflies are not only beautiful and fascinating creatures but are also highly responsive to the environment. David Attenborough described them as  'A thermometer of the health of our natural world'  Many species of butterfly are in decline and a quarter are facing extinction.  We have lost more than 98% of our traditional meadows and woodland in recent times so it is crucial  we raise awareness about the threats facing our butterflies, moths, their habitats and our natural environment.  Yorkshire Branch  work in partnership with land owners, local authorities, conservation bodies, businesses and the local community to achieve this. Here in Yorkshire  the Duke of Burgundy and Pearl Bordered  Fritillary are particularly vulnerable due to habitat loss and increasingly susceptible to extinction. Yorkshire also has the only remaining colony of the  Dark Bordered Beauty Moth in England, on Strensall Common and is on the brink of extinction.  

Become a member today and help us save butterflies, moths and their habitats. There are many rewarding roles volunteering in recording and conservation just take a look at our Branch leaflet HERE . We have a real challenge when 60% of children in the UK have never seen a Peacock butterfly according to a YouGov Survey and  78% of parents are concerned that children don’t spend enough time interacting with nature.  Founded in 1981 Yorkshire branch has more than 1800 members and nearly 100 transect walkers go out each week in summer  to monitor  butterfly sites across the county while dozens more join work parties to maintain habitat for our rarest species.

Your Guide to the Website

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DIARY

First Sightings 2024

First sightings comparison

 We are on the TELLY!  The wonderful late Susan Stead and our Nick Hall talk to Michael Portillo for The BBC’s Great British Railway Journeys. at Shipley Meadow + Denso Marston NR episode no 5 in series 14  released on iplayer HERE 

News 

10th December:  Our first online talk of 2025 Join Katty Baird on  27th  Janueary for a whistle-stop moth tour of Scotland. From moorland fence posts to sandy coasts; rocky cliffs to dark damp culverts, Katty shares her adventures. tickets available HERE

24th October The Autumn edition of the Argus is now available to download HERE

ARGUS Issue 100 Autumn 2024.pdf

15th August : The full affects of 2024's  poor weather are now becoming apparent in  early results from the Big Butterfly Count. Numbers  down 41% in the UK and 43% in Yorkshire. 

 The better results in 2023  came from migrants having a big impact particularly Red Admiral which came in top while this year they are down  80% to 7th.  Worryingly  many other species down nearly half.  However the count is dominated by 7  of our most common species:  Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown, Large White, Small White , Peacock, Ringlet and Red Admiral making up 4 in every 5 butterflies but were also down 30% compared to 2023.

 2nd worse was Holly Blue down four fifths and Common Blue down two thirds being absent from many of Yorkshire's  favourite butterfly sites. Small Tortoiseshell down again for the third year.  Some of the most worrying results are from our scarcer species with Dark-green Fritillary being completely absent from well known sites like Brockadale and  Silver-washed  Fritillary down 80% in Bishop Wood. We have to suspect the biggest culprit was mortality of caterpillars in the wet along with a poor flight period last July, reducing eggs.  3 Species did better in 2024 including that damp loving Ringlet

Since Big Butterfly is a three week slot and since flight curves vary from year to year and north and south care is needed in interpreting. For example Gatekeeper flight was only mid way this year but almost over last year.  The true picture of our  our summer should come from our transects  in a few weeks time.. Watch this space!

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