On Sunday 7th August 2022, Discoverers and their families gathered in Pembroke Lodge Gardens to learn about butterflies, identify them and then take part in the Big Butterfly Count organised by the Butterfly Conservation Society. For more info, see: https://butterfly-conservation.org/
Nigel Jackman (Chairman of Richmond Park’s Wildlife Group) explained the life cycle and behaviour of butterflies to us (of course we already knew that caterpillars are very hungry!) and he also told us that of the 60 butterflies found in the UK, 30 of them can be seen in Richmond Park.
We saw meadow browns, small whites, gatekeepers, commas, read admirals, a pair of speckled woods patrolling high in an oak’s canopy as well as the very striking day-flying Jersey tiger moth. Here is a meadow brown, basking with its wings shut:
A comma butterfly, the actual characteristic comma is not visible as it is on the underside:
The highlight of the day: a Jersey tiger moth:
We all enjoyed the morning and while the sun keeps shining, you can carry on identifying butterflies wherever you are, here is a helpful guide: https://butterfly-conservation.org/butterflies/identify-a-butterfly
