More butterflies this year?

[MintGreenDream]

Has anyone noticed so many more butterflies this year in their garden? I’ve got loads and of different types. I love them.

Google is telling me populations are drastically down over the last few years so maybe it’s just a weird thing happening in my garden.

I have noticed a few more this year when I've been out and about. I've also got loads of cinnabar caterpillars in my garden which I am really pleased about.

Another creature I've noticed more of this year is grasshoppers.

I've been trying to make my garden wildlife friendly for the last few years so it may be that paying off, or an increase in butterflies and grasshoppers, or a combination. Whatever it is, I love it.

I also noticed quite a few butterflies in the park the other day. Lovely. Makes a change from the flying ants last year!

I've definitely noticed more butterflies this year, and also the numbers may be down, they are certainly up from last year, when it was cold and damp. It is so nice to see them.

Do you think you’ve done something that particularly worked for the butterflies?

I want to feed them and I know they like old fruit but every time I put some out in the garden the squirrels make off with it.

We have had lots more this year. I have a large buddleia and lots of lavender plants which they are loving

it is so so good when people treat their gardens as nature and think about how it can sustain the creatures we share this world with

I love watching the butterflies.

Unfortunately there isn't many where I am this year.

We were just saying the same. So many butterflies here this year compared to last year. Red Admirals especially.

Yes definitely more here and more types. I think the drier weather and warmer spring has helped them, thank goodness.

I've noticed more butterflies. DH also observed at the weekend, after a long drive for work, that there were more windscreen bug casualties than for a long time, and we had a weird 'down memory lane' conversation about how car journeys in the 1970s were Jackson Pollock style insect carnage in the summer.

There seem to be more wildflower verges in the fields around us this year too, which can only be a good thing. So dry though.

I agree that there seems to be more butterflies this year! Also more dead bugs on the car which is a good thing. They must be loving their dryer weather this year.

Yes, definitely. I work in several gardens and they've all got more butterflies than the last few years. Part of it has been some clients letting areas of grass grow long over summer, but there are also more butterflies where there isn't long grass. A Buddleja in a garden this morning had a lot of red admirals on the flowers, something that's been missing for a long while.

Moths too. I let Verbascum thapsus grow at home so the Verbascum moth caterpillars have something to eat and it's been several years since I've seen any, but this year there are lots of them chomping away at the foliage. Good to see.

Seem to be more in my garden this year too 😊

We have a few but not lots.
We definitely have more bees though. Like pp we are trying to make the garden more insect / bird friendly and I think it’s working.

There’s a local field with clouds of Meadow browns in it. I don’t think I’d ever seen so many butterflies in one go.

Yes we've got loads I was just counting them today for the big butterfly count, lots of small tortoiseshell, comma, ringlets and meadow browns Definitely more than last year. And we've got cinnabar moth caterpillars on the ragwort too like a pp, not seen them for a few years now.

My buddleia is in bloom, so yes, lots of butterflies

We walked around the gardens of Brodsworth Hall last week,and a huge patch of yellow Lysimachia was covered by hundreds of butterflies.
It was a sight to see!
In my own garden there has been more butterflies, I do have a lot of pollinating plants, hardy geraniums, valerian, poppies etc I also leave small, shallow saucers filled with pebbles (for the insects to stand on) and top them up with water, so they can have a drink.

Yes! My cauliflower leaves were covered in caterpillars earlier but the butterflies I am seeing are all sorts of colours and sizes.

I've spread butterfly and bee seed bombs for the last few years. None of the flowers have appeared, but I have lots of ragwort and some other "weeds". My garden may not be as traditionally beautiful as other people's, but the insects and bugs like it.

It probably sounds strange but I seem to have one in particular that comes in my garden. Makes me smile.

Deffo more butterflies this year than last, my daily walk I see a good few, all different colours I might add!!

I've started doing regular butterfly surveys at a local nature reserve. The route usually takes an hour but the people who did it last week took 2.5 hours as there were so many to record. Some species are doing very well this year. Ringlets caterpillars do better in cooler, damper summers but meadow browns do less well so this year we are seeing a lot of ringlets and less meadow browns. But overall the warm dry weather means more butterflies than last year's cooler, wetter summer.

I've also been working to make my garden more insect friendly, and it's one of my favourite things to lie in my hammock and watch them all buzzing and fluttering about. This year I have seen Large White (lots), Comma, Red Admiral, plus some small blue ones. And lots of cinnabar moths.

The butterflies particularly like the verbena bonariensis (sp?), bees the lavender and salvias

Until my massive buddleia in the garden came into flower last week I hardly saw any at all. There's quite a few butterflies been on it today - admirals, peacocks and a variety of whites, but no more than usual. No small tortoiseshells or commas as yet though.