Butterflies and beautiful rescue hens

This post has some bad news about butterflies and the latest butterfly count, but also some good news too. The good news comes in the shape of six new rescue hens who will make an appearance later.

So, first the bad news. The Wildlife charity Butterfly Conservation declared a national ‘Butterfly Emergency’, after the results of this summer’s Big Butterfly Count showed a hugely concerning decline in numbers.

Overall, participants spotted just seven butterflies on average per 15-minute Count. Which was a reduction of almost 50% on last year’s average of 12, and the lowest in the 14-year history of the Big Butterfly Count.

Unfortunately, it was the worst summer in the Count’s history for butterflies like the holly blue, common blue and small tortoiseshell. Furthermore, the majority of species (81%) showed declines in the number seen this year compared with 2023. My counts were much lower than last year as well. However, I did see a few beauties.

Some butterflies in my garden

I was lucky enough to see a small tortoiseshell in my garden and managed a few photographs too.

My butterfly was one of only 12,432 of these beautiful butterflies seen on the count this year. A shocking 59% decrease in the numbers over the count’s fourteen year history.

This small tortoiseshell really loved my dahlias, especially the pink one seen above. No doubt the little torty didn’t much care about the colour clash!

I have added a link below if you would like to see my post of the count last year with some more butterfly snaps.

Big Butterfly Count, the results are in

More butterflies on dahlias

My next photo is a snap of my absolute favourite dahlia, Verrone’s Obsidian. A beautiful star shaped dahlia that is loved by the pollinators. I thought it would be good to show off a white butterfly for a change as they often get such a bad press.

Naturally, if you have crops from the brassica family, they can be stripped by the white butterflies. However, if you net your plants the butterflies cannot munch them. I have a few red campion plants that I leave for the whites, and they happily shred those.

In the 2024 count the whites were also down. The large whites by 38% on last year and the small white’s by 46%.

I was lucky to see several in my garden, and mostly on my dahlias.

I have added a link below if you would like to see the full results of the count.

https://butterfly-conservation.org/news-and-blog/uk-butterfly-emergency-declared

Time for some chickens

Onto the better news, after the terrible Big butterfly count results.

I adopted six more lovely girls recently and here is one of them. She certainly knows how to strut her stuff in the garden!

Amelia Squealier got her name as she was an incredibly vocal girl when she arrived. However, she has toned down her chatter to the odd cluck now.

She has a hilarious walk, one I have not seen in my hens before. Her legs rise up so far, she looks like she might be riding a bicycle.

She is a fabulous girl and very friendly. Also, quite partial to a rum and coke it seems. She dived into mine the other day, reminding me of a hen called Lottie Lushpot. The name says it all, I think!

Sunshine and the hens

Here are all six of my new rescue hens. Once the sun comes out, they all flop down and get their wings out.

Since taking this photo, my old girls now join the newbies on the lawn. However, it took a week of integrating for Rafaela and Pickle Pixie Pantaloon to accept the interlopers. Much clucking was heard, and a few feathers were ruffled.

So, here are the names of the lovely new girls.

Amelia Squealier, as mentioned before. Polly Pepperpot, the first up for a perch on my knee. Then we have Bertha Tidville, a feisty bird at number three in the pecking order. Followed by The Slipper Nipper, who is very keen on pecking shoes. Next, we have Dusty Delilah, who like three dust bathes a day. And, last up, Pimpernelly. Named after the Scarlet Pimpernel as she is always somewhere else! I seek her here, there and everywhere!

Some good news to finish

And to finish, I have some great news. I have just received the news that the use of butterfly-killing neonicotinoid pesticides will not be allowed in 2025. 

Defra refused the application citing “clear and abundant” evidence that neonicotinoids can be toxic to pollinators, including bees and butterflies.

Clearly, this is a ban for this year only so far, but hopefully the ban will continue for years to come.

I shall celebrate by ordering more dahlias for pollinators and some flower seeds too.

If you need more dahlias, Peter Nyssen has over two hundred and ninety varieties to choose from. Link below if you want to take a look. There may be a few left once i have placed my order!

https://www.peternyssen.com/spring-planting/dahlia-tubers.html

I shall be ordering some more cosmos seeds from Thompson and Morgan as the pollinators love these flowers too. Link below if you need some too.

Cosmos seed options from Thompson and Morgan

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