Simon's Blog - Big Butterfly Count 2015

Last summer nearly 45,000 of us spent a quarter of an hour spotting almost 560,000 butterflies.

The results of the 2014 Big Butterfly Count revealed that the big winners were the Common Blue with numbers up by 55 per cent, the Red Admiral with a rise of 43 per cent, the Speckled Wood was up 28 per cent and the Small Tortoiseshell had risen by 22 per cent. Last summer was also good for the Peacock, which was the most abundant butterfly in the count.

So will things be different this year?

Well if you fancy taking part you just need 15 minutes and a pen and paper.

You can find all the info as well as a handy identification chart by clicking here.

And to get you in the mood, here are a few photos of the butterflies and moths that you've been sending to meridianweather@itv.com and feel free to send me any pictures you take.

A very rare monarch butterfly spotted at the Royal Pavilion Gardens in Brighton by Jake Gearty.

Trevor Cridlan in Thame took this picture of a marble butterfly

Gary Denton found this one in his garden in Upper Basildon when the temperature was 31 degrees and it was having a drink.

Well you’d need one!

Barry Sheldon in Cholsey in Oxfordshire managed to find a couple of tortoiseshells who were...er...busy. He noticed that the male is looking a bit tatty, presumably after fighting for the affections of the female.

And this one was sent in by Mrs Wells and was hatched from the Foundation 1 caterpillars at South Lake Primary School in Woodley.