Butterfly Conservation’s Big Butterfly Count takes place from Friday 15th July to Sunday 7th August. You can take part here at Coldharbour Mill!

In another nature-based collaboration, Coldharbour Mill and Uffculme Green Team’s Wildlife Group are urging people to take part in this year’s Big Butterfly Count and to use their visit to Coldharbour Mill to record their sightings. Gardens around the Mill complex are planted with many wildlife-friendly flowers ideal for a butterfly count and a stroll through the Splash meadow will reveal different species among the grasses and wildflowers. Copies of Butterfly Conservation’s identification and recording sheet will be available in the Coldharbour Mill cafe/ticket office together with information about how you can download the app to your smartphone to submit your sightings instantly if you prefer.

We’d love you to send us your sightings and have a chance to be featured on our website! 

As the summer warms up we’re seeing more species flying and enjoying the abundant nectar from butterfly-friendly flowers and shrubs. But do you know a Gatekeeper from a Meadow Brown? Was that a Ringlet flying past or a Small Tortoiseshell? And what’s the difference between a Red Admiral and a Painted Lady? Butterfly Conservation’s Big Butterfly Count will not only help you with identification but will also contribute valuable information which will help the organisation understand how butterflies and day-flying moths are doing.

In another nature-based collaboration, Coldharbour Mill and Uffculme Green Team’s Wildlife Group are urging people to take part in this year’s Big Butterfly Count and to use their visit to Coldharbour Mill to record their sightings. Gardens around the Mill complex are planted with many wildlife-friendly flowers ideal for a butterfly count and a stroll through the Splash meadow will reveal different species among the grasses and wildflowers. Copies of Butterfly Conservation’s identification and recording sheet will be available in the Coldharbour Mill cafe/ticket office together with information about how you can download the app to your smartphone to submit your sightings instantly if you prefer.

Chris, a co-ordinator of Uffculme Green Team’s Wildlife Group, told us: “We’re looking forward to this year’s Big Butterfly Count. We regularly monitor the wildlife, plants and insects, including butterflies, around the millpond and Splash meadow. Two years ago a Brown Argus butterfly was spotted there – a species which hasn’t previously been recorded in this area. We excitedly sent photos to the County Butterfly Recorder for confirmation and for his ‘official’ records – and we were thrilled to be told it was indeed a first for the area! So come to Coldharbour Mill to take part in the Big Butterfly Count – who knows what might be waiting for you!”

Yet another good reason to visit Coldharbour Mill in July and August.

Uffculme Green Team’s Wildlife Group can be contacted via uffculmegreenteam@outlook.com and there’s more information at
https://bigbutterflycount.butterfly-conservation.org/