\n The sightings were logged by 2,122 participants.\n<\/p>\n
\n The most commonly spotted butterfly in the county was the Small White, followed by the Gatekeeper in second place and the Large White in third.\n<\/p>\n
\n Professor Richard Fox, head of science at Butterfly Conservation, said: “Adult butterflies love hot, sunny weather for flying, feeding and breeding, and that’s exactly why people saw so many this summer.\n<\/p>\n
\n “However, the very same weather that made it a good year for butterflies \u2013 lots of sunshine and very little rain \u2013 could mean we’re actually on course for a population crash, which could take years to recover from.”\n<\/p>\n
\n The charity identified the Painted Lady as a standout species this year, with 1,234 sightings in Hertfordshire alone.\n<\/p>\n
\n Nationally, Painted Lady numbers were up 335 per cent compared to last year, in what has been dubbed a \u2018Painted Lady summer\u2019.\n<\/p>\n
\n These butterflies undertake a remarkable multi-generational migration from Africa to the UK, crossing the Sahara Desert and Mediterranean Sea.\n<\/p>\n
\n While high butterfly counts brought cause for celebration, experts have warned of a potential decline in populations next year.\n<\/p>\n
\n Prolonged drought conditions in 2026 meant that many plants required by caterpillars withered before they could complete their development.\n<\/p>\n
\n Butterfly Conservation fears the full impact of this could become evident in 2027.\n<\/p>\n
\n The charity is encouraging residents to take action in their gardens this winter to help support butterfly populations.\n<\/p>\n
\n Recommended steps include planting more trees and shrubs such as holly, ivy, and buckthorn, which provide food and shelter for caterpillars and adult butterflies.\n<\/p>\n
\n Setting up water butts to collect rainwater for use during dry spells is also advised.\n<\/p>\n
\n In addition, leaving patches of grass uncut can create cooler, damper microclimates and provide important food plants for caterpillars.\n<\/p>\n
\n Butterfly Conservation research has shown that gardens with long grass can attract up to 93 per cent more butterflies and a greater variety of species.\n<\/p>\n
\n The Big Butterfly Count will return in 2027, running from Friday 9 July to Sunday 1 August.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The sightings were logged by 2,122 participants. The most commonly spotted butterfly in the county was the Small…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":784269,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[90,56,54,55,4407],"class_list":["post-784268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=784268"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784268\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/784269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=784268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=784268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=784268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}