Hartland Big Butterfly Count 2025
2025 was a much better year for butterflies! Much better than 2024’s record lows but in the long term their numbers continue to decline and 2025 was classed as an average year.
The figures below are the Big Butterfly Counts from the Hartland Peninsula in 2025 (18th July – 10th August) compared with counts from the two previous years.
Big Butterfly Count is a national Citizen Science project.
I wanted to get a more local view of numbers in the Hartland peninsula as butterflies are key indicators of biodiversity and environmental. health. I hope this information can be used by authorities who have power to look after the environment.
It is encouraging that the average number of butterflies spotted per count was up from 10 in 2024 to 16 in 2025. Our figures are greater than the national average of 10 butterflies per count. A heart warming higher figure. The sunniest spring and hottest summer ever recorded in the UK should have provided ideal conditions for butterflies and moths but clement weather is only half the story. For successful breeding numbers, unpolluted and undamaged habitats are as crucial as warm, dry spells.
Large white, small white, gatekeeper, red admiral and meadow brown were the top five species seen nationally this year and our Hartland figures echo this. I have added the figures of Large White, small white and green veined white together as they can be tricky to identify on the wing!
Thank you to everyone who submitted a Count over the last 3 years. I will continue to compile these figures annually.
Compiled by David Warnes admin@hartlandnaturesociety.org.uk
I will finish with a quote from Richard Fox, Head of Science at Butterfly Conservation
“There remains a need for us to take urgent action to support our butterfly populations, including by improving the environment in which they live, restoring habitats and reducing pesticide use. Until we do these things we are unlikely to see a great recovery, regardless of how much the sun shines.
2024
Where are all the Butterflies?
Wildlife charity Butterfly Conservation has today declared a national ‘Butterfly Emergency’, with results of the Big Butterfly Count in 2024 showing a marked and hugely concerning decline in numbers.
Participants in this year’s Big Butterfly Count, the biggest citizen science survey of its kind in the world, spotted an average of just seven butterflies per 15-minute count, 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.
It was the worst summer in the count’s history for Common Blue, Holly Blue, Green-veined White, Small White, Small Tortoiseshell, Painted Lady and Scotch Argus. And the majority of species (81%) showed declines in the number seen this year compared with 2023.
The figures of the counts we did in Hartland mirrored the pattern seen over the whole country. The total number of counts done in Hartland in 2024 was 49 (down from 60 in 2023) and the average number of butterflies per count was down to 10 (from 15 in 2023). However there were a few differences. In Hartland the number of Large and Small Whites actually increased in 2024 compared to 2023, while the number of Peacocks totally plummeted, from 121 to 2!
“The previous lowest average number of butterflies per count was nine in 2022, and this latest figure is 22% lower than that, which is very disturbing,” said Dr Richard Fox, Head of Science at Butterfly Conservation. “The results are in line with wider evidence that the summer of 2024 has been very poor for butterflies.
“Butterflies are a key indicator species; when they are in trouble, we know that the wider environment is in trouble too. Nature is sounding the alarm call. We must act now if we are to turn the tide on these rapid declines and protect species for future generations.”
