Twenty enthusiastic youngsters and about twelve adults met at Killinallan yesterday to take part in our Big Butterfly Count. This was for Butterfly Conservation which encourages people to count butterflies anywhere on a sunny day for fifteen minutes at a time and submit their results online. We spent two blocks of fifteen minutes counting butterflies as we walked through the long grass to the dunes. Niall Oliver was in charge of records and reported that the Common Blue was the winner. Other species were Green-veined White, Meadow Brown, Ringlet and Dark Green Fritillary.
Fiona MacGillivray of Green Bug Productions then explained 'flower power' to us and we had great fun matching leaves and petals to the colours on her rainbow charts. Michael spotted an adder (much to my surprise as the noise level was phenomenal!) and frogs and grasshoppers were regularly hopping from beneath our feet, resulting in squeals of either delight or horror from the children! We finished off the afternoon by counting the number of species of flower seen in a 3 foot square of ground. It was a most enjoyable way to spend an afternoon and a grand finale to our successful butterfly fun day. Thanks to Fiona and to all who helped or turned up to support us throughout the day.
Becky
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| Dark Green Fritillary - Argynnis aglaja - it came bottom of our count |
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| Counting flowers in a square |
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| A beautiful Frog Orchid - Coeloglossum viride |
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| John demonstrates the height of a Marsh Thistle |
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| Fragrant Orchid - Gymnadenia conopsea |
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| Rainbow Colours |
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| One of many frogs |
