Big Butterfly Count results: Northern Ireland's most often spotted butterfly is revealed

​Results of Butterfly Conservation’s Big Butterfly Count 2023 have been released today, revealing a better picture for butterflies than had been feared.

A total of 1,964 citizen scientists in NI took part in this year’s Count, recording more than 18,500 butterflies and day-flying moths between 14 July and 6 August. On average, people in Northern Ireland spotted eight individual butterflies per Count, very similar to the 2022 event.

Dr Zoe Randle, Senior Surveys Officer at Butterfly Conservation, said: “It’s wonderful that so many people have been out enjoying spotting butterflies.

“The mixed weather this year has helped as there has been an abundance of green food plants available for caterpillars, and plenty of nectar-rich flowers for adult butterflies. However, while the number of butterflies recorded across the UK this summer has been the highest since 2019, the longer-term trends show worrying declines for some of the most common butterfly species.”

The top-five species spotted in Northern Ireland during this year’s Big Butterfly Count were Small Tortoiseshell, Small White, Peacock, Red Admiral and Large White. Small Tortoiseshell defied the pattern seen in the other UK countries; indeed on average four times as many Small Tortoiseshells were seen per Count in Northern Ireland this summer than in England.

Holly Blue and Red Admiral were seen in record Big Butterfly Count numbers this summer in NI and experienced increases on 2022 levels of 251% and 96% respectively. The new long-term trends show that both species have increased significantly in their abundance at the UK level since Big Butterfly Count began, increasing by 41% and 78%, respectively, over 13 years.

Common Blue and Ringlet, on the other hand, recorded their worst summers since the count began, and decreased by 32% and 84% compared with 2022, respectively. Again, these results reflect the longer-term UK pattern, with significant declines of 44% for Common Blue and 41% for Ringlet over the past 13 years.

Peacock was spotted in good numbers, increasing by 228% compared with 2022 and its best summer results in Northern Ireland since 2018.