Why not get involved and help Butterfly Conservation to survey the health of our butterfly numbers. For two weeks from the 19th July, the charity is asking the public to spend just fifteen minutes ‘in a sunny spot’ and make a note of how many of the country’s twenty-one species they manage to spot.

This is the fifth year that the survey has taken place and the insects are one of the most visible indicators of whether the countryside is healthy. It is a great way of getting people to engage with the natural world around them, and it’s a great way of learning to identify the different species that we have, such as the small tortoiseshell or the red admiral.

Butterfly numbers do go up and down with changes in the weather and this year’s results will be interesting to compare with those in 2013 which saw a considerable boost in numbers. However, over the last forty to fifty years numbers have declined sharply, largely because of changes made to the landscape and environment by us. The widespread loss of heathland and meadows appears to have affected the rate of decline, so plans are in place to look at restoring landscapes, particular for the rarer breeds. However, we can have an influence for good by making spaces for the butterflies in our own gardens as well as urban parks and farmed countryside.

A recent success story is a joint project between Butterfly Conservation and the National Trust, which has seen the rare silver-studded blue butterfly re-introduced to a heathland area in the South Downs which has itself been restored over the last fifteen years.

So why not get involved and take part - what is fifteen minutes and you could be supplying vital information. So get some sun on your legs, put your Regatta shorts on and help to supply information about the butterfly population in the process.