Butterfly Conservation Transect recorder Huw Pennell carried out a third year of surveys on the farm over summer 2025, along with Butterfly Conservation volunteer Juliet Wilson. We caught up with Huw to find out about this year’s results.

How have the butterflies fared on the farm this year?

This year’s brighter and drier Spring and Summer has led to a good recovery of most of the butterfly species on the Farm, which is consistent with the national picture. Across the 25 weeks of recording (April to September) we saw an encouraging 50% uplift in Butterfly numbers compared to 2024 and just 3% down on the numbers recorded in 2023. Of the 14 different species recorded over the last two years on the transect, nine species are in positive recovery, four are in decline and one is stable. The decline in Meadow Brown numbers is the primary reason why the overall numbers haven’t quite returned to those of 2023.

Which species have shown the most significant recovery?

The numbers of Large White, Small White and Green-veined Whites have grown steadily over the three years, with the Large and Small Whites now the 2nd and 3rd most recorded species. This might have come from the agricultural changes taking place on the Farm, as the food plants for their caterpillars are from the widely grown Brassica family, although this trend in White numbers was also picked up on the Annual UK Big Butterfly Survey.

However, the real winner over the last three years has been the Small Skipper, which has seen an impressive growth in its numbers by over 340% to become the most recorded butterfly species on the Farm. The Small Skipper is one of the smallest species of butterfly in the UK and takes its name from its ‘skipping’ habit as it flies low through the long grasses, shimmering golden in the sun. The Small Skipper has been making strong inroad into Scotland over the last few years and its simple requirement for tall flowering grasses – especially Yorkshire Fog, which is the favoured food plant of its caterpillar – makes the grassland fields on the Farm an ideal habitat. Its larvae overwinter in the tall grass stems of Yorkshire Fog, so will have benefited from limited cutting of the grassland areas.

Small Skipper Butterfly

How have the other grassland species fared?

The other main grassland species: Meadow Brown (the most populous butterfly in the UK) and Ringlet have had a mixed year. Meadow Brown numbers went down by 31% compared to last year, and Ringlet numbers have recovered by 38%. The Ringlet is a damp-loving species and is known to flourish the year after a relatively rainy year, and vice-versa, which may explain what’s happened here. I hope we will see the Meadow Brown numbers stabilise and it may return to its Number 1 position in the next couple of years, as the grassland area on the Farm is perfect habitat for this species.

Ringlet Butterfly by Huw Pennell

Any surprise species to note?

We didn’t find the Holly Blue, Small Copper or Wall (which have only ever been counted in single numbers) along the transect this year, but we did have the first recordings of the Comma, while David Notton, local expert entomologist, has recorded the Painted Lady and Large Skipper elsewhere on the Farm this year.

2025 Survey Results Summary

Key Numbers

Top Ten Species

Species Flying Most Regularly over the Season

Small White –  recorded on 19 separate weeks (eight more than last year)
Large White – recorded on 18 separate weeks (12 more than last year)
Small Tortoiseshell – recorded on nine separate weeks (four more than last year)
Speckled Wood – recorded on nine separate weeks (two less than last year)

Earliest and Latest Flyers

Earliest recorded species: Peacock (in the week beginning 1 April)
Latest recorded species: Large White, Small White, Red Admiral (in the week beginning 23 September)

Summary

2025 saw a strong recovery in Butterfly numbers on the Farm, which shows that given the right conditions and protection, many of the species are resilient enough to rebound. With the continued focus on using farming methods that are designed to bring back biodiversity, we hope to see this recovery continue next year and encourage more species to make their home on the Farm. Climate change makes things ever more uncertain – all the more reason to enhance habitats and encourage as much biodiversity as possible.

Links to Previous Year’s Survey Results