Where have all the butterflies gone?

Take a look around any garden in your street particularly now that the Buddleia’s (butterfly bush) are in full bloom something is missing, well something is missing here on the coast in the North East of England.

Where are the butterflies and moths?

When the Buddleia in my garden has bloomed in previous years I have spent many an aimless half an hour, coffee cup in hand just watching the butterflies and moths (at various times I have counted up to a dozen species) simply floating around the bush, which when accompanied by the drone of a multitude of bees buzzing around as they collect their pollen makes for a perfect sunny summers day. But that is not the way it is this year, day after day I have checked, nothing, I have even checked in neighbours gardens, nothing apart from a few moths attracted by a night time light, the butterflies have disappeared without trace from around here.

We all know it has been probably the worst summer in living memory it has been ridiculously wet and windy and really quite cold, and yes we have had plenty of warnings of impending ecological damage to the flora, fauna and wildlife, but we do not take them to seriously, nature always recovers, doesn’t it?

Over recent days we have seen some warm sunshine (albeit limited and we never had the heat wave of the south) and warmer breezes perfect butterfly weather but not one in sight on any plant, not, the Honeysuckle, the Clematis or the Hydrangea which are all flowering.  I am not alone in my search as I am aware of a number of friends who are expressing similar concerns. If the pollination of the plants is to be left to the bees (and they also appear to be significantly down) and other flying insects it does not bode well for the blossoms on the plants next year, maybe we should all be listening a little more closely to the ecological warnings that have been issued.

No doubt the butterflies and moths will all be back next year if we have a decent summer but I for one never thought that I would miss the sight of the various species of Cabbage White, Tortoiseshells and Peacock butterflies floating around my garden.