Even more distractions than usual!
By Fleur
@Fleura (34960)
United Kingdom
July 22, 2019 8:35am CST
I am terrible for getting distracted from whatever I am meant to be doing. Of course working at home doesn’t help, because I am always trying to fit work around the housework, grocery shopping etc. On sunny days there’s often washing to be done – not only because the clothes can dry naturally on the line for free, but also because now we have a solar PV system, when the sun is shining the washing machine will run for free as well!
But today is even worse because from 19th July to 2nd August it is the Big Butterfly Count (run by the charity Butterfly Conservation). The idea is to get a snapshot of the state of butterflies in Britain from records submitted by thousands of volunteer ‘citizen scientists’ around the country, who count butterflies for 15 minutes, wherever they happen to be. You can do the same place several times over that period, or different places on the same day, (or both).
Today is a lovely sunny day so perfect for both washing and butterflies! Every time I go outside to hang things on the line (or for any other reason) I’ve got camera and binoculars to hand and I end up chasing some elusive butterfly round the garden or squinting against the bright sky trying to ID an insect on the topmost flower spikes of the buddleia bush.
All good fun though and of course each time I learn a little more and contribute to something which will hopefully be worthwhile. This year seems to be a particularly good year so far.
Anyone else doing this?
Photo shows a butterfly known as the gatekeeper.
All rights reserved. © Text and image copyright Fleur 2019.
8 people like this
8 responses
@crazyhorseladycx (39503)
• United States
22 Jul 19
what great fun 'n such a worthy cause. i do such with the audobon society'n regards to the birds :) brilliant 'bout yer solar power. i've been buggin' the hubs fer years fer such to no 'vail.
1 person likes this
@crazyhorseladycx (39503)
• United States
23 Jul 19
@Fleura i'm glad y'all made that choice, hon. i've lots 'f space'n rooftops here that'd hold such nicely. i've e'en looked 't small wind turbines 'n he still says no :( the cost 'f both 've dropped considerably here's well, but e'en better 's the batteries. used to one'd need a large buildin' jest to house those fer collection. now 'tis a lil wall unit that weighs 'bout 50lbs. 't least here'n the u.s.
a much more sensible choice than relyin''n fossil fuels 'n crooked governments/utility companies.
1 person likes this
@Fleura (34960)
• United Kingdom
23 Jul 19
There are lots of these surveys nowadays - many organisations have realised that thousands of people keeping records - even if they are amateurs - provides a lot of worthwhile data and isn't just a bunch of people who know nothing meddling in things they should leave alone (as the professionals used to think!)
We do the bird count in January too, we help with the toad patrol (as you know) and now we've started other water surveys as well (more about that in another post). There are lots of interesting things to get involved in but I'm not quite ready for them all - bees for example - I can only identify a few.
@Fleura (34960)
• United Kingdom
23 Jul 19
The solar power thing - well we always intended to do it, on our last house there wasn't a big enough roof area facing in one direction and anyway it was very expensive. When we moved here, 9 years later, not only does it have more available roof space but also the cost of the PV system had fallen to about a third of what it was before. Prices and efficiency are improving all the time so I think eventually it will be the natural, sensible choice.
1 person likes this
@JESSY3236 (22247)
• United States
23 Jul 19
pretty butterfly. I was distracted yesterday too. I keep wanting to look at stuff online instead of doing any online work. Butterflies are pretty distraction though.
1 person likes this
@JESSY3236 (22247)
• United States
23 Jul 19
@Fleura Yeah especially since I'm trying to get my Black Friday list ready and my mother's Christmas list ready.
1 person likes this
@Fleura (34960)
• United Kingdom
23 Jul 19
We have the 'Big Garden Birdwatch' too, in January, run by the RSPB. As I was saying to @crazyhorseladycx, there are lots of these surveys nowadays - many organisations have realised that thousands of people keeping records - even if they are amateurs - provides a lot of worthwhile data and isn't just a bunch of people who know nothing meddling in things they should leave alone (as the professionals used to think!) The 'Big Garden Birdwatch' first started 40 years ago and I think that was one of the first 'citizen science' projects and the success of that has spawned many others.
1 person likes this
@garymarsh6 (23998)
• United Kingdom
22 Jul 19
What a good idea. I noticed only the other day that there seemed to be more butterflies around than I noticed last year!
1 person likes this
@Fleura (34960)
• United Kingdom
22 Jul 19
Why don't you join in? Every record counts!
<p>Be part of this nationwide survey and help take the pulse of nature. Butterfly declines reveal the poor health of the environment. We need your sightings</p>
