The Birds and the ... butterflies

The Global Bird Fair is one of the leading annual events supporting wildlife conservation. At this year’s event – at a new venue adjacent to Rutland Water – Butterfly Conservation was represented by the East Midlands branch (EMBC), supported by the neighbouring Lincolnshire branch.

Over the 33 years of its existence, the Fair has generated over £5 million for conservation projects but after the 2023 event, news emerged that it had to move from the Rutland Showground. Thankfully, organisers found an ideal new location for the Fair’s new home, at Lyndon Top, near the southern shore of Rutland Water.

The 2024 event was staged from 12-14 July and welcomed huge numbers of visitors. The Butterfly Conservation stand was attended by seven branch volunteers, who were kept super-busy with plant sales, sales of butterfly ephemera, membership queries and more general enquiries from both BC members and the public.

After this year’s ‘thin’ start to butterfly sightings in most areas, many questions were along the lines of “Where are our butterflies?”, though there were plenty of other queries that stretched across a broad spectrum of interests and knowledge – including new Purple Emperor sites, the Camberwell Beauty, butterfly and moth identifications and cross-branch liaisons.

Jane says their stand had the added attraction of featuring a daily selection of moths: “These were caught overnight,” she added, “and ranged from Hawk moths to a lovely Purple Thorn. The Big Butterly Count, launched that weekend, was also a source of great interest.

“I’d like to send a very big 'thank you' to everyone who helped. We all had a great time and are already looking forward to next year’s Fair.”