On Sunday afternoon, St Mary the Virgin, Little Burstead opened up the church to celebrate the diversity of butterflies and to take part in the Big Butterfly Count.

Despite the windy and wet conditions, some butterflies were spotted, origami butterflies were attempted and we had a flutter of butterfly cakes. Butterflies were also hidden around the church to spot and interesting facts were learnt.

During our visits to the church over this year, we have spotted at least eight different species of lepidoptera.

We enjoyed the event and look forward to repeating it next year, although perhaps with better, butterfly friendly weather.

If you would like to see the results head over to: https://bigbutterflycount.butterfly-conservation.org/ and please think about joining the count next year. You could also download the iNaturalist app to record and identify other flora and fauna.