Biodiversity Games – The butterfly chase!
Have you noticed many butterflies flitting from flower to flower recently in your garden or while out and about in your local park?
The butterflies are making up for lost time caused by the cold spring so this weekend is a chance to enjoy that lovely weather by taking part in the Biodiversity Games.
The Biodiversity Games is a recording project supported by the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund, ‘Your Heritage’ Programme which aims to get people involved in helping their local biodiversity by ‘getting them recording’.
Danielle Begley, Biodiversity Officer for Down and Newry and Mourne District Councils explained, “Everyone always thinks there were more butterflies when they were young, but how do we really know? The only way to tell is to count and record what we see and not just butterflies but birds, bats and beetles are all important too!”
In the peak of the butterfly season there will be two chances in the area to get a hand at identifying some of the loveliest creatures in Ireland and learning how to count them: On Friday 2nd August a butterfly count will take place at Murlough National Nature Reserve from 11am – 1pm.
On Sunday 4th August, a count will take place as part of the ‘summer fayre in the park’ at Warrenpoint Park from 11am – 1pm. All species observed during these events will be recorded and this information will be forwarded to the Centre for Environmental Data and Recording (CEDaR) in Belfast.
The events are organised in partnership with Butterfly Conservation and the ‘Big Butterfly Count’ which runs from the 20th July to the 11th August. The big butterfly count is a nationwide survey aimed at helping us assess the health of our environment.
If you cannot make it to one of the Biodiversity Games events, you can still have a go. Send in your sightings online at www.bigbutterflycount.org or new this year is a FREE smartphone app for Big Butterfly Count. Now you can carry out and submit your Count all in one go while out and about watching butterflies.
For further information contact Danielle Begley, Biodiversity Officer tel; (028) 3031 3100 or email; Danielle.begley@newryandmourne.gov.uk Details can also be found on the Council websites or on www.biodiversityni.com
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