Bethany is the Trust's Evidence Officer and works as a member of the Nature Recovery Team. It is her role to help ensure that Yorkshire Wildlife Trust's strategy and day-to-day activities have a sound grounding in high quality data. I

Alison, Volunteer Butterfly Surveyor Coordinator is in her first year helping Bethany to organise and co-ordinate the Trust's butterfly survey volunteers. Alison has a strong academic background in life sciences and works in medical informatics.  Her involvement with the butterfly surveys has allowed her to use some of these skills to get back in touch with her passion for nature and conversation, learn something new, and meet like-minded people. 

There is a lot of organisation and coordination involved; as Alison told me, last season in 2025 over 60 volunteers were active at 40 Yorkshire Wildlife Trust reserves across Yorkshire. The map below shows where volunteers have been busy this year and also where Alison and Bethany currently need more volunteers. 

A point Alison was keen to make during our conversation is that you really don't need to be a butterfly expert to get involved. This was a concern I had, because although many butterflies are quite distinctive, there are some that can be quite hard to identify. A good example is provided by small and Essex skippers. Differences are subtle - you have to get a good view of the undersides of their antennae to be sure; those of Essex skipper looked like they they have been dipped in black ink whereas in small skippers they are orange or brown. Needless to say, these butterflies are often on the move (they're not called "skipper" for nothing) and so tend to be rather uncooperative. Happily the survey allows observers to leave them undivided if identification is uncertain.

As Alison went on to say, there is always help and guidance available. Butterfly Survey Volunteers as part of their induction can attend webinars she runs with Butterfly Conservation colleague Nick Hall, whose expertise and experience is invaluable. The Trust runs field-based training Butterfly Surveying sessions for volunteers as well, like the one that my other "Telling Our Story" colleague Howard attended at Barlow Common. 

Alison and Bethany explained to me that the surveys are run in conjunction with Butterfly Conservation and other conservation groups as part of the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (UKBMS). The scheme has been running in its current form since 2006 and has the mission 'to assess the status and trends of UK butterfly populations for conservation, research and quality of life.'

During our conversation Alison mentioned that although you don't need to be an expert to participate, volunteering does involve a degree of commitment, potentially requiring weekly visits to survey sites in the butterfly season, which is between April and September.  Sites need to be visited at least six weeks during the season for the counts to be considered valid. Bethany added that whereas some people do the surveys on their own, others do so in groups including as part of the practical conservation work they do on Yorkshire Wildlife Trust reserves. Where there are enough volunteers, it can be possible to set up a rota that ensures reserves get enough weekly coverage.

Bethany related that the data gathered through the survey work are shared with reserve managers and volunteer teams to help inform their conservation activities. An example of this is that at Wharram Quarry Nature Reserve, the quarry floor has been scraped back to help rejuvenate growth of plants such as bird's-foot trefoil. This has really helped dingy skippers - a rather inconspicuous butterfly that occurs sporadically in Yorkshire's limestone country - since it uses bird-foot trefoil as food plant.

As well as this, the data is cascaded upwards into reports such as the Trust's Bringing Yorkshire's Nature Back. A key to collecting high quality data is to follow a set, repeated, standardised methodology. Volunteer surveyors walk along a line of transect at a slow but steady pace, counting butterflies which are no more than 2 metres away. You're not allowed to look behind you, to avoid double counting. 

Some small reserves like mine have just a single transect which can be walked in less than half an hour. Larger reserves may include multiple transects which can take longer to complete. It is this systematic approach and the fact that surveys have been conducted over many years that adds to their value; trends in butterfly populations can be distinguished from seasonal blips.

The other thing surveyors have to do is to record counts on the UK Butterfly Mmonitoring Scheme website for retrieval and compilation. I found that it's easy enough to do; once again help is available to get you started, particularly if you aren't comfortable with computers.

I really like it that data I have gathered are used to help us understand the changes our natural world is undergoing. I like to be able to see the bigger picture. Another positive was that wandering around with my binoculars, survey clipboard and pencil was a great way of engaging with people. I often found myself explaining what I was doing to folk out on their bikes, or going for a walk. Many mentioned how few insects there seemed to be in comparison with their childhoods. We would talk about why this might be, and I took the opportunity to nudge them into visiting nature reserves with friends and family, and to take a greater interest in wildlife. The whole experience was very positive.

Should any of this appeal to you - and I really  hope it does, then why not sign-up to become a volunteer Butterfly Surveyor with Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.  If you love walking in the countryside on a sunny day and can identify the most common butterfly species then the role would be perfect for you. Full details including how to apply can be found here.