After my adventure of 2014 when I cycled around the coast of Ireland, I was looking for something else to do this summer. Another cycling adventure was considered but ruled out for a couple of reasons, mainly because I am terribly out of shape due to a long run of injuries and an equally long bout of laziness. Yet I am determined to continue to do my bit to promote Ireland’s biodiversity and to make a case for better nature conservation policies and practices in Ireland.

So the challenge I set myself this year is to find, photograph and write an account all of 35 species of butterfly that regularly occur in Ireland. If I had chosen to undertake this challenge say, ten years ago, I would only have to find 32 species, for Essex skipper, small skipper and comma have only established resident populations since then. And, if I had chosen to do this challenge in, say 1900, I would have to search for one additional species, the mountain ringlet, as it has become extinct in Ireland, probably since the beginning of the 20^th Century.

Butterflies are a good group to choose for a challenge of this kind. Quite a bit is known about their distribution and their status, and populations are monitored through the Irish Butterfly Monitoring Scheme, managed by the National Biodiversity Data Centre. In 2010, a Red List or conservation assessment was completed which found that six of Ireland’s butterfly species are threatened with extinction. These are pearl-bordered fritillary, small blue, wall, large heath and marsh fritillary. A further five are near threatened; dingy skipper, grayling, gatekeeper, small heath and wood white. Of these, only the large heath is of conservation status at a European level, and the marsh fritillary is the only species of butterfly, indeed insect, protected by law in the Republic of Ireland. So insects are a manageable group to tackle and each has a unique story to tell.

To find all butterfly species in Ireland in a single year may seem a fairly straightforward task, but it is not without its challenge. Firstly, it is one thing to see a butterfly flittering past, it is another to observe and anticipate butterfly behaviour to enable a decent quality photograph to be taken. Also, some butterflies have both limited flight periods and geographic distributions, so it will involve some planning to make sure I don’t miss these windows of opportunity. As both my wife and colleagues will attest to, I am not the most organised person in the world, so organisation may be my downfall. Also, I have never seen the rather elusive purple hairstreak in Ireland, so locating and photographing one may prove my biggest challenge.

So, having publically announced the challenge I have set myself this year, it will be interesting to see how I get one. Over the season I will be writing profiles, species by species, once I have found and photographed them. So be sure to follow my progress here.