A photo gallery of some of the butterfly species found in the rough grassland on our 26 acre nature reserve – the Lennon Legacy Project (LLP) – which is managed for Barn Owls. The best foraging habitat for Barn Owls is open, rough, tussocky grassland – as you can see, it’s great for butterflies too!
Although some of the species shown are not normally considered to be ‘grassland’ butterflies, we do find them in the rough grassland we’ve created, perhaps because it has so many ‘woodland edge’ and ‘hedgerow’ flowers.
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- Marbled White (Melanargia galathea)
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- Painted Lady
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- Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas)
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- Wall Brown
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- Peacock
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- Small Skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris)
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- Large Skipper (Ochlodes sylvanus)
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- Small Tortoiseshell
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- Clouded Yellow (Colias croceus)
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- Ringlet
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- Holly Blue (Celastrina argiolus)
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- Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus)
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- Meadow Brown
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- Gatekeeper
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- Marbled White (Melanargia galathea)
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- Gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus) and Silver-washed Fritillary (Argynnis paphia)
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- Comma
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- Orange-tip (Anthocharis cardamines)
Click on a photo to scroll through the gallery. Click on the black background or press esc. to return to this page.
The Barn Owl habitat we created now supports hundreds of native UK butterflies. We have counted at least 20 species: Marbled Whites where none had been seen before, hundreds of Ringlets and Gatekeepers, Small and Large Skippers, Dingy Skipper, Meadow and Wall Brown, Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary, Dark Green and Silver-Washed Fritillaries, Holly Blue, Common Blue, Painted Lady, Small Copper, Clouded Yellow, Orange Tip, Comma, Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock.
Our annual butterfly survey is carried out every week from April to September.
To see our butterflies, please join us for a guided walk.
- How to manage land for Barn Owls.
- Wild flowers and grasses of the Lennon Legacy Project.
- Follow how we manage our rough grassland, and about the creatures and plants found in ‘Barn Owl Heaven’, read the latest LLP wildlife diary.