Butterfly walk at Perran Sands logs 14 species including rare skipper

Walk into the right patch of Cornish dune system on the right day, and you might spot something that exists nowhere else in the county.

That’s exactly what happened to nine wildlife enthusiasts on a recent Connect with Nature butterfly walk at Perran Sands and Penhale Sands, who recorded fifteen Grizzled Skippers between them.

📷Mountain Everlasting

A Rare Find in a Single Cornish Location

The Grizzled Skipper is one of the UK’s scarcer butterflies, and in Cornwall it clings on at just one site. Perran Sands and Penhale Sands is the only place in the county where the species can be found, which made the group’s tally of fifteen sightings a notable result for the day.

📷Dingy Skipper

Fourteen Species in One Walk

The walk was organised by Rowena Castillo-Nicholls, founder and chair of Connect with Nature, with Rob Nicholls leading the field trip. Between them, the group logged fourteen butterfly species in total.

Alongside the Grizzled Skippers, the group recorded Dingy Skippers, Brown Argus, Common Blues, Painted Ladies, Walls, Red Admirals, Peacocks, Speckled Woods, Small Coppers, Orange Tips, Green-veined Whites, Large Whites and Small Whites.

📷Grizzled Skipper

A Bonus on the Botanical Side

The butterflies weren’t the only rarity logged. The group also spotted a good number of Mountain Everlasting (Antennaria dioica), a mat-forming perennial with pink or white flower heads that is itself uncommon in the wild.

Connect with Nature runs regular events for those interested in Cornwall’s wildlife and habitats.

📷Group photo: Lynn Tricker, Sue Netherton, Rowena Castillo-Nicholls, Rob Nicholls, Paul Browning, James Mann, Julian Baker, Alison Jones, and Gary Batchelor

📷Common Blue