Butterflies flutter by...

Your regular author apologises for the lack of posts over the past month - he has been taking his Masters exams at the Royal Agricultural College and then catching up on the piles of post which built up during the period!  Over the next few weeks I hope to bring you up to date on the past month at Iford, starting with the wonderful events of "butterfly day", yesterday.

Run jointly between Butterfly Conservation and Iford Arts, this wonderful free event is aimed at both children and adults, and was held this year on Sunday 27th June in the baking heat of a glorious weekend.  With England playing Germany that afternoon, those that came to Iford had the better fortune, avoiding the disappointment of a somewhat predictable televised exit from that esteemed sporting competition.

The lepidopterists and other wildlife experts had set up traps overnight in the Iford valley, and the 80 species of moth caught were on display for inspection by the 250 plus children and accompanying adults that visited us on the day.  [When the list of sightings both for butterflies and moths is available, it will be posted on this blog].

Inside the marquee, kindly donated by NFU Mutual Insurance, there were activities galore, including storytelling, paint-a-butterfly (or moth!), decorate a butterfly cupcake, and perhaps most popular of all, facepainting.

For the more inquisitive of our younger visitors there was a treasure hunt, which encouraged children to learn about trees through exploration and research, and for the adventurous, guided walks through the long wild flower meadows were available for keen-eyed butterfly-spotters.  The photographically entered a competition on the day of butterflies and moths sighted during these walks, and hopefully we can post the winning image on this blog soon.

Butterfly friendly plants were available from a stall run by Downside Nurseries in Westwood, which proved popular with those wishing to bring more of a flutter to their gardens.

Many visitors, we are told, discovered Iford for the first time: to them a big "hail and well met".  The tearoom was very busy (mostly ice creams this weekend), and we were delighted to be able to provide a rare and relatively safe environment where children could learn through the medium of discovery and play, that not all moths need be crushed immediately under foot!

The laughter of children truly is infectious, and whilst the garden itself may not be particularly suitable for young visitors owing to its historic nature, to be able to offer a free day of natural discovery for the young is greatly rewarding.  Thank you to all that made it happen.