Record year' for butterfly site

A record number of rare large blue butterflies were counted at a key breeding site during 2007.
By Mark Kinver
Science and nature reporter, BBC News

A survey at Collard Hill, Somerset, counted 354 adults during 2007, beating the previous record of 300 in 2003.

Experts believe a warm spring helped the caterpillars at the National Trust-owned site develop quickly before the arrival of a very wet summer.

Efforts to re-introduce the species began in 1983 after it disappeared from the UK in the late 1970s.

"Despite the poor summer, 2007 was a remarkable year for the large blue at Collard Hill," explained Matthew Oates, nature conservation adviser for the National Trust.

"It saw record numbers of butterflies in flight and it was the earliest and longest flight season since its re-introduction."

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