2025 Butterfly Recording Results at New Ferry Butterfly Park

Peacock butterfly

With great pleasure, we would like to share with you the information on butterflies we recorded in our transect walks between April and September 2025 at New Ferry Butterfly Park. 

Small Copper butterfly

2025 was a good year for butterflies thanks to the dry and sunny weather: we recorded 1151 individual butterflies, contrasting 553 in 2024! Almost all the species did well: in particular, Green-veined White, Common Blue, Peacock and Gatekeeper, followed by Speckled Wood, Large White, Holly Blue, Red Admiral, Comma, Meadow Brown, and Ringlet. Even some that are historically rare increased in number too: 8 Small Coppers (3 in 2024), and 5 Dingy Skippers during one walk (2 in 2024 in two sperate walks). 

Orange Tip butterfly

The species whose number remained more or less the same between 2024 and 2025 were Small Skipper, Essex Skipper, Painted Lady, and Small Tortoiseshell, while there was a fall in Orange Tip (from 23 to 11), and Small White (from 123 to 78).

Brimstone butterfly

Brimstone butterflies have always been a steady and pleasant sighting for visitors in the Park.  Strangely their number in 2025 was less spectacular: we only recorded 47, in contrast with 53 the year before. The good news is that we saw quite a few Brimstone butterfly eggs and caterpillars in 2025 on Alder Buckthorn (their favourite food plant). Fingers crossed there will be more in the next recording season.

A Brimstone caterpillar

2025 saw us gratefully receiving exclusive personal training in the Park from Dave Costello and Eric Davies, whose superb photos made their way to the Butterfly Park's Facebook page. Thank you both for your support!  Our thanks also go to Claire Lyon and Paul Loughnane who stepped in when we were away, which made 26 out of 26 walks during the recording season.

Finally, we wish all the very best to all of you for a fantastic 2026!

Yan and Charles

(Photos by Roy Lowry, taken at New Ferry Butterfly Park)

New Year – New Opportunities – Taking Action for Wildlife

Members of Wirral Wildlife want to create a Wirral richer in wildlife by managing our reserves to increase biodiversity and encouraging people to join us.

If you are interested in taking action for wildlife alongside us, how can you get involved?

Do you like to be outdoors and use skills you already have – or learn new ones?

We look after 3 local nature reserves and practical work is carried out by honorary wardens and a team of volunteers. Once a month volunteers do practical work at Cleaver Heath and New Ferry Butterfly Park, with occasional workdays at Thornton Wood. Examples of tasks include removing invasive birch at Cleaver Heath so heather has a chance to spread, coppicing of hazel in Thornton Wood and removal of invasive species like Himalayan balsam. You could learn how to scythe or lay a hedge at New Ferry Butterfly Park.

Scything fun at New Ferry Butterfly Park!

A workday at Cleaver Heath

Do you have knowledge to identify plants, fungi, invertebrates, birds or mammals?

A team of recorders do annual surveys of local wildlife sites so there is a permanent record of the wildlife there and any changes. If you aren’t an expert you can learn as you go.

Surveying at Thurstaston Common

Are you interested or concerned about building developments in Wirral?

We look at planning applications to check if they may have an impact on wildlife and advise the council accordingly.

Are you interested in finding out more about local nature?

We have a programme of talks and guided walks open to the public. Monthly talks are held from September to April at Thornton Hough WI Hall and feature a wide range of speakers. Guided walks usually include a spring flower walk, a walk in Thornton Wood and an autumn fungi walk. Each autumn we hold an Apple Afternoon at New Ferry Butterfly Park where visitors can taste locally grown apples and help to make juice using our traditional wooden press.

Bluebells in Thornton Wood

Do you like enthusing children?

We work with schools by giving guided tours of New Ferry Butterfly Park, going into schools to give talks or attending school nature events.

Show children how to build a bug hotel

Do you like meeting people or fundraising?

We attend events like Cool Heswall and Ness Nature Day and have an Open Garden afternoon at Poulton Hall. We have volunteer wardens at New Ferry Butterfly Park on Sundays from May to September.

The Wirral Wildlife stall at Ness Gardens Nature Day

Are you a local ‘Friends’ group? Do you want some wildlife advice?

We have members with experience who could help with surveys or ideas.

Do your skills lie in organising or communication?

Would you like to organise events or write newsletters or social media?


Our dedicated Wirral Wildlife volunteers do all these things and more. We are a busy, inclusive group and welcome anyone who wants to make Wirral richer in wildlife.

Send an email to info@wirralwildlife.org.uk or come to one of our talks (see the Events page on our website) and speak to one of us.

No prior experience necessary – just a desire to be involved. You would be made very welcome if you would like to join us.

Taking Action for Wildlife: A Review of 2025

2025 saw celebrations of the 30th anniversary of New Ferry Butterfly Park being open to the public. Since 2002 we have welcomed a total of 34,890 visitors, some on Sunday afternoons and some on guided visits. This year the Butterfly Park received its 13th Green Flag and its second RHS North West in Bloom level 5 Award. All these things reflect the dedication of volunteers that includes the Wirral Countryside Volunteers.

If you would like to volunteer at New Ferry Butterfly Park, either as a voluntary warden or on a workday, email us at info@wirralwildlife.org.uk

Visitors at the 2025 Open Day at New Ferry Butterfly Park

The season started well at Cleaver Heath reserve with a regeneration project, which saw an area dominated by bracken and gorse scraped back to mineral soil, in order to encourage the regeneration of heather. The work was funded through money raised by Woodchurch High School and our own fund-raising. The Cleaver Heath volunteers then worked hard to remove remaining bracken roots. Then, at the end of August, a fire broke out (in another area of the heath), probably caused by someone lighting a fire in an improvised fire pit. Luckily by the end of November some recovery of vegetation was evident.

Work in progress to remove an area of bracken and gorse at Cleaver Heath

Events Attended in 2025

Wirral Wildlife attended many outside events in 2025, none of which we could do without our dedicated volunteer team.

March was a busy month with Our Dee Estuary's Final Celebration in Hoole, the Wirral History and Heritage Fair in Port Sunlight and Cheshire Wildlife Trust's Action for Wildlife Weekend at Birkenhead Park. At each of these events we took our display boards and our children’s crafts where appropriate and told visitors about the work of Wirral Wildlife. 

Linda gave a talk at the Action for Wildlife event at Birkenhead Park

In May we had a table at Cool Heswall with information and activities to help spread the word about the vital importance of nature.

The Wirral Wildlife stall at Cool Heswall

Volunteers worked hard at Poulton Hall Open Day in July, making cream teas, welcoming visitors and leading meadow walks. 

A guided meadow walk at Poulton Hall

Ness Nature Day was held on a beautiful August day and we did craft activities with lots of children.

Wirral Wildlife volunteers at the Nature Day at Ness Gardens

In October an Apple Afternoon was held at New Ferry Butterfly Park with a display of 28 apple varieties and apple juicing using our traditional apple press.

Just some of the varieties of apple at the Apple Afternoon at the Butterfly Park

Green Libraries Week in October found us helping the librarians at Birkenhead Library and West Kirby Library deliver sessions on nature-based crafts.

Children's crafts during Green Libraries Week

If you would like to join our events team please email us at info@wirralwildlife.org.uk

All year round our Recording team is busy with surveys or writing up their observations. It is vital to know which species are present and if their distribution is changing.

Transects surveying at Thurstaston Common

Two members of Wirral Wildlife committee received special recognition this year. Hilary Ash, Honorary Conservation Officer, was presented with the Cool Wirral ‘Environmental Hero’ award, and Stephen Ross, Chairman, received the ‘Volunteer of the Year’ award from Cheshire Wildlife Trust.

Hilary received a Cool Wirral Environmental Hero award

Stephen was awarded the Volunteer of the Year by Cheshire Wildlife Trust

From this brief overview of 2025 you can see what Wirral Wildlife volunteers have achieved.

Why not come and join us? It is very rewarding to ‘Take Action for Wildlife’, as we promise to do!

Felicity Goodey's Speech at the Cheshire Wildlife Trust AGM

Cheshire Wildlife Trust's President, Felicity Goodey,
with Volunteer of the Year, Stephen Ross, Chair of Wirral Wildlife

For those who were unable to attend the Cheshire Wildlife Trust AGM at Ness Gardens on 8th November, here is a transcript of the speech given by President Felicity Goodey.

If you would like to pass on this powerful message to your councillors or MP, please copy the text or share the link to this blog post.

There is one thing on which all political parties are agreed: we need more economic growth; we need more houses; we need better infrastructure; we need cheaper and cleaner energy. The problem according to too many politicians is people like us. We are Nimbys, armed with legions of great crested newts and bats and we want to turn the whole of the UK into a wildlife reserve.

Yes, it’s nonsense and the truth is very different.

Newts and bats featured in just 3.3% of all planning appeal decisions last year; England is already the 7th most nature depleted country in the world, and in Cheshire less than 10% of our region is protected. Are we really ‘nimbys’ for wanting to stop further destruction?

Earlier this week, I asked the boss of one the UK’s biggest construction and civil engineering companies why was it that Britain could successfully design and build a state-of the art fighter plane but couldn’t bring a major infrastructure project in on time or anywhere near budget. Good question, he said, and without hesitation replied, ‘too much pressure to deliver short term savings’. His colleagues agreed and began to swap stories of how pressure to deliver short-term targets resulted again and again in long term cost and major over runs.

Earlier this year I had the great pleasure of receiving on behalf of the Trust a plaque to celebrate the establishment of a new National Nature Reserve at Risley, Holcroft and Chat Moss. It was ordinary people, supported and informed by experts like Cheshire Wildlife Trust, who had persuaded politicians not to allow the further destruction of peatlands for short term gains, because those peatlands store billions of tonnes of carbon and provide a vital natural resource for millions of people in Cheshire and Greater Manchester.

And it was thousands of signatures from members of Cheshire Wildlife Trust which helped persuade the councillors of Cheshire East not to allow developers to concrete over major parts of Danes Moss which they too now recognise as a vital resource for the future. That’s a major victory for good sense, although as we will hear later, there is no room for complacency.

‘Nature is vital for our health, wealth and security,’ said the Chair of Natural England, ‘Spending time outdoors in natural settings is great for mental and physical wellbeing and the services provided by nature help prevent flooding, catch carbon and benefit the local economy.’ He’s quite right. He was speaking as the Government’s national representative – what a pity then, that as national Government struggles to deliver the promises which secured them votes, they too often begin to overturn what local people want and know to be in the long-term interests of the community.

We at Cheshire Wildlife Trust believe it is not in the interests of a healthy population and cleaner, cheaper energy to destroy an internationally recognised and protected major wetland habitat like the Mersey Estuary, or to concrete over the whole of the Adlington greenbelt. The Mersey Tidal Barrage and the New Town of Adlington are just two of the current planning proposals being opposed by Cheshire Wildlife Trust.

It is down to people like us to force governments to listen, not to the lobbyists chasing short term profit or political advisers chasing next year’s votes, but to the facts and to work with a broad range of community interests to come up with proposals which are genuine, long-term solutions to benefit future generations, not short-term commercially driven expediencies.

Devolution gives more decision-making power and funding to regions like Cheshire and Warrington. By 2027, we may have a new regional mayor with significant power over planning and economic development. Wildlife Trusts already have more members than the three established political parties put together; Cheshire alone has more than 17,600 members. We have a voice, a strong one. Please use it to support campaigns being run in your name. We can provide all the ammunition you need to pressure your local councillor, MP or regional mayor into voting for nature recovery not destruction, for the long-term benefit of the community, not short-term commercially driven gain.

This is not ‘Nimbyism’!

And the more of us the better. So, this Christmas why don’t we all try to recruit another 17,600 members through gifts of membership or simple persuasion. Give them the facts! As Charlotte will report later, Cheshire Wildlife Trust continues to make huge gains for wildlife recovery and habitat restoration. It’s all thanks to you and the more of you there are, the more nature will benefit.

Cheshire Wildlife Trust Volunteer of the Year Award for Stephen Ross, Chairman of Wirral Wildlife

Stephen (centre) being presented with the Cheshire Wildlife Trust Volunteer of the Year award by Charlotte Harris (CEO of CWT) and Bill Stothart (outgoing chair of the Trustees of CWT)

Cheshire Wildlife Trust has grown over 60 years from a small, volunteer-driven interest group into a professional, ambitious regional organisation. They are the region’s largest conservation charity, supporting and conserving wildlife and the natural environment throughout Cheshire and Wirral. They rely on a large group of dedicated volunteers to help bring wildlife back and build deeper connections between people and nature

The Volunteer of the Year Award is the highest accolade for volunteering given by Cheshire Wildlife Trust. The award is given in memory of, and inspired by, the contribution of Eric Thurston, a long-standing volunteer for the mid-Cheshire group, who provided inspiration to many others over the years.

Winners are awarded a limited edition of a Roger Stephens print of peregrines circling above Beeston Castle.

This was presented to Stephen at the Cheshire Wildlife Trust AGM held at Ness Gardens on 8th November.

The award was given at the AGM of Cheshire Wildlife Trust held at Ness Gardens

Stephen, a life-long supporter of wildlife (with an especial interest in birds) and life member of Cheshire Wildlife Trust (CWT), has been Chair of Wirral Wildlife (the Wirral Group of the CWT) since 2004. During that time, he has guided the committee with a gentle but firm hand and been a brilliant facilitator for our activities. He is a great support to our outreach activities, always introducing the talks and other events which form our winter programme, and leading the discussions with which these close. He is also a willing volunteer at the various stalls and displays we put on at various events through the year. His interesting Annual Report always brings a global perspective to what we do.

Stephen with the apple press at an Apple Day event

He represents Wirral Wildlife on many occasions. For example, in July 2025 he chaired a one-day event organised by Jane Turner to ‘Celebrate Biodiversity and Sustainability in Hoylake and Meols’. He keeps us in informal contact with many other organisations in Wirral including The Heswall Society, Rotary, Heswall Hall Community Trust (we held our winter programme of talks and events at Heswall Hall for many years) and the Dee Estuary Conservation Group (where he was our representative for some time, becoming vice-chair and then chair for a while).

Stephen (left) at a tree planting in Brotherton Park for Cheshire Wildlife Trust's 60th anniversary

Stephen has also been very active within CWT. Soon after becoming Chair of Wirral Wildlife, he became a member of Council and a Trustee, bringing his expertise from his professional life to the Personnel Subcommittee of CWT and to the preparation of several reports relating to CWT activities.

For over two decades, Stephen has applied his enormous networking and facilitating skills to further the activities of Wirral Wildlife and its environment-related activities in Wirral. He is the best of chairs, never dominating but always giving Committee members the freedom to develop their roles in their own way and supporting their activities, often participating in them.

He is a worthy winner of this award.

Every Plant Has Its Place

The wildflower planting team

Thanks to Becky Williams, Wilder Lives Officer from Cheshire Wildlife Trust, New Ferry Butterfly Park was donated five hundred wildflower plugs comprising of a mix of eight species. Each species needed to be planted in distinct locations in the park to match the plants natural preferences to give them the greatest chance of surviving.

Greater Bird's-foot-trefoil is used as a larval food plant by the Dingy Skipper and occasionally by the Common Blue butterflies and these were planted in the sunken bath wetland and around the pond. So, too was the damp loving Common Fleabane, a nectar source used impressively by sixteen butterfly species found at the park and is the favourite nectar source of the Small Copper butterfly.

Yan making holes for the wild flower plugs - only 500 more to go!

Selfheal is a nectar source for three species of the park’s butterflies and was planted in the pondside grassland and railway ballast area as both these areas have a short sward height. Red campion, a nectar source for three species found at the park, was planted next to the hedgerow adjacent to the pond and hopefully will be a fruitful source of nectar for the Orange Tip butterfly.  The hawkbits are a nectar source for seven butterfly species at the park; the autumn hawkbit was planted in the acid grassland and the sparce railway sidings whilst the rough hawkbit was planted in the rapidly developing wildflower grassland in Charlie’s Field. The lesser knapweed is a nectar source for seven species of butterfly found at the park was also planted in Charlie’s Field.

Yan working with a Liverpool John Moores University student 

Yan, Liverpool John Moores University Conservation Society and our inhouse volunteers got plug planting at the October workday. Yan worked efficiently using a bulb planter with a spade handle on it creating the perfect hole, pulling the plug of soil out and leaving the plug next to the hole as a marker so the next volunteer could plant and use the soil from the extracted plug to surround the freshly planted plant to firm it up. The areas have been marked out with bamboo canes so they will not be mown this autumn. Thanks to Yan for leading the planting team.

Bamboo canes protecting the plug plants 

Additional planting took place on the damp clay area opposite Mel’s Garden so creating a contrast of cultivated garden plants and wildflower area. We hope these plugs plants will survive and increase the capacity of the park to host large numbers of butterflies and make the butterfly transect recording even more of a delight for Yan and Charles, ensuring a greater butterfly experience for our visitors.

Thank you to Cheshire Wildlife Trust for the plants!

Paul Loughnane, Reserve Manager, New Ferry Butterfly Park

An Amazing Apple Afternoon

Some of the apples on display at Apple Afternoon at the Butterfly Park.
Photo: Aidan Mangan

On Sunday 12th October we celebrated locally grown apples with our third New Ferry Butterfly Park Apple Afternoon.

Even more people came this year (estimate 60 - 70) - thank you to everyone who visited and our wonderful volunteers who make it possible to hold such an event.

Visitors to the Apple Afternoon. Photo: Aidan Mangan

The first Apple Day was organised on 21st October 1990 by Common Ground to celebrate apples and orchards. Many traditional orchards were being dug up and the country became reliant on imported apples, despite about 3,000 apple varieties having been grown in the UK. The aim was to bring the wide variety of local apples to the attention of the public.

A history of apples and Apple Day

At our event we have a traditional wooden apple press and other equipment. Apples are chopped, minced then put into the press. Several people collected apples for juicing and volunteers, including some Friends of Dibbinsdale, manned the apple press. Visitors could help with the juicing process, turn the handle and taste freshly pressed juice. Many people took some juice away with them.

Chopping apples, ready to be minced up and pressed.

Turning the handle on the apple press to make the juice flow

We had 28 varieties of apples picked from orchards at Brimstage, Upton Hall School and Ness Gardens plus varieties from some of our volunteer’s gardens. We are grateful for all these donations.

The display of locally grown apples on the tasting table

What wonderful names these old varieties have - some dating back to the 17th century. Some like Peasgood’s Nonsuch (one of my favourite names) are named after the person who grew them. This one was grown in the 1850s by Mrs Peasgood. Scrumptious is presumably named due to its taste. The name of Red Love apple denotes the colour of its skin and its flesh too, and was a great favourite with the children who tasted it. A full list of the varieties we had for display and tasting is given below.

The homeland of domestic apples lies in the fruit forests of Kazakhstan and surrounding regions. Apples belong to the genus Malus. Brimstage Orchard has a Siberian crab apple, Malus baccata. It is thought that breeding from these sorts of apples and selection over many centuries led to the many varieties of apple we can grow today. Apples will not breed true from seed, fruit from offspring may be better or worse than from their parent tree. Humans would choose the best to keep. Another problem is that apples do not grow well from cuttings and need to be grafted on to a rootstock to grow on. Just think of all the work that has preceded the development of the next apple you bite into.

Siberian crab apple Malus baccata, from Brimstage Orchard

Linda Higginbottom

New Ferry Butterfly Park Volunteer Coordinator



Apples on display

Annie Eiizabeth
Arthur Barnes
Blenheim Orange
Bramley
Catshead
Charles Ross
Cox’s Orange Pippin
Crawley Beauty
Discovery
Eccleston Pippin
Egremont Russett
Fiesta
Golden Noble
Grenadier
Herefordshire Russett
James Grieve
Jupiter
Lord Clyde
Lord Derby
Lord Lambourne
Millicent Barnes
Red Falstaff
Peasgood’s Nonsuch
Red Love
Scrumptious
Spartan
St Edmund’s Pippin
Worcester Pearmain