Throughout the UK, you can find many conservation websites and blogs dedicated to the care and tracking of wild animals. There are organisations dedicated to conserving rare species, endangered animals, and those whose habitats are threatened by human activity. One such organisation is the Butterfly Conservation Charity. The website Bedsnorthants-butterflies.org.uk is linked to this charity, and in this article, we look at what happened to it and why it is no longer an updated website.

Bedsnorthants-butterflies.org.uk Business Info – Who Were They?

The Bedsnorthants-butterflies.org.uk website is dedicated to the regional branch of the Butterfly Conservation charity in the UK. This is a nationwide charity that currently has over 40,000 members. People become members and join in activities to help conserve butterflies and moths in their local area.

This particular website was dedicated to the counties of Bedford and Northamptonshire, which are located in the central east region of England bordering Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, and Hertfordshire. These counties have beautiful countryside, perfect for butterflies and moths to live and breed.

Each county, group of counties, or region has its local website that is part of the overall Butterfly Conservation charity. The Bedsnorthants-butterflies website catered specifically to Bedford and Northamptonshire and provided information about these areas, such as where you can find butterflies and info on local conservation efforts.

What Could You Find on the Bedsnorthants-butterflies.org.uk Website?

The Bedsnorthants-butterflies.org.uk website contained a wealth of information relating to the conservation of butterflies and moths. Primarily, it provided information relevant to Bedford and Northants’ areas. However, it also contained links and info for the Butterfly Conservation charity. The following are things that you could find on this website:

Butterfly Sighting Reports

One of the main website features was the reports of butterfly sightings. This is an important aspect of conservation as it allows the charity to actively monitor butterfly populations in different areas. The sighting reports were split into two pages – one for Northamptonshire and one for Bedfordshire.

A simple list of sightings submitted by members is shown in chronological order on each page – with the most recent sightings being first. Each sighting lists the type and number of species and the specific location. You can also see full summary reports of sightings for each year dating back to 2008.

Reporting Tools for Butterfly Sightings

There were also extensive reporting tools that allowed you to submit your sightings to the Butterfly Conservation charity. These were again split into Bedford and Northants’ different regions and also split by butterfly and moth sightings.

You were redirected to the Bedfordshire or Northamptonshire Natural History Society submission page by clicking the link. Here you can submit specific details about your sighting. For example, you first had to enter your contact details. Next, you selected the date, location description, and grid references. There was also an interactive map that you could use to pinpoint the location of your sightings.

Advice on What Butterflies You Can See in Different Months

There was also a “What you can see” tool, useful for those learning about conservation and what to look for. By selecting this tool, you’ll be taken to a separate website widget with a tab for each month of the year.

You could click on each of the tabs. Underneath the month heading, you could then see general advice on the likelihood of spotting butterflies and moths during this month. Also, you could access a list of recorded sightings for that month. For example, Comma, Red Admiral, Brimstone, Peacock, and Small Tortoiseshell species were all sighted in March.

Events

There was also the events page for those who wanted to get involved with active conservation. This page redirected you to the official Butterfly Conservation website, where you could search their database for upcoming events in your area.

The events included country park cleanups, dedicated butterfly and moth days at public parks, and useful things for children like field trips to nature reserves.

Species Information

Lastly, if you wanted to learn more about the different species of butterflies and moths, there was a link to the Butterfly Conservation species database. This section provided a wealth of information about each species found in the UK, including Red Admiral, Purple Emperor, and the Black Hairstreak. 

There was an introductory paragraph about their origins, dispersion, and traits for each butterfly species. Underneath there is species information, including conservation status, size, larval foodplant, flight time, and typical habitats.

How Did Bedsnorthants-butterflies.org.uk Operate?

This regional conservation branch would have taken directions from the main charity operators. For example, they used branding and information from the main Butterfly Conservation UK website. Also, they provided links to join the charity, which again diverted you to the main conservation website.

However, there was also a range of regional information. For example, as mentioned above, the website provided specific sighting data for Bedford and Northants. Also, it provided information for local events, clubs, and conservation efforts that people could join in.

Why Did This Website Stop Operating?

The Bedsnorthants-butterflies.org.uk domain is no longer operating. If you try to access this website, you are given a generic WordPress error message. However, after doing some research, we found that the website is still live. It has simply been moved to a different domain name. The home of this regional Butterfly Conservation branch is now Bedsnorthants-butterflies.org.uk.

The change is minimal – essentially, they have separated the two names of the counties. Why this domain name change was dedicated upon, we will never know. The logical reason is that Beds-Northants is easier to read than Bedsnorthants. It gives a clear separation between the two words, making it easier to identify that it’s the Butterfly Conservation site for two regions.

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