Avon Wildlife Safari Day 9 - See exotic butterflies in Congresbury

photo:https://www.facebook.com/butterfliesandmore

The North Somerset Butterfly house in Congresbury is a great place to visit to learn about the butterfly life cycle and get up close to some beautiful species. Walk through the tropical paradise, hunt for caterpillars amongst the plants and marvel at the stunning colours of these beautiful insects. For a taster of what you can expect visit their facebook page to see some truly magnificent photos but don't use this as a substitute for experiencing the real thing, nothing can beat the experience of watching the butterflies for real and with free car parking, a gift shop and a coffee shop this really is a great place to visit.

After your trip you can use the BBC's Guide to identifying garden butterflies to go on your own butterfly hunt. You don't need a garden, any local park or green space will attract butterflies if it has plants in flower. Butterflies feed on nectar from the flowers so if you want to attract them nearer to home you could plant some flowers in your garden or even in a window box. Take a look at our butterfly gardening guide to get some ideas for plants that you could use.

Once you have become more confident in identifying butterflies you could take part in the Big Butterfly Count which is a national survey that will help scientists understand what is happening to the butterfly population across the UK. This will also help them understand how changes in our environment are affecting wildlife in general so that we can take action to protect the natural environment in our country.

Let us know how you get on!