Big Butterfly Count: Chris Packham's tips on how to take part

Lockdown has been a great way for many people to enjoy the great outdoors.

Perhaps you've been riding your bike in the park, spotting different types of plants and flowers on daily walks, or even growing your own vegetables at home.

There's now a new opportunity to engage with nature in a unique way with the Big Butterfly Count.

The wildlife charity Butterfly Conservation is asking people right across the UK to spend just 15 minutes outside on a sunny day counting the number of butterflies they see and all the different types they come across.

These findings can then be submitted as part of a UK wide survey.

Chris Packham tells Newsround his top five tips for butterfly spotting.

If you cannot see the quiz, click here.

A huge total of 1,595,579 butterflies were counted last year, working out to about 16.25 butterflies for every 15-minute count.

The Painted Lady butterfly was seen over 420,000 times, the Peacock was sighted 207,814 times and the Small White almost 180,000 times. Several other species were spotted more than 100,000 including the Gatekeeper, Large White and Meadow Brown.

The data collected each year is used to map where in the country butterfly populations live and how many of each type can be found in different areas. It also helps researchers to understand how the environment affects the insects when it comes to issues like climate change.

Places that have lots of butterflies also tend to be home to species like birds and bats, as well as plants. Keeping track of butterfly numbers can also help scientists recognise when problems relating to other types of wildlife arise.

This year's butterfly count will run from 17 July until 9 August.

Are you going to take part? Let us know in the comments!