Painted Lady - Favourite Photo of 2023

[Wurzel]

Painted Lady - Favourite Photo of 2023

Week 12

With impeccable timing the next weeks Favourites line-up has arrived just in time to wish every a Butterfly Filled 2024! Happy New Year everyone!

Please could I ask that everyone waits until a topic has been opened by me for a particular species before posting photos as then it will be easier to keep track of things? Of course our overseas members are very welcome to fill in the obvious gaps relating to rare UK migrants. As in previous years details of locations, dates, times and circumstances would be welcome as would any accompanying stories and anecdotes or other observations of behaviour and interesting other points.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Painted Lady

Despite the dearth of Clouded Yellows for most of the season Painted Ladys were reasonably easy to find and I saw a smattering of them across the year in all kinds of places. My Favourite however came from the same site which also produced my Clouded Yellows, Church Ope on Portland. I chose it as the dull weather has settled it as well as grounding it so I was able to get in really close and admire the magnificent and mesmerizing patterns on the underside. I’m not sure about the ‘Lady’ bit of its common name but I can definitely see where the ‘painted’ bit comes from – Jackson Pollock or John Squire (She Bangs The Drums in particular) eat your heart out!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[MrSp0ck]

Not many Painted Ladies in our part of Surrey.
An early one at Chapel Bank in May, and some in late September at Hutchinsons Bank

[ChrisStamp]

I think this was the only Painted Lady I saw all year in 2023 (Perthshire). Luckily it stayed around our garden for 3 days, and got used to me photographing it well enough to allow wide-angle macro shots (middle image) with the lens almost touching it.

[David M]

The nicest looking individual was seen on the Glamorgan coast on 15 September:

My overall favourite though was probably this one, seen extremely late on 31st October at Limeslade Bay, Gower:

[Wolfson]

Not particularly numerous in ‘23 but they were still popping up into November in Cornwall. The most I ever saw together was a group of 10 feeding on Hemp Agrimony on 6 August whilst looking for Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary in Cornwall. It’s a photograph of one of these that I’ve selected as my favourite.

[Goldie M]

I saw the Painted Lady on a Visit to Reculver on the 6th of July, I was surprised to see the Butterfly looking so fresh and I was lucky when it landed just in front of me. Goldie

[bugboy]

Definitely not a 'Painted Lady year', just the odd one here and there through most of the year but numbers did spike a little bit late on. Several were found down Worthing way on a familiar patch of pebbles near the coast.

[Neil Freeman]

Not many to choose from in 2023, I saw just two all year. The first one was seen at Stansted Forest in May when we were down that way for a coupl of days visiting our daughter.

Painted Lady - Stansted Forest 11.05.2023

The second one was seen at my local spot by Wagon Lane on a large flowering Ivy along with half a dozen or so Red Admirals in early October. Unfortunatly it stayed high up and only gave limited views but as only the second one seen all year it was memorable in it's own way.

Painted Lady - Wagon Lane .7.10.2023

Cheers,

Neil.

[Vince Massimo]

It was not a Painted Lady year and my highest count was three in one day. They were all on Verbina in my Lancing garden, fuelling-up for their out-bound migration south.

Painted Lady - Lancing, Sussex 31-Oct-2023

Vince

[David Lazarus]

I did not see a Painted Lady until the 5th July when one of the few to visit the gardens arrived. A couple on one day was a rare event within the River Chelmer flood plain;

Painted Lady 13/07/2023 Garden, Chelmsford, Essex

although numbers were better in Hatfield Forest:

Painted Lady 18/07/2023 Hatfield Forest, Essex

with the last sighting in Chelmsford being a solitary insect hanging around for a few days to nectar on the buddleja during the gales 23rd to 26th August

[overthepass]

Relatively few around in Surrey (and, I think, the SE generally) this year, this one from a local country park in mid-June being amongst the earliest I saw.

They did feature in the late season parks-and-gardens display . A visit to Hinton Ampner NT in mid-September found at least two, with this one providing some challenges as it nectared on dahlia blooms in bright sunlight against a background of dark foliage already partly in shade. (The observant will notice it's missing its left antennal club, but let that pass.)

On a visit to Kew Gardens in October, we were heading up the big broadwalk borders in late afternoon when this one came by to nectar on the ever-popular Verbena bonariensis, and if memory serves that was my last PL sighting for the year.

[millerd]

In common with others in the Southeast, I didn't see very many Painted Ladies in 2023. However, with the first in April and the last in October, sightings were evenly spread throughout the season. There were a few mixed in with the major Red Admiral migration northwards in July (and one or two in the reverse movement in early Autumn), and here is one seen locally during the peak on 17th July. The degree of backlighting gives it an almost luminous orange glow.

Dave

[Stevieb]

Not as numerous as 2022 but still a few seen. This is my favourite one for 2023. Bewley Common, Wiltshire 25th July