Clouded Yellows
With christmas drawing near, and the weather terrible outside, I thought I'd bring forward my Clouded Yellow posting to cheer myself up. Before 2013, Clouded Yellows were one of those near-miss butterflies, whenever I saw them (on holidays abroad) they would be zooming off, hypercharged down some dusty track. Fortunately though, all this was to change in the August of this year.
It started on the 1st of the month, when I made the decision to have a mega, whole day patch walk, taking in some new sites, and hopefully, some new butterflies. This proved to be an excellent decision, and I was treated to multiple Painted Ladies, Small Coppers, Common Blues, Marbled Whites (normally quite rare in my area), a Purple Hairstreak (which came tantalisingly close to the camera), and several Silver - Washed Fritillaries.
These however, were not the highlight of my walk, that prize went to the stunningly fresh male Clouded Yellow that I found feeding on thistles. This was my first patch record, and what a way to do it - the butterfly posed wonderfully, occasionally interacting aggresively with the numerous small whites.
Tragedy later struck, when my memory card malfunctioned, and all my photos of this beautiful insect, and I was left with no record of my encounter.
Undeterred, though somewhat frustrated, I set out two days later, and was delighted to find 3 of males feeding on ragwort in a scrubby local field.
![Clouded Yellow 14.JPG (3.09 MiB) Viewed 1056 times Clouded Yellow - Male](./files/thumb_13033_9e9582fc32388044780aff69b9c180b0)
- Clouded Yellow - Male
After this generous slice of luck, it seemed the flood-gates had been opened, and I found Clouded Yellows wherever I went, on my transect, and even in my garden.
Remembering the propensity of Clouded Yellows to associate with their foodplants, I went and checked out my local clover field (only 5 minutes from my home). Sure enough, there were Clouded Yellows galore, and for the rest of the summer, I had Clouded Yellows 'on tap'. This continued until the field was cut, the acres of bobbing clover heads disappearing along with the Clouded Yellows.
![Clouded Yellow 6.JPG (3.44 MiB) Viewed 1056 times Clouded Yellow - Female](./files/thumb_13033_5e64ce14f89cb6a9116ea1ec384b4d0a)
- Clouded Yellow - Female
![Clouded Yellow 5.JPG (3.23 MiB) Viewed 1056 times Clouded Yellow - Female - F. Helice](./files/thumb_13033_7b20a28516bb5d10e918f0410313a654)
- Clouded Yellow - Female - F. Helice
![Clouded Yellow 12.JPG (4.91 MiB) Viewed 1056 times Clouded Yellow - Male](./files/thumb_13033_94576a02c1821948914e134fafb076e3)
- Clouded Yellow - Male
![Clouded Yellow 16.JPG (3.36 MiB) Viewed 1056 times Clouded Yellow - Female - F. Helice (and friends)](./files/thumb_13033_71aed4425db47c3ef08901ef93581591)
- Clouded Yellow - Female - F. Helice (and friends)
![Clouded Yellow 2.JPG (2.56 MiB) Viewed 1056 times Clouded Yellow - Close Up](./files/thumb_13033_116a45ac5edfa8a234c3fcc478d75d64)
- Clouded Yellow - Close Up
![Clouded Yellow 4 copy.JPG (812.81 KiB) Viewed 1056 times Clouded Yellow - Female - F. Helice](./files/thumb_13033_dc98cc7f8f1b8d4a5366b9ff2c4c548c)
- Clouded Yellow - Female - F. Helice
![Clouded Yellow 13 copy.JPG (758.27 KiB) Viewed 1056 times Clouded Yellow - Male](./files/thumb_13033_49cde6860044cadd06c3f29c59ddf761)
- Clouded Yellow - Male
![Clouded Yellow 1 copy.JPG (1.17 MiB) Viewed 1056 times Clouded Yellow - Female - F. Helice (dodgy upperside)](./files/thumb_13033_4be861cdd0508c62b58100dfb60cb1b6)
- Clouded Yellow - Female - F. Helice (dodgy upperside)
![Clouded Yellow 7 copy.JPG (986.06 KiB) Viewed 1056 times Clouded Yellow - Female](./files/thumb_13033_e75c5c1375284e14e89981466bbc6014)
- Clouded Yellow - Female
![Clouded Yellow 3 copy.JPG (797.28 KiB) Viewed 1056 times Clouded Yellow - Male](./files/thumb_13033_c40132245fddf378dbcdb5c54e330d40)
- Clouded Yellow - Male
![Clouded Yellow 18 copy.JPG (1.43 MiB) Viewed 1056 times Clouded Yellows](./files/thumb_13033_4ce4948bb066aafe74b518ef000d8271)
- Clouded Yellows
I was very suprised with this photo, I was initially following one Clouded Yellow (the one in the foreground I think), and when it landed, I moved carefully over to it, in the hope of getting some photos, only to find it sat on top of another! Why this happened, I'm not sure, perhaps they were increasing their surface area for basking (it was taken during a cloudy spell). Certainly, it appeared to have nothing to do with courtship, as, when the sun returned, one flew off, showing no interest in its 'bedfellow'.
![Clouded Yellow 8 copy.JPG (896.93 KiB) Viewed 1056 times Clouded Yellow - Female](./files/thumb_13033_ed77ab6319fd5fda8948635edbf2ae6f)
- Clouded Yellow - Female
![Clouded Yellow 15 copy.JPG (1.6 MiB) Viewed 1056 times Clouded Yellow - Female - F. Helice (another dodgy upperside)](./files/thumb_13033_820771b96aca8b1593d665c1d049b72b)
- Clouded Yellow - Female - F. Helice (another dodgy upperside)
![Clouded Yellow 17 copy.JPG (1.11 MiB) Viewed 1056 times Clouded Yellow - Female - F. Helice](./files/thumb_13033_79e8835dd207183da53f8dab3f448c05)
- Clouded Yellow - Female - F. Helice
I rather like this one for its autumnal feel.
![Clouded Yellow 10 copy.JPG (711.5 KiB) Viewed 1056 times Clouded Yellow - Male](./files/thumb_13033_fd53be11984a2cbb12f0e8851e5a3dc0)
- Clouded Yellow - Male
And finally, one of my favourite images of the year.
![Clouded Yellow 9 copy.JPG (795.77 KiB) Viewed 1056 times Clouded Yellow - Male](./files/thumb_13033_d5aa8407025a253d55e3c8a3b7bbafff)
- Clouded Yellow - Male
Merry Christmas one and all - and my 2014 be filled with Butterflies
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
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