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Painted Lady - Favourite Photo of 2018

Week 12

The days are getting longer, we’ll soon offically be in 2019 so here’s hoping that it’s even better than 2018 – Happy New Year to you all. However before we look ever forward there’s still another 9 weeks of looking back WINK

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

Believe it or not I saw my Painted Lady on the 1st of June in my Garden, I was sitting in the shade when the Butterfly flew over my fence and landed on my Boules Mauve, what a surprise!! as it happens it was the only one I saw in such good condition after that. Goldie

Only one Painted Lady visited our garden this year, 17th August, luckily the camera was to hand.

Finally, a decent underside shot for my collection
Vince

An underside shot of a Painted Lady, seen in the Dordogne on 19th July.

A chance encounter with an egg laying female at Bookham gets my vote this year. Sadly I had my macro lens on and didn't have time to swap it with my zoom but I still managed do get close enough to show what she was up to

Didn't see many of these about in 2018. This one was from Bavins Shaw, July 27th...



She (or he) was camera-shy and would not oblige for a top-side shot although I watched her (or him) feed for around 10 minutes until the local SWFs flew in and provided a welcome diversion.

Maximus wrote:An underside shot of a Painted Lady, seen in the Dordogne on 19th July.

One of the best images I've seen. Superb.

Painted Ladies were the only vanessid to appear in any numbers in south Wales in late summer/early autumn. This individual has been chosen not for its beauty but for symbolic reasons - it was actually the LAST butterfly I saw in 2018......on 21st October!

Painted Ladies appeared at a few sites that I visited though the summer in 2018 and I saw more of these than summer Small Tortoiseshells and Peacocks put together. That does not mean that I saw loads of Painted Ladies, maybe a dozen all told, but rather is a sad comment on the low numbers of the other two species.
Cheers,

Neil

I was at Mill Hill the same time as Vince and got pretty much the same underside shot of a lovely fresh female:
Mill Hill, Sept 29th 2018, 1.55pm

Plus this upperside:
Mill Hill, Sept 29th 2018, 2.26pm

Cheers
John W

On 25th July, my fieldwork took my to the spectacular Llanymynech Rocks reserve on the Welsh border (jointly managed between Shropshire and Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trusts). I think most visitors to the reserve mainly explore the quarry section, but it's possible to walk up through the reserve, over the adjacent golf course, and through an unpromising wooded alley to emerge in an amazing wildflower meadow. Here, we found swarms of freshly-emerged Painted Ladies, Peacocks and Silver-washed Fritillaries flying together. My favourite picture was this close-up underside shot - the PL underside really is something special!

Seen at the Fort de Salses, Pyrénées-Orientales,France. 17-09-2018, for the wine buffs Fitou is only 12KM along the road, cheers.

https://jamesgibbs6929.zenfolio.com

Painted Lady

I suddenly started seeing Painted Ladies once the summer was in full swing and though it wasn’t a really vintage year I managed to see 8 at 7 different sites ranging from Wiltshire to Wales and back again to Surrey. It was nice to finally have the problem of which shots to choose for my favourite although it would have been even nicer to have had an even greater range to select from like in 2009!

My favourite came from Broughton Down and stood out for me because of the combination of freshness and lighting which made it almost burst out from the Hemp Agrimoney which it was feeding on.
Have a goodun

Wurzel

There really weren't many about in the places I visited in 2018, with Mill Hill being the only spot where I saw more than one at a time. Very few appeared on my local patch, with the last one on 31st October being notable, particularly as it came after at least one night with a ground frost. However, it was not playing ball with the camera.The Mill Hill contingent, nectaring avidly on Hemp Agrimony earier the same month prior to hopping the Channel, were much more amenable. Dave