www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Hi all - I know a few people (including Guy, I believe) have already mentioned this - but I've received several messages saying that Painted Lady (and to a lesser extent, Clouded Yellow) are moving through Europe in larger numbers than normal. Here's an example from the ELG list (passed on by Paul Batty - I'm sure he won't mind me passing these on!):

Neil West writes.......... "Provence, Sunday 19th April. For the last 3 days V.cardui have been passing through in their thousands so hopefully it should be a good year in the U.K. They are coming across the valley, then up and over the house, heading North. The 'corridor' is only about 10 metres wide and none are going either side of the house! Although there are so many, they are flying singly, unlike a few year's ago when they were in groups of 15-20, but much more spread out. Neil West www.nwthtom.clara.net "

And Richard Bance writes from Southern Spain...... "If the weather this summer in the UK is warm and better than last summer, then you should be seeing Painted Ladies, as they have been migrating through here in their hundreds daily. Clouded Yellows are also here in large numbers."

Cheers,

- Pete

You're telepathic, Pete! I don't think I've mentioned the painted ladies on these pages this year, but it's true, I was amazed to see them coming through Switzerland this week. I saw two on Tuesday, which may not sound a lot but it's a month earlier than usual - and in some years they don't even meet their May deadline (generally around 19th May).

The cold winter killed off all our clouded yellows - I saw none in February or March. But I did see a couple last Monday and Tuesday, clearly immigrants too.

Vast clouds of painted ladies moved north through Gibraltar in 1983 and that was the first year in my butterflying career when clouded yellows were common in England.

How exciting!

Guy

I remember where I read it now - on the Hants and IOW sightings page (http://www.hantsiow-butterflies.org.uk/sightings.htm) there's a message from Andy Barker:

"Linda and I have just returned from a week in Mallorca. The weather was unsettled, but when the sun shone there were tens and sometimes hundreds of Painted Ladies to be seen everywhere we went. For example, 100+ seen at Pollensa on 11 April and 50-100 near Alcudia on 12 April. We go to the Mediterranean around Easter most years and the last time we saw such quantities was on Rhodos in 1996. We all know what a good year that was for Painted Ladies in the UK, so let's hope our sightings in Mallorca this Easter are a good omen for the summer ahead."

As you'll see - the Dukes are out at Noar Hill too!

Cheers,

- Pete

My sister was on holiday last week in Spain, just north of Alicante. She is not into butterflies like me, but was amazed at the sheer number of butterflies on the wing.
She said that there were several different kinds but one species out shone the rest by sheer numbers. She said that there were (Quote) hundreds during the week and took a photo of one on her moblie phone to show me. Painted Lady!
Lets hope that we are in for a good summer.
Denise

hmm, I would have liked to had the chance to maybe see Clouded Yellow and get shots of them this year, but I'll be away July and August, but where I live is a prime spot for them if they migrate as far as Northern Ireland as I was told they travel up the East coast of NI and where I live is on east coast and near sea.

I remember 2006 summer was great for Painted ladies. They were breeding where I live and I found loads of their caterpillars on thistles in the fields. Also saw first clouded yellows then too, boy they fly fast when they get going. Managed to get close to one before they disappeared which was quite nice sight to see.

Hope we all in UK get a good summer too, even if I won't be around to enjoy it.

I saw one today on the moor near Richmond (North Yorks)... migrant or over-winterer??!

Hi all
I saw my first Painted Lady of 2009 today, about a mile or so from our village. Its wings certainly tell a tale of a long journey here! I think this is my earliest ever sighting of this species!
Regards
Deano.

I saw no painted lady last year on the Isle of Wight or in southern France but this year I saw the first one in North Pembrokeshire on 26 April. After that they were regularly seen despite some cool weather and wind.

Although the first painted ladies arrived in Switzerland a month ago, the last couple of days have seen a real surge in numbers up here in the mountains. Yesterday it was raining at lunchtime but there were painted ladies everywhere, flying quite happily in the rain. They would rise from the tracks in the meadows in groups of 1-5, every few metres. I saw several hundred in a very short walk. The same was true today. They are getting everywhere - trapped in buildings, flying around the town, beetling into the treetops &c. But most of all they seem to love dining out on dandelions in the meadows. They're very twitchy and hard to approach - clearly highly restless and mobile. Many are worn, some are very small.



Guy

Having just returned from France I too can confirm sighting of large numbers of Lady's but we didn't see any Clouded Yellows - they were all in Italy last September....

Mike

According to the Cambs and Essex BC sightings page, there were "at least 40 Painted Ladies" on Wallasea Island (Grid ref:TQ982938) yesterday.

Trev

There was another one in the garden when I got home from work tonight. It was a different one from the two yesterday and the one the day before.

One yesterday, and one today, here in north Somerset. That equals the 2008 count already.

So THATS what they are!
Today here in Kent I kept seeing these butterflies all day flying and gliding over prob a two mile area and wondered what on earth they were.
Painted lady certainly fits the bill but they did look quite pale? bloomin things never settled just kept seeing them from a distance.
I would say a fair count would have been 12 seen in total throughout the day.

At least ten painted ladies on Sand Point, near Weston Super Mare, Somerset today, mostly heading west towards Wales. Four or five stopped to refuel so maybe pics later if Jerry or Denise don't beat me to it.

sitting in the garden today (verwood, Dorset) i must have averaged one PL every 5 minutes maximum at any point was 3. went to supermarket and saw three across the car park and at Martin Down they were flying through. I stopped counting in the garden at 50. i would call it more an invasion than an influx. great to see.

Chris

eccles wrote:At least ten painted ladies on Sand Point, near Weston Super Mare, Somerset today, mostly heading west towards Wales. Four or five stopped to refuel so maybe pics later if Jerry or Denise don't beat me to it.

The one that stopped for me, only half way down the steep cliff face Denise

i saw 2 yesterday here near Huntingdon

Things must be looking up, a Painted Lady in Nefyn, feeding the hens and it flew past me right into my garden, did I move quickly. Taken with a Sony A100- lens 105mm, I am at the learning stage with my new lens.
Shirley
Since this morning when I put the photo up at least 5 more came into the garden, the Honesty flower is not the flower its Susie's favourite Wallflower is the flower of the day. Am I right in thinking that the female is the duller of the two.

I've just spent a couple of hours at Newbury racecourse, and counted 24 Painted Lady flying at speed in a northerly direction!

Cheers,

- Pete