www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Hi all,

I am a birder first and foremost so I get into butterflies (and dragonflies) keenly each summer but the rarity doldrums have been so profound this summer in Devon that my butterfly passion has blossomed into more or less a prominent hobby for me.

Lately, I seem to be bumping into Clouded Yellows everywhere I go in the Tiverton and Exeter area including two in our garden. All in singles but I have now seen in excess of ten in the last two weeks.

Is there a good immigration going on due to the recent heatwave or am I just more clued up and noticing them?

Regards,
Andrew.

Hi Andrew,
I think it's a good year for migrants - as discussed elsewhere in this forum, there are lots of painted ladies and silver y's about. As for clouded yellows, it's difficult for me to comment because they rarely reach Yorkshire in any numbers. I've only ever seen 2 up here (though I have seen others further south), and they were both in the bumper year of 1983.
Dave.

Must be a good year as I've had one here in mid Cheshire which is normally a complete no fly zone. First one I've seen since I stopped birding (twitching really) in 2002. Used to see them in good numbers on Scilly every October and always in the Cornish valleys when sea watching in September.

I saw two Clouded Yellows today ~2pm at Blackpool airport, while the LDBWS site reports four at Warton Crag yesterday http://www.lancasterbirdwatching.org.uk ... hp?8,10908

Absolutely "loads" down south. I saw 8 in the space of an hour at Old Winchester Hill a few days ago.

Cheers,

- Pete

Went out today to a few spots around the river Exe and kept bumping into them.

Most was seven at Dawlish Warren.

I shall return there very soon as they did not mind me so they should be quite photogenic.

Seems to have been a small influx into the coastal areas up here in the northwest over the weekend. The local birders website today reported 7+ around Middleton / Overton nature reserves, 7 on Warton Crag, 12+ on the north Fylde coast near Pilling/Cockerham while the two I saw at Blackpool airport are still there. Same link as above gives more details. First I've ever seen in the 20+ years since I moved to Lancashire

2 sightings of previously unseen bright yellow butterflies with black markings on wing edges - both on Herefordshire golf courses!

I was on Gilling Down today looking for brown hairstreak and didn't see a single one. But I saw literally dozens of clouded yellows plus several of the helice form that were so pale as to appear white when flying.

A few days ago I was at Branscombe on the south Devon coast for Dingy Skipper, Chalkhill Blue and Wood White.

There were a few Clouded Yellows as expected but a surprise was my first helice form.

Quite chuffed with that.

Had to scramble up a bank to try for pictures and that kept flushing it.

I saw my first Yorkshire clouded yellow for 23 years, and only my third ever, at Burton Leonard Lime Quarries on Sunday. Unfortunately it disappeared before I could get close enough for a photo. It must be a good year if they have penetrated as far north as Yorkshire!

Clouded Yellows have been turning up in NE Scotland (Angus coastline) during the last week.

Im shure we could push it a bit farther north

Speaking of pushing north:
Clouded yellow seen yesterday at Glenstrathfarrar (20 miles north of Inverness) along with several peacocks.
Painted lady seen at Cromarty Firth this morning.

This year seems to be an exceptional one for butterfly numbers and diversity up north.

I found one flying south at Blackpool airport last friday, a couple of weeks after seeing the last one there. It was the middle of the day, and it seemed to be heading south with some urgency. Is there any historic record of a reverse migration southward (as with Red Admirals) when auturm arrives?
Or do they tend to just stay and die?

The local birders in the lancaster/morecambe area are still reporting them on an almost daily basis in ones and twos
jon

I have also seen several Clouded Yellows this year. I was just searching to find out if it was a good year for them, as I don't recall ever seeing one before, but have only been living in South Wales for 2 years.

I saw 2 in late June in Pembrokeshire, and several in the Swansea and Gower area during the last month. I even saw one in my garden a few weeks ago.

They are very active and hard to photograph, and never seem to land with their wings open, I managed to get a reasonable photo of one today.