Adey Baker
Member
Living in the middle of England, well away from the coast, Clouded Yellow butterflies are not as common here as we might like - we usually have to wait for a 'Clouded Yellow Year.'
And yet...
In 2000 I had several sightings culminating in a mating pair on September 9th of that year. All these instances were at my local site of Burbage Common, Leicestershire.
I heard rumours of sightings over the next couple of years, without seeing any myself.
Last year, on August 4th I found another, in my gallery at: http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery/showphoto.php/photo/8792/sort/1/cat/500/page/4
Again, this was in exactly the same area on Burbage Common, where an area of flowers of many species, but mainly Knapweeds, is left late before mowing.
Having found the first Emerald Damselfly for the site on a nearby pool yesterday it was asking too much to strike lucky again today, surely...
Well, imagine my surprise when I saw two Clouded Yellows in the same area again!
These Knapweeds certainly attract those other migrants, Painted Lady butterflies and Silver-Y moths in good numbers but I'm amazed that Clouded Yellows find them so regularly.
They were very flighty (possibly recently-arrived), with one in particular ranging over a wide area, so getting a good shot wasn't as easy as last year's bird, which was a right little poser!
This was the best that I could do this time:
And yet...
In 2000 I had several sightings culminating in a mating pair on September 9th of that year. All these instances were at my local site of Burbage Common, Leicestershire.
I heard rumours of sightings over the next couple of years, without seeing any myself.
Last year, on August 4th I found another, in my gallery at: http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery/showphoto.php/photo/8792/sort/1/cat/500/page/4
Again, this was in exactly the same area on Burbage Common, where an area of flowers of many species, but mainly Knapweeds, is left late before mowing.
Having found the first Emerald Damselfly for the site on a nearby pool yesterday it was asking too much to strike lucky again today, surely...
Well, imagine my surprise when I saw two Clouded Yellows in the same area again!
These Knapweeds certainly attract those other migrants, Painted Lady butterflies and Silver-Y moths in good numbers but I'm amazed that Clouded Yellows find them so regularly.
They were very flighty (possibly recently-arrived), with one in particular ranging over a wide area, so getting a good shot wasn't as easy as last year's bird, which was a right little poser!
This was the best that I could do this time: