Fresh Painted ladies

It has been almost four years that I haven't seen a Painted Lady, but today I had a nice surprise when I spotted one, high on the buddleia, amongst the dozen or so Peacocks that are so abundant these days. Painted Ladies are warmth-loving butterflies, unable to survive our winters, so before the cold sets in, they will migrate to the Mediterranean. This generation is the offspring of the butterflies that migrated to the UK in the spring, from southern countries, as far as Morocco. They arrived, mated, laid eggs, and the caterpillars fed on thistles, with the new generation being the fresh painted Ladies that will migrate south. Painted Ladies have mass migration years, in which they are much more numerous than usual, and these years appear to coincide with warm summers when Hummingbird Hawkmoths and Silver Y moths also migrate in large numbers to the UK. The last mass migration year was in 2009.
 If you see Painted Ladies, you can contribute to the research into their migrations reporting your sighting to Butterfly Conservation Migrant Watch Survey.
  See previous posts on Painted Ladies in BugBlog.

The intricate patterns of the underwing of Painted Lady

.

Be quiet to get close to feeding Silver Ys

A still, balmy night, there are many Silver Y moths feeding on the garden flowers: lavender, perennial peas and buddleia. I always have trouble taking photos of the Silver Ys, they are so flighty! A step forward and they all disperse. A typical shot when I am outside is like the one above. My best shots have always been from behind the conservatory window. Today I understood why. If found out that you want to get close to these moths you need to be quiet. Why did this surprise me? I knew moths are able to hear bat ultrasounds and respond with erratic flight and even dropping to the ground, I even wrote a post about it. But there is nothing like first hand experience for learning. I tried to take shots from the cloud of silver Ys feeding in the buddleia tonight, they were visible in the dusk light as hovering silouettes by the profile of the large flowers. And then, as I approached, camera pointing up and triying to decide which one to shoot, I stepped on a crunchy leave inadvertently. The whole cloud of moths responded instantly by flying in different directions: of course they can hear! Many sounds we make while moving about are actually ultrasounds (click your fingers near a bat detector to test this). I bet walking on my pebbly path does this too, and this was what was keeping them away. I moved slowly, placing each foot carefully and slowly on the ground. Stood next to the buddleia and waited until the silver Ys came back and resumed their feeding. And this time managed some outdoor clear shots.

Nymphalid riot

The buddleias are now in full bloom in the garden, and buzzing with bumblebees, droneflies and butterflies. Today it was a particularly wonderful day for butterflies. Eight species were feeding, or passing by the garden, but the 5 Peacocks on one buddleia at the same time must have been a first. A Comma and a Small Tortoiseshell accompanied them at some point. A Speckled Wood fluttered by the garden, not settling long enough for a photo. The three common white species were about, some egg laying and a darting skipper - which didn't settle either made an appearance too.
 The Peacocks spend most of the time feeding on the buddleias, occasionally settling on the wall or the ground for a spot of sunbathing. The Small Tortoiseshell sat on top of the fence, allowing me to take a photo of it at an unusual angle.
A great day for a Big Butterfly Count too.

Peacock underside, such an amazing contrast between the brightly coloured upper wing colours.

Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell together

Two of the five Peacocks feeding on the buddleia

Large white

Small White

Sunbathing on the ground

Comma, showing the paler underside of the summer generation

Comma