Y is for Yellow

30 Tuesday Dec 2025

Tags

Clouded yellow, Colias croceus, female Red-veined darter, immature Red-veined darter, Misumena vatia, Scathophaga stercoraria, Sympetrum fonscolombii, yellow crab spider, Yellow dung fly, yellow insects, yellow-colour wildlife

Yellow is such a cheery hue, the colour of so many beautiful wildflowers but also of many of the small creatures that share our world with us, like …

The migrant Clouded yellow butterfly (Colias croceus), which I was lucky enough to see several times in 2025.

The Yellow dung fly (Scathophaga stercoraria) is one of those flies that seems always to be around, often just sitting on a leaf observing its surroundings and the antics of passing humans.

The crab spider Misumena vatia that can change colour to match the flower upon which it sits … or not.

Named for the colour of the male’s attributes but the female/immature Red-veined darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii) is a glorious golden colour.

I would very much have liked to have been able to include Yellow-browed warbler in this selection of yellow-coloured fauna but I managed not to find the one local visitor, despite three times standing staring at the trees where it was meant to be. Oh well, there’s always next year.

Sunshine in a butterfly

04 Monday Aug 2025

Posted by sconzani in insects

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

British butterflies, butterfly, Clouded yellow, Colias croceus, Dorset butterflies, migrating butterflies, RSPB Lodmoor

I’ve been away for another mini break, staying once again in Weymouth, on Dorset’s south coast, for four nights, spending my three and a half days surrounded by birds and butterflies (also crowds of summertime beach visitors, though, fortunately for me, most of them weren’t in Weymouth for the same kind of wildlife as I was). With cool winds and lengthy spells of drizzle, the weather wasn’t as good as during my visit in early June, but I saw lots of lovely creatures that I will share with you over the coming week.

First up today is the first of four new-for-2025 butterfly species I saw, this gorgeous Clouded yellow (Colias croceus), a butterfly I don’t see in south Wales every year as they’re migrants from Europe and their appearance on our shores depends a lot on weather and wind direction and how their population is faring. This sighting was particularly welcome, as I had spent Tuesday morning wandering around the RSPB’s Radipole reserve in almost constant drizzle, then headed for an afternoon wander around RSPB Lodmoor. This little drop of sunshine fluttered up right in front of me when I got to Lodmoor, a sign of the lovely afternoon to follow.

Clouded yellow incoming

27 Wednesday Sep 2023

Posted by sconzani in nature

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

British butterflies, butterfly, butterfly migration, Clouded yellow

A bit of butterfly magic happened yesterday when I was birding on Cardiff Bay’s Barrage. I’d just managed to get quite close to one of three Wheatears feeding on insects in the grass and had headed back to the path that runs along the top of the Barrage when I noticed something small and very yellow-looking flying in from the sea side of the rocks, across the road and the path I was standing on, then down in to the grassy area I’d just left. I followed it down the slope as quickly as I could, watching to see where it landed. And there it was, sitting quietly as if resting, a Clouded yellow butterfly, only my second of the year and the first I’ve been able to get photographs of. Just brilliant!

230927 clouded yellow

Beach butterflies

05 Wednesday Oct 2022

Posted by sconzani in autumn, insects

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

British butterflies, butterflies at the beach, Clouded yellow, migrant butterfly

I went to Sully beach on Monday specifically to look for the two Grey plovers that have been frequenting the waterline on and off in recent days. (I saw them but too distantly for good photos – I’ll try again when the tide is higher, so may yet post about them.) What I did not expect to see was two – or perhaps, three – Clouded yellows along the beach. I only managed to get photos of two so can’t confirm the third sighting was a different individual – they fly so fast, one could easily have passed me! Doesn’t their amazing yellow pop against the colour of the beach pebbles?

221005 clouded yellow

Three days in a row

15 Monday Aug 2022

Posted by sconzani in insects

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

British butterflies, butterfly, Clouded yellow, migrant butterfly

I couldn’t believe my luck (and wondered whether I should’ve bought a lottery ticket) but, after the first lucky day (Brown argus) and a second lucky day (the Silver-washed fritillary), the very next day my luck was in again. I’d seen Clouded yellow butterflies already in 2022 (one on 16 June; two – probably the first one and a friend – on 17 June; one – probably one of the previous two – on 20 June; all in the same general area) but hadn’t been able to get any reasonable photos. With the new camera, and a slightly more co-operative subject – it stopped a few times to feed, this time I managed to fire off several quick shots. This is the best of them.

220815 clouded yellow

p.s. I wrote this blog a few days ago and, since then, we’ve had an amazing influx of Clouded yellows, with five noted yesterday at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, so here’s another of these beauties.

220815 clouded yellow (2)

282/366 Saffron surprise

08 Thursday Oct 2020

Posted by sconzani in autumn, insects

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

British butterflies, butterfly, Clouded yellow, Colias croceus, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park

After the strong winds and heavy rain of recent days the last thing I expected to see at Cosmeston yesterday was this Clouded yellow butterfly (Colias croceus). I was initially surprised at what good condition it was in but, in his Life Cycles of British & Irish Butterflies, Peter Eeles writes that ‘In good years, this species can produce up to three broods in the south of England, with the third brood emerging in late September and October.’ Presumably, this is also true for south Wales and, as several other butterflies have had additional broods this year, I wonder if this saffron beauty is one of a newly emerged third brood.

201008 clouded yellow

232/366 Third time lucky

19 Wednesday Aug 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

British butterflies, butterfly, Clouded yellow, migrant butterfly

I had hoped the recent combination of southerly winds and heat wave would bring a wave of migrants to our shores and it did. The most exciting for me was the Clouded yellow butterfly. I saw my first on 10 August but, as is often the case with these beauties, their rapid flight can make them difficult to photograph, and this one flew over a fence into a shrubby area, disappearing immediately. My next Clouded yellow sighting came on 16 August, in a different location but with almost the same result – over the fence and gone! I managed to grab a single ‘record’ shot, below.

200819 clouded yellow (1)

Then, last Monday 17 August, I got lucky. I did have to follow this Clouded yellow around a sizeable field, watching intently, not following too closely so as not to spook it, waiting for it to settle but, finally, it paused briefly to feed and I got my photograph. They are such lovely butterflies, so different from anything else in Britain – I just wished they lived among us.

200819 clouded yellow (2)

223/365 Sunshine after rain

11 Sunday Aug 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

British butterflies, butterfly, butterfly migration, Clouded yellow, Cosmeston, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park

For those who don’t live in Britain, we’ve had some wild weather over the past few days, with torrential rain at times and some very high wind gusts. I was starting to go stir crazy so, as soon as it began to clear around midday today, I headed out for a walk.

190811 clouded yellow (1)

I was wondering if I would spot anything unusual the wind had blown in … and I did! This blast of sunshine, a Clouded yellow, an occasional migrant to our shores, was flying around in the east paddock at Cosmeston.

190811 clouded yellow (2)

160/365 Spoilt for choice

09 Sunday Jun 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

#365DaysWild, Black-tailed skimmer, British butterflies, British dragonflies, butterfly, Clouded yellow, Cosmeston, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, dragonfly

I may have got rather wet during my walk around the east and west paddocks at Cosmeston this morning but it was worth it, as I wandered through an abundance of gorgeous orchids and other colourful wildflowers, spied numerous small insects munching on leaves, was charmed by the fluttering butterflies and meandering moths, and entertained by the myriad fledglings flitting through trees and bushes, harassing their parents for food.

190609 Cosmeston wildflowers

I was wondering which of these delights might be today’s blog subject, when I spotted a bright yellow ‘something’ flying across the field in front of me. I quickly followed and, luckily, it settled on the ground so I was able to get photos. It was a Clouded yellow, a butterfly I’ve only seen half a dozen times before, a migrant to Britain which may well have been blown in by yesterday’s wild weather. Blog sorted: ‘On the wings of the storm II’, I thought, and continued my walk.

190609 Clouded yellow

Then, just as I was nearing the top of the east paddock and about to head homewards, I made another chance discovery, a cracking dragonfly, a Black-tailed skimmer, another creature that I don’t see all that often. So, being spoilt for choice today, I thought I would share that with you as well.

190609 Black-tailed skimmer

Friday’s walk 3: a Clouded yellow!

01 Monday Oct 2018

Posted by sconzani in autumn, insects, nature, walks

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

British butterflies, butterflies, butterfly, Clouded yellow, Lavernock Nature Reserve, Wales coastal path walk

Having enjoyed some wonderful bird sightings on Sully beach, I walked on along the Wales coastal path, through Swanbridge and past St Mary’s Well Bay to Lavernock. This lovely nature reserve, perched high on the cliffs above some of south Wales’s most dramatic coastline, is the best place I know to see butterflies over the spring and summer months.

181001 Clouded yellow (1)

However, this was late September and there was a cool wind blowing so, although the Devil’s-bit scabious was still flowering, I didn’t really expect to see many butterflies this day. How wrong I was! Not only did I see three Small coppers, a couple of Red admirals, a Painted lady and a Common blue, as well numerous Small whites and Speckled woods, I was absolutely delighted to spot this glorious Clouded yellow, a butterfly we don’t see very often in this neck of the woods.

181001 Clouded yellow (2)