Tag Archives: Clouded yellow

Late Lepidoptera in East Sussex

28 Wednesday Oct 2026

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Though I thought I would probably see a few Clouded yellows and perhaps a late-migrating Red admiral, I didn’t really expect to see many butterflies during my week in East Sussex, and most of the time the weather was too wild and windy for small invertebrates to be on the wing.

Above, one of several Clouded yellows, and, below, a slightly tatty Red admiral – will it attempt the migration flight or simply fade away in southern Britain?

However, as is often the case, when the sun is shining even the smallest sheltered spot can hold some super surprises. This was one of three Common blues I saw flitting about amongst the low-growing wildflowers between areas of scrub on Beachy Head, most unexpected in such an exposed location.

As well as a few Painted ladies, Speckled woods, and Small whites, I was also delighted to spot a couple of Small copper butterflies, a species I certainly didn’t expect to see again this year.

Probably the biggest surprise, though, was this stunning Humming-bird hawk-moth, flitting about the lovely seaside flower gardens along Eastbourne Promenade, at the western end of the beach. A late autumn delight!

Late Dorset butterflies

04 Sunday Oct 2026

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Only eight species of butterfly were seen in Weymouth and on the Isle of Portland last week, as it’s now late in the year for most butterfly species, and the season for many is already over.

A lovely surprise was this rather faded Wall fluttering along a path at RSPB Lodmoor, likely the same specimen seen two days running. I did spend a morning walking around the disused quarries on Portland, and was told by a chap surveying a transect at Tout Quarry that he’d seen a couple of Wall that morning but I didn’t spot any as I subsequently wandered around the quarry.

Two Small heath in the neighbouring King Barrow Quarry were an unexpected surprise. The Dorset Butterflies website says there are ‘Two broods, the first starting in May and peaking in June, going through into July, and the second emerging in August and going through to September in smaller numbers’, so I was lucky to see these so late in September.

Not surprisingly given what an amazing influx we have seen this year, there were Clouded yellows everywhere, and I couldn’t resist taking even more photographs of these golden beauties. I’m going to have to be ruthless when I go through this year’s photos deleting those I don’t want to keep.

Otherwise, I found the odd Painted lady, quite a lot of Red admirals getting ready to depart on their return migration south to Europe’s warmer wintering grounds, a few late Common blues, some Small whites, and a number of Speckled woods. And I enjoyed seeing each and every one of them, knowing they will soon all be gone for the year.

A summer of Clouded yellows

09 Sunday Aug 2026

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Since I spotted my first Clouded yellow butterfly in mid June I’ve seen many more – more, in fact, than I’ve ever seen before.

During a wander around Cosmeston Lakes Country Park on 19 July I saw 8, and I didn’t walk every possible path so I’m sure there were more than that total.

Five days later, on 24 July, at the same location, I counted 11.

And, during almost every one of my daily walks since then, both at Cosmeston and at other locations, I’ve seen at least 1 Clouded yellow.

Their golden presence in our local fields might well be the only positive thing about this summer of record-breaking temperatures, continuing heatwaves (our fifth of the year is forecast for this coming week), and now, officially, drought conditions.

NFY: Clouded yellow

22 Monday Jun 2026

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Saturday week ago I walked one of my regular circuits, touching the edge of Cardiff Bay near the swimming pool and ice rink, following the riverside Taff Trail a while, then veering inland across a recreation area called The Marl and around the edge of Grangemoor Park. As I walked the path between the pool and the ice rink, something small and light coloured fluttered up from a scruffy area that has been colonised by a colourful mix of wildflowers. A Clouded yellow (Colias croceus)! I don’t usually see these butterflies until much later in the summer so I’m guessing this gorgeous burst of sunshine in insect form was blown north by the heat-wave southerlies during the last week of May. Fortunately for me, the butterfly settled again very quickly and close to the path so I was able to get a few photos.

Y is for Yellow

30 Tuesday Dec 2025

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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

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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

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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!

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Beach butterflies

05 Wednesday Oct 2022

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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

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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

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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.

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