So far this season I’ve spotted a Speckled Wood, a Painted Lady, a Red Admiral and a Green-veined White. I am also pretty sure I’ve seen both Small White and Large White flying about, although neither landed or stayed long enough to properly take my attention. Even so, it is encouraging to see such a mix appearing as the warmer weather settles in.
Yesterday, a Facebook memory from 2019 popped up reminding me of the great Painted Lady invasion that year. It set me thinking: are we due another?
And would you believe it — when I went outside to check on the planters in the gusty warm wind, what should flutter by but a Painted Lady.
It did not stay long. The air was blowing everything about, and the butterfly was soon carried on its way, but it felt almost prophetic to see one just after being reminded of that remarkable year.
The Painted Lady is not only a beautiful butterfly, with its orange, black and white patterned wings, but also one of our most astonishing seasonal visitors. Unlike many butterflies we see in the garden, it is a long-distance migrant, travelling northwards through Europe in successive generations. In good years, large numbers reach the UK, sometimes creating the impression of a sudden “invasion” as they appear in gardens, allotments, parks and flowery verges.
They are definitely one to look out for in the coming weeks, especially around nectar-rich flowers such as buddleia, lavender, thistles, knapweed, marjoram, verbena, calendula and other open, sunny blooms.
The little white butterflies are easy to overlook, but they are worth a second glance. The one I managed to photograph is almost certainly a Green-veined White, with the smoky grey-green veining that gives it its name. At first glance these little whites are easy to dismiss as “cabbage whites”, but not every white butterfly is simply a brassica pest. Some are far more interested in wild brassicas and wayside plants than in our crops.
I haven’t noticed any Orange-tips this year, though that may say as much about the weather and my own timing as about whether they were here. The males are unmistakable when seen well, with those bright orange tips to the forewings, but the females can easily be mistaken for one of the other whites unless they settle and show the green-marbled underwing.
I am also still waiting for one of the yellow butterflies. A Brimstone would be lovely to see, with its pale yellow-green, leaf-shaped wings, and a Clouded Yellow would be even more of a treat — a migrant surprise flashing through the garden on a warm day.
So keep an eye on the planters, the allotment paths and any sheltered sunny corners. A Painted Lady may not hang about for long, especially on a blustery day, but it is always worth stopping for. The garden is becoming its own little butterfly watch, one flutterby at a time.