CLOUDED YELLOWS AT CHIMNEY MEADOWS

Having completed my butterfly tally for the year I hadn't looked at the local butterfly conservation sightings for a while, so when I casually checked the Upper Thames group website,  I was amazed to read that 10 days ago, up to 100 clouded yellows had been seen at a nature reserve in Oxfordshire! Several days later, numbers had reduced (20+) but whilst chiding myself for not checking sooner I reckoned there might be a chance of finding one of two still around now.  However with weather for Saturday not looking good I quickly realised that today might be the only opportunity. The sun was forecast to appear late afternoon with temperatures around 20 degrees, which was just as well as I was on a school trip till 2pm. So on my return I drove the half hour trip over to Chimney meadows, which I've visited only once before ( and incidentally saw my first water rail there) .

By the time I arrived, it was almost 3 o'clock; the sun had started to appear through the clouds and as I walked along the edge of a field to the reserve, I  straightaway found a couple of small coppers  and common blues.  Could some clouded yellows still be around too?  Then whilst crossing a meadow on the reserve itself, I suddenly saw my first one, flying fast over the grasses, into the distance. Then another, zig zagging quite low, occasionally looking if it was about to settle, then off it would go again.Eventually one settled long enough for me to approach it and grab a couple of photos.  The sun was intermittent, but each time it shone through a hole in the clouds, one or two of these bright golden butterflies seemed to appear from nowhere, fly around for a while and then disappear into the distance.  

By now the  sun had disappeared and with the time approaching four o'clock I decided that  I was unlikely  to have many more sightings so returned to the car, happy to have at least one photograph at last!

clouded yellow

 a brightly coloured small copper