The Painted Lady, Vanessa cardui

The Painted Lady is an immigrant species which may arrive in great numbers in some years or not at all. 2009 was an extremely good year and they were seen all over Great Yeldham. An especially good spot was the high bank on the Ridgewell Road, opposite to Mann's Cross where they took nectar from the numerous thistles and knapweed plants. The fresh-looking individuals seen in late July onwards may well be from a brood produced by the earlier wave of new arrivals. The larval food plants include thistles and nettles. They are unable to survive the winter in this country, but adults present in the autumn emmigrate southwards, back to north Africa.

In July Painted Ladies can be attracted to the sweet scented flowers of garden Privet. Privet flowers on old growth, so do not plant it for the butterflies where it needs to be regularly trimmed.

Weather notes:
2011. July - early August very wet.
2012. April - mid July very wet. August to mid September dry.
2013. Winter wet, March and early April, very cold. The rest of the spring was mostly cold. July, mostly very warm. August, warm.
2014. Winter very wet, mild. Spring was early, colder in mid April. Summer to early August, warm without a drought.
2015. Winter normal, March, April - May mostly cold. Sallow flowers opened on March 28 - 29th. Summer, fairly normal.
2016. Winter normal. Sallow flowers opened on April 2 - 3rd. Spring mostly cool and breezy. For a few weeks in late spring there was heavy rainfall and saturated soil and vegetation. Late summer with hot, dry periods.
2017. Winter mildish, hardly any frost. Sallow flowers opened on March 14 - 15th. Warm spells in March. April mostly dry and chilly. First Creeping Thistle flowers open on June 13th, followed by about 7 days of heat wave. Early July was very warm, excellent for counting butterflies. Late summer, autumn normal.
2018. Winter normal with a few days of settled snow. Sallow flowers open on March 26th. March, April mostly cold and wet, May warm. June 11, Bramble flowers opening to greet first Large Skippers. Mid June to early August, very hot and dry. Autumn mostly dry.
2019. Winter normal. Hardly any frost. Sallow flowers seen on March 10th. Spring mostly cool apart from Easter heatwave. May 31, Bramble flowers starting to open. June 1, Buckthorn in full bloom. Dryish summer with some heatwaves.
2020. Mildish winter. Sallow flowers open March 10th. Spring mostly cool. Several warm days in early April and through May. May 28 Bramble flowers opening. Record dry May. June nectar sources mostly Buttercups in the unmown paths, and Brambles.
2021.Winter normal. Very wet, early spring then cold. Sallow flowers opened on March 23rd. Summer with a few hot spells and moderate rain.
2022. Winter, normal. Sallow flowers open on March 18th. Bramble flowers open May 28. Summer, mostly very dry with long hot spells.
2023. Winter normal, some frost. Feb very dry, March very wet. Sallow flowers open on March 21st. Cold wet spring followed by hottest May on record, warm June and wet July. Autumn, mild and wet.
2024. Winter mild and wet. Feb very wet. Sallow flowers open on March 13th.

Personal sightings:

Late July 2009. Many seen at Mann's Cross, Great Yeldham.
25 June 2013. 1 at Fleam Dyke.
27 and 28 July 2013. 1 at Roseland House on the same Thistle patch on each day, looked like the same one.
Aug 2013, at Roseland House: Aug 2nd, 1; Aug 3rd, 2; Aug 5th, 1.
July 2014, one each at Roseland House, July 8th, 25th; Gt. Yeldham Sports Ground, July 15th; Gosfield near the airfield, July 18th.
2015. At Roseland House a single sighting in mid June, then frequent sightings from mid July to 17 August of 1 to 4 Ladies per day.
7 July 2016. 2 in Little Maplestead, 1 by the Halstead Pumping Station.
2016. Many Painted Ladies arrived on the paddock at Roseland House. 43 were present on one day in August, almost entirely on Creeping Thistle.