I cant be the only person to notice the vast numbers of Painted Lady butterflies that have arrived into the UK over the past couple of days. The pyracantha in the front of our house is covered with them.
It is remarkable to think that they almost certainly originated from Africa and having hatched only a week or so ago, took flight and headed to our wet and windy shores. One cannot help questioning the sanity of the creatures!
I guess most of us would think of the American Monarch butterfly if we think of migrating butterflies: a truly remarkable story. However, in some ways the Painted Lady has a more arduous journey, as it has to navigate the sea, where it certainly can’t rest. But unlike the Monarch, it is not a regular or predictable flight. Some years we may see comparatively few but in other years huge numbers arrive to feed in my garden and rest on the warm paving slabs.
They will breed and multiply but probably none will survive our winter and so next year there is nothing we can do but wait and see if a favourable wind brings us another influx to brighten our gardens and countryside.
Has anyone else noticed large numbers and if so where do you live? 
by David Boag
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