Clouded Yellow. Photo: Shona Refoy

Shona has sent us this photo with the following comments:

I was very interested to see George McCabe’s photos of the lovely Clouded Yellow helice form which he saw at Lorton Meadows on 15/09/2020.  I went to Lorton Meadows yesterday 16/092020 on my way back from Portland, and saw a Clouded Yellow, which I presumed to be the same one. 

However, the one I saw was male, and on a hot afternoon was flying rapidly from one flower to the next, with me in (very) hot pursuit, until I lost him among all the yellow flowers in the field! I did manage to snatch a couple of photos, including this action one – he briefly fluttered his wings while nectaring, to show his plain black wing margins.