Painted lady at The Mushroom Shelter We shared out viewpoint with painted ladies. Delightful to see the butterflies but why they were drawn to the Mushroom Shelter on Scout Scar at the approach of sunset?
During the day, temperatures had climbed to 30 degrees. By 8.00 pm the sun was low in a cloudless sky and a raking light pierced flowers of wood sage and yellow lady's bedstraw, Floral motifs of limestone grassland in late June. Thistles were coming into flower, a source of nectar for painted ladies and a food plant for its caterpillars, and knapweed which is a little later. But the ground around the Mushroom Shelter is bare of flowers so what was the attraction?
During the day, temperatures had climbed to 30 degrees. By 8.00 pm the sun was low in a cloudless sky and a raking light pierced flowers of wood sage and yellow lady's bedstraw, Floral motifs of limestone grassland in late June. Thistles were coming into flower, a source of nectar for painted ladies and a food plant for its caterpillars, and knapweed which is a little later. But the ground around the Mushroom Shelter is bare of flowers so what was the attraction?
My friend Monica and I reached the Mushroom Shelter at about 8.30 pm and sat contemplating the scene. The Langdale Pikes showed hazily to the west. The low sun picked out familiar contours in sunlight and shadow, rendering unfamiliar the Lyth Valley directly below. A flutter of wings and a butterfly circled our stone seat and settled on the ground, on sunlit stones at our feet, a painted lady. We sat contemplative, puzzling over the butterflies. I remembered The Great Butterfly Adventure, Africa to Britain with the Painted Lady, presented by Martha Kearney. I knew of their amazing migration, how they sometimes came in clouds and through the clouds, flying unseen at 3,000 feet. And that weather systems determine their destination on a particular summer. We could not tell how many butterflies we saw this evening. Several, or the same butterfly irresistibly drawn to the sunlit stone.
Having fed on nectar during the day their behaviour changes toward sunset. Painted ladies seek sunlit earth or bare rock, they alight and spread their wings to absorb the heat. That is just what my photographs show.
With the setting sun dropping behind the Langdale Pikes we left the Mushroom Shelter and headed home. A peachy moon was rising as the sun was setting.
Having fed on nectar during the day their behaviour changes toward sunset. Painted ladies seek sunlit earth or bare rock, they alight and spread their wings to absorb the heat. That is just what my photographs show.
With the setting sun dropping behind the Langdale Pikes we left the Mushroom Shelter and headed home. A peachy moon was rising as the sun was setting.
Rarely is summer so overpowering that we choose an evening walk, solely to avoid the heat of the day. The last time Monica and I came here on sunset watch was, I think, in 2014. On that occasion the highlights were the striking patterns of alto-cumulus cloud and the screeching of swifts around the Mushroom Shelter. You may find it at the conclusion of a chapter called Wings, in Cumbrian Contrasts. page 62.
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