About this episode

Chris Skinner discusses the influx of Painted Lady butterflies at High Ash Farm due to extreme heat and nectar shortages in southern Europe.

Send us Fan Mail On a breezy, sunny late-May morning at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner rejoices in an extraordinary influx of Painted Lady butterflies drawn to the pyracantha (firethorn) bushes around his house. He explains this “eruption” — a mass arrival from southern Europe fleeing extreme heat and nectar shortages — turning the thorny evergreens into a fluttering feast for these powerful migrants. The pair also enjoy green hairstreaks dancing along the long new hedgerow, their iridescent gr...

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