I spotted the most incredible butterfly flitting around my garden the other day, but I’m totally stumped on what kind it is. I’ve been flipping through my butterfly books and browsing online for ages, but no luck!
Here’s what I saw:
It was a real stunner, with a wingspan of about 2 inches.
The wings were a brilliant orange, splashed with black markings.
They weren’t pointy wings, more like soft curves with delicate edges.
It seemed right at home in my flower-filled garden.
Emma Wilson did not say where the photographs were taken. Obviously not the ‘Shutterstock’ image posted.
Monarchs have very occasionally been seen in #Brighton. The Pavilion Garden had a sighting which made the local paper! Most likely a local release rather than a wild adult blown seriously off course.
I’ve read that monarchs are present in Spain, and individuals from that population occasionally turn up in Britain. But we have no indication where in the world her garden is. Since it isn’t her picture we also have no guarantee that it’s the same species as she is asking about.
That is what I suspect too, the question is why and who/what put it on. Note spammers are tending to target the forum more than the main site for some reason.
If one bends over backwards in assuming good faith one could just about imagine someone who only managed to take some bad photographs thinking that substituting a better photograph off the web is a good idea. But it is stretching Hanlon’s Razor. I was in two minds as to whether to just flag it.
