Thursday 4 June 2015

Orange Tip spotted on Islay!

Yesterday afternoon around 15:15, Alistair was about to go up into the woodland at Port Askaig Brae when he spotted what he first assumed to be the ubiquitous Green-veined White butterfly. However, as luck would have it the small white butterfly landed on a Bramble which gave Alistair the chance of a closer look - and a photo opp - and it turned out to be a male Orange Tip butterfly! Now you might not think this is very exciting, if you're from a place where these lovely butterflies abound, but here on Islay, it is a rarity indeed. Since the first sighting (before 1970), there have been only 15 sightings on Islay, plus 12 on Colonsay and 3 on Jura, but they are slowly getting more regular, with annual sightings since 2010. One was seen on Colonsay on 15th May this year. Here's a photo of the little beauty, and please let us know of any other sightings !

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