You perhaps wouldn’t associate a coastal environment with these pretty insects. But beautiful butterfly sightings are something to keep your eye out for – even along the coast.
It’s not unusual to get unusual wildlife here on the Fylde Coast. Right on the edge of the shore we do tend to catch off-route migrating birds and insects.
One year literally hundreds of Red Admiral butterflies appeared, just over a few short weeks.
Beautiful Butterfly Sightings
Some time ago we received an email from an excited Visit Fylde Coast reader. They said: “I saw something today that blew my socks off. I was on the number 9 bus near Anchorsholme Pond heading for Blackpool. If I saw what I think I saw, I saw the most amazing yellow and black butterfly, some four times the size of a normal butterfly. On looking online it was most likely a tiger swallowtail. These are rare and usually only found in Norfolk.”
On this unusual sighting we sought the advice of David McGrath, Sustainability Manager with Blackpool Council. He told us:
“Yes swallowtails are rare and ‘normally’ only found in a few locations in East Anglia. BUT there was a small invasion of the much brighter continental subspecies all along the south coast. They bred and their offspring will have been hatching a couple of weeks before.
“Springwatch were following the progress of some pupae but they didn’t hatch until after the series ended. There’s a strong possibility it was one of these, making its way northwards on the fine weather.
“The British subspecies used to be more widespread. But draining the fens for agriculture meant its host plant, milk parsley, became very rare. The continental version has a much wider diet and its caterpillars will thrive on widespread plants such as wild carrot, fennel and other common umbelliferous plants. We do have them growing in our coastal atmosphere.
“There’s also the possibility it might have been an escape from a collection of a similar species from elsewhere in the world. Or a large moth – a few day-flying ones would show yellow – but I doubt any are as big as a swallowtail butterfly.
It’s a real coup to see one this far north. You might be interested to have a look at this link for more information.
You might also be interested in…
- Bats – be quick and you might spot one!
- How to save a bees life
- Goldfinches – the Fylde Coast clowns
- Seagulls – the marmite of sea birds!
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