Reports in late July 2009 on two of the Wildlife sites I regularly visit online suggest that there is currently a Billion Painted Lady butterflies in Britain at the moment.

I therefore thought I should at least have a reasonable chance of getting a few pictures.
And the results below confirm I managed this.

The number of Painted Lady butterflies in 2009 is nothing short of an invasion.

On Sunday 23rd May, I saw at least 50+ of these migrating through Ryton Butterfly Conservation reserve near Coventry, but none actually stopped flying so no photographs

During 27th - 29th I have seen at least another 100+ per day passing through my Leicestershire garden.  I did manage a few photos but again very few were stopping.

This is also widely reported on the internet including a report from  the BBC.

Since May Painted Ladies have been easy to see and as a result I managed to see and photograph these below in my Leicestershire garden.

All Photos Copyright Nigel Spencer