A Clouded Yellow on the horizon

AMONG the unusual visitors brought by fine weather to our shores is the Clouded Yellow butterfly.

It has been spotted in West Cork.

This immigrant originates in north Africa and southern Europe and is seen more frequently in south-east England than in Ireland. Biologist Kevin Corcoran, of the West Cork Ecology Centre, Macroom, has recorded the butterfly in the past week in an area stretching westwards from the Old Head of Kinsale to Courtmacsherry.