Clouded Yellow butterfly at Claverton, near #Bath #Somerset #UK.
#nature #wildlife #wildlifephotography #naturephotography #ukwildlife #bathnature #ukinsects #pollinator #ukbutterflies #butterfly #butterflies #lepidoptera #cloudedyellow

Just a few days ago, my district announced to "maintain" the FFH territory near my village between October, 2024 and November, 2025, meaning that this already-sparse steppe (which originally used to be a wetland that later got turned into agricultural land and then into an intentionally overgrazed steppe as part of a LIFE+ program to protect "natural steppes") will lose the few species it has begun to host again due to plain negligence once more. This area is being intentionally overgrazed roughly every five years to "preserve rare and protected species", which I personally either have never encountered, seen quite far away from this area only or had to do some research on because they are NOT native to my local environment but Southern Germany or Southern Europe.

I should be glad that I managed to capture this Colias sp., however all fallows, which were hosting hundreds of stinging nettles that got claimed by just as many A. io caterpillars, got cleared, meaning that the second and last batch of A. io and probably some V. atalanta, A. urticae and A. levana got killed in the process, as well. The fallows, which ironically were popular among the now-missing P. bellargus, existed for a few months only.

#lepidoptera #butterfly #cloudedyellow #germany #canoneos700d