Showing posts with label Butterflies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Butterflies. Show all posts

Thursday 18 June 2015

Counting Butterflies “Fleeting encounters, lasting memories”

I read the news today - over ten million Painted Lady butterflies are winging their way to the UK. Until the Buddleia starts flowering in my garden I’m happy watching the Speckled Wood as they dart and dance together over the garden before separating and settling momentarily. My first butterfly sighting in January was a Tortoiseshell which I disturbed when cleaning the downstairs loo. It settled on the window sill and remained dormant until late April, which I am sad to say was when it died. To date in my garden or on my walks I have seen ten Speckled Wood, ten White, three Orange Tip, four Common Blue, one Peacock, five Brimstone and a Small Heath plus a Silver Line Moth, Speckled Yellow Moth and finally a huge Drinker Moth caterpillar. When my Buddleia and Hydrangea are in full bloom in July, they are normally covered in Red Admiral, Peacock and Tortoiseshell but I will be watching out for those Painted Ladies and hope for the return of a seldom seen Clouded Yellow or Fritillary. Spotting them is easy, photographing them, however, is quite different. Get too close and your shadow and the lens scares them away, annoyingly not too far away, normally on the next flower. I now use a long lens with an extension tube so they don’t know I’m there. Here is a photo of a Speckled Wood taken a couple of days ago. It rested for quite a time on the fresh new leaves of the Rhododendron, conveniently opening and closing its wings as if posing for the shot. I wish they were all so accommodating. “Fleeting encounters, lasting memories” was just one of the aptly descriptive quotes on a wonderful Radio 4 programme presented by Brett Westwood, who you may have just seen on BBC Springwatch Extra. The programme, Natural Histories, Butterflies, depicts how butterflies have enthralled and influenced people throughout history. 

Speckled Wood Photo Pat Adams (All rights reserved)
Drinker Moth Caterpillar Photo copyright Pat Adams (All rights reserved)
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UPDATE. About 20 Painted Lady butterflies spotted on the Hartland Heritage Coast 21st June 2015