I’m a little late, but it’s better than never!
On Saturday I noticed something fluttering around the garden...
Goodie! Thinks I.
Grab my camera and set off on the hunt:
Now, what's this I spy??
I ended up crawling along on my belly so not to scare it away, sadly it wasn't in the best of places with grass covering much of it.
Whilst waiting for the Small Tortoiseshell to move to a better position I also saw a Skipper land on the grass, I got up to attempt to also stalk it but it flew away :(
However I did spot this Speckled Wood feeding on Cotoneaster flowers... I didn't attempt to stalk this one though.
Thankfully it decided to sunbathe on the wall instead
They seem to like the perennial Wallflower
Anyway, I was out earlier and decided to take some photos, I was wandering around the garden and took some shots of a new Rose I recently planted as the blooms are slowly beginning to open... I bent over and came face to face with another small Tortoiseshell! I swear, I almost head-butted it. I hadn't even noticed it and no need for the stalking as it sat there sunbathing!
I think it's a different one as the wings are ragged and the colours aren't as bright.
Butterfly tooshie!
And here’s a close-up of the colour on the wings… It looks like it’s almost made from scales.
8 comments:
Great photos again Liz. At least you are seeing some butterflies, they are nowhere to be found here!!
Hi Jan,
It's really strange isn't it that the flutters seem to have disappeared?! We had a good start earlier in the year and then nothing for a month or so and now the Torts have arrived and I'm glad to see a Skipper again, hopefully I'll also get the Small Coppers.
Oh, I took some Bullfinch photos for you; they aren't very good though as I had my macro lens on and they're too far away for detailed images, but they will do as a record shot.
Hi Liz,
Glad the butterflies are back in your garden. Somehow I knew they would return, to visit your pretty flowers:)
It is sad that so many of them are in decline. I have ivy growing up the old oaks here, so they have plenty of places to hibernate. I also grow hosts plants....including nettle and hops.
I've not seen very many butterflies in my garden yet this year and we usually have loads of them .....not that I could photograph them though! :P
Hi Cheryl,
I'm still hopeful that my Gatekeepers will return; they may not be the most exciting but I do enjoy watching them chase each other and flit around the garden. They're often the easiest to stalk and seem very tame.
We don't have any Ivy here, however my neighbour has it growing through the back of his garden and it's now beginning to come into mine. I'm a bit torn between allowing it to grow or trying to contain it. Of course I realise how valuable it is to wildlife, but I also know how difficult it can be to contain... However since it's growing through the hedge there's no way I can stop it, as it'll go through the garden behind me too so I might as well let it grow but just make sure it doesn't take over - at least not on my side anyway.
Yeah I have nettle popping up here too, although it isn't stinging nettle, so I don't think the flutters will like it; I have left it though as it's so good for composting.
Hi Liz,
It's so weird that there are so few flutters, especially considering the dry and sunny weather we had and even now it's been generally nice most days with the odd few horrible days thrown in. So you'd think the flutters would be everywhere!
Lol, I'm sure you could stalk them too, just need to be careful and imagine you're a cat stalking its pray - move slowly, low to the ground and move only when a breeze picks up so to muffle noise and they're less likely to notice you moving because everything else is moving at the same time.
I love how close you were able to get to these butterflies. More often than not my stalking of butterflies results in a distance blurry photo, and me tripping over something in the garden as I wasn't looking where I was going! Your shots are great though. I love the textures in some the shots!
Hi Cv,
Lol, I am sure you will manage to get a photo of the Butterflies soon... You just need to keep low, so not to scare them.. Move slowly and I often only move when a breeze picks up so they don't tend to notice you so much because everything else is moving. Although saying that, the second one didn't seem bothered by my presence in the slightest, especially since I almost hit it with my head!
Post a Comment