More flying colours

I spoke too soon when I said that we hadn’t seen any Tortoiseshell butterflies at the beginning of August. We are now inundated with them! As soon as we step into the garden clouds of them fly around before landing again, usually on various buddleia or verbena bonariensis.

Brimstones have been much in evidence, before looking at my butterfly book, I hadn’t realised that the females are white.

When the male landed on Crocosmia Lucifer the colour contrast was amazing, but later when it landed among the leaves of a clematis, it was very difficult to distinguish from the surrounding foliage.

Found a Ringlet feeding on Eupatorium purpureum in the vegetable garden

and then suddenly Gatekeepers seem to be everywhere. We also have a very tiny reddish brown butterfly which just will not keep still for a moment. So far I have not been able to photograph it but I think it might be a Small Skipper.

Of course we can’t mention butterflies without including the Cabbage White – loads of these of course everywhere – but still pretty when they are flying above the flowers and not in the vegetable garden!

At last the Holly Blue has stayed still long enough to be photographed and once again , according to my book , this must be a female because of the dark bands on the wings. I will have to keep wandering round the garden, camera in one hand and butterfly book in the other, who knows what I will come across in the future.