The results were patchy. The only butterfly happy to stay still for a moment or two was the lovely Peacock Inachis io. According to my Collins Complete Irish Wildlife these are common in Ireland but not in the North. This information must be out of date as they were very plentiful in our garden today.
Peacock feeding on hyssop
A pair of Peacocks on marjoram
Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell Nymphalis articae on buddleia
Red Admiral on hydrangea
The whites confuse me some. I think this may be the Large White Pieris brassicae feeding on hyssop.
This one sunbathing on hydrangea is probably the Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria. We see them for most of the summer especially in the unmown part of the garden.
And this is why we like to leave a good part of our place wild and unshorn, for the immense pleasure of seeing butterflies, moths and other flying insects. I only wish there were more of them.
Postscript
After completing my post I popped over to Ganching's place to find that she has been posting pictures of flying creatures too. Jersey Tigers! I'm jealous.
I am definitely not a girl of the Limberlost as I omitted to say that although, the Jersey Tigers are active during the day.
ReplyDeleteI love watching and trying the take pictures of the butterflies but u'know never see the ones that were so common when we were children. The Orange Tips and the common blue. The former were often spotted around our place and we saw the blues in Paddy's Field.
ReplyDeleteThey are just so beautiful. All that wonderful color too.
ReplyDeleteA great pleasure for us in late summer. I think of them as flying flowers.
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