Tuesday 30 July 2019

A Safari In The Bush

OK, it was a butterfly safari in a Buddleia bush - so no danger of being eaten by lions! Though the Red Admiral at the top of the photo has been badly savaged by a sharp beak and has lost a big chunk of his wing.



I was visiting the RSPB's bird reserve at Sandy in Bedfordshire, though there were precious few birds to be seen; many species hiding away while they moult and grow a new set of feathers.



Strictly speaking Buddleia is an invasive species in the UK though one that many nature reserves tolerate, if not encourage, as it attracts some of our most colourful butterflies. It also often occurs in places where nature is thin on the ground, like abandoned industrial sites and alongside railways, so it's generally a welcome invader.



The beautiful Peacock butterfly was present in large numbers on Monday, taking full advantage of a bright sunny day.



A few Red Admirals also paid a visit to the bush, which incidentally is named in honour of the Rev Adam Buddle, a seventeenth century vicar and naturalist. Though he was actually an expert on liverworts and mosses and never set eyes on the plant that bears his name, as it wasn't imported into Britain till 15 years after his death.



Most years only a few Painted Lady butterflies reach these shores but 2019 seems to be one of those exceptional years when they are frequently seen.



Sometimes butterflies don't play the game and close their wings on landing. Many of the group of butterflies known as "blues" have this sort of pattern on the underwing - there are slight differences which experts can recognise but the rest of us have to wait till the butterfly is good and ready to reveal itself....



There you are it's a Brown Argus! And contrary to all the rules of common-sense this brown butterfly is a "blue" too. But I'll leave you with a simple shot of a bracken shadow on a fallen birch trunk.





Take care.


20 comments:

  1. This is the time of year for butterfly abundance and variety. Our garden has recently been filled with Red Admirals, with lesser numbers of Cabbage White, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Eastern Comma and a couple of diurnal moth species too. We released a Giant Swallowtail we had raised indoors yesterday. It is a spectacular species and in the process of raising it indoors we provide a little natural history education to the two girls next door.

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  2. Amazing patterns on these butterflies.

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  3. Just wow! I love butterflies, too, and now you fill the page with these beauties. The peacock is stunning.
    I noticed the buddleia growing beside the tracks when we traveled from Cambridge to London.

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  4. Nice shots of the butterflies...I love the Peacock! We are seeing a few more now, but still not near as many as last year.

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  5. I love butterflies. My daughter is afraid of them for some strange reason.

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  6. Glad that you captured both side of the "blue" since I usually miss that.

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  7. 38.7C in the Botanical garden last post, phew! I wonder if they lost any plants in that heat? Love the butterfly captures here, the symmetry and pattern colours are so beautiful. I wonder if the heat bothers them?

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  8. P.s. you would hear much more about the green and gold related to cricket than I John.. I find it a little boring 😉

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  9. Lovely photos of the butterflies, I haven't seen so many yet this year, mostly white ones around our garden, we did see a painted lady near the coast a few weeks ago:)

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  10. The butterflies there are so beautiful. I love that peacock butterfly. Have never seen one of those and would love to. Great photos!

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  11. The butterflies are gorgeous with all their different patterns.
    Great photos, John.

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  12. That's my kind of safaris! Great shots of lovely creatures, thanks for sharing!

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  13. These are beautiful macro shots. You must have a steady hand... focus is perfect and sharp! Love the shot of the Peacock butterfly, and wondering if the Red Admiral with the chunk of wing missing is still a good flyer?

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    1. It seemed to fly fine, though most butterflies are erratic flyers to my eye. It certainly had no difficulty finding and alighting on the blooms.

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  14. Wonderful! The Peacock butterfly is a new one to me. I am an amateur when it comes to identifying butterflies. When I see a new one, I have to google "butterfly" and then do some detective work until I come upon a similar one.

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  15. We don’t have peacock butterflies, a new one to me, too. Wonderful photos. Butterflies mostly keep just ahead of me and I’m hurrying along behind, trying to quickly focus the camera before they are up and off again!

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  16. Hi John - love the Brown Argus and then the others ... I gather there are lots of Painted Ladies this year ... just hope they're not blown away in our delightful summer weather ... cheers Hilary

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  17. Lovely photos, especially those last two!

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