At Last, a Brimstone

 I've commented before that this wettest of springs has not been kind to the early spring butterflies that spend the winters hibernating as imagos. I've barely seen a comma or small tortoiseshell, only the occasional peacock or red admiral, and brimstones, normally one of my harbringers of spring, have barely been up at all.

I've seen an occasional luminous lemon yellow male or white female fluttering by at a distance, and certainly nowhere near mobile phone camera range.

They normally don't let you get within five metres of them anyway. 

Imagine my surprise then, when at work, I came across a beautiful male calmly feeding off rock cranesbill, and entirely happy to let me get close range photographs. I'm guessing that it was still warming up and getting its energy together. 

So here it is, in its lovely vivid glory, just for you!

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 17.05.24

Gosh, a Brimstone!

 A couple of days ago at work, on a very mild day, I was taking a breaktime stroll when I was surprised - to say the least - to see a familiar bright yellow form fluttering around the bushes.

A male Brimstone, up about five weeks earlier than I've ever seen one before, and in beautiful condition.

I think it had perhaps realised it had awoken rather too early, as it was settling much more than brimstones normally do, and seemed very keen to get back into cover perhaps to go back to sleep. 

Judging by my feeds on Instagram and Threads, I'm far from the only person to have come across one!

Have you seen any butterflies out of bed when they shouldn't be?

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 07.02.24

A Butterfly Kind of Day

 Late afternoon on Monday ended up being a pretty glorious kind of day, and with the buddleia now out in flower around the town, I thought it might be a nice sort of day to go out and look for butterflies. 

It's an odd sort of thing to do in many folk's eyes, but it gets me out of the house, gets me exercising and is of course a boon to my mental health. 

My greatest fear during lockdown was that we wouldn't be allowed out of our houses at all. 

As it happens, I didn't have to go very far to find my first butterfly, as right outside my door in my little yard, a male gatekeeper was feeding very placidly off the ragwort I have allowed to grow (read - can't be bothered to dig up) and is actually a more attractive source of pollen than the flowers I've tried to grow myself in various pots and planters. 

So, after managing to get a photo or two of this unusually co-operative gatekeeper, it was off for a walk to Cottage Lane Nature Reserve, taking in the various big buddleias I could remember on the way. Nothing on the one by Mill Lane Bridge, but the one down the side of the secure mental health unit was covered in butterflies.

There was even a rather tired looking brimstone feeding, and to catch one of those motionless is a real event, let alone get a photo of one. There was a really nice comma too, kindly showing off its, er, comma.

The cherry on the cake - mating ringlets in Cottage Lane reserve itself!

A very worthwhile walk indeed!

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 05.07.22