As I write this, it feels as if we have been plunged into the depths of winter once more, with cold temperatures and the chill factor of stiff breezes taking us down to around 0°C at night and keeping us in mid-single figures during the day!
We did have some sunny and warm spells around the end of March, and then again in mid-April, but it's all gone to pot since then.
I'm living in hope of a late spring which will instantly transform into an early summer - time will tell! In the meantime I'm hanging onto the memory of the previously mentioned warm spells and wishing I'd paid more attention to the butterflies that showed in our garden at those times. They included Brimstone (male and female), Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Orange Tip (male and female), Green-veined White, and Holly Blue. I only photographed a Brimstone and Orange Tip, and got some poor shots of a Small Tortoiseshell which I won't bother you with here.
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| Brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni) (female) - our garden on 25th March, 2018 |
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| Orange Tip (Anthocharis cardamines) (female) - our garden on 19th April, 2018 |
I'm keeping my fingers crossed for some extended warm sunny weather to re-boot the butterfly season and kick off the dragonfly season in these parts.
UPDATE: Since writing the above, the forecast has improved considerably, with the chance of some warm weather in a couple of days time. We had some sunshine briefly today (2nd May), after a morning of torrential rain, and were visited by a Holly Blue - not good shots as it stayed high up in the ivy and I could not get nearer than about 5 metres to this tiny butterfly.
I'm not sure what my next post will feature but, unless I'm very lucky, it's going to be birds of some description.
UPDATE: Since writing the above, the forecast has improved considerably, with the chance of some warm weather in a couple of days time. We had some sunshine briefly today (2nd May), after a morning of torrential rain, and were visited by a Holly Blue - not good shots as it stayed high up in the ivy and I could not get nearer than about 5 metres to this tiny butterfly.
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| Holly Blue (Celastrina argiolus) (male) - our garden on 2nd May, 2018 |
Thank you for dropping by.
