This morning's walk.
East Anglian clouds:
And a gatekeeper butterfly, staying still for a second or so with its wing open:
The gatekeeper is surprisingly common right now. It's even in my back garden. But this one was near the River Cam, where I often am on a weekend morning.
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We’ve also had quite a few unusual sightings of gatekeepers in our Worcestershire garden and many bright fresh specimens in the hedgerows. Sudden appearance of numbers of peacocks on the buddleia today to join the red admirals, commas and whites. Gone from hardly any to an abundance in the last few days – much needed uplifting sight!
There is definitely a flush of butterflies right now.
I always knew this butterfly as a Hedge Brown, Richard, but Gatekeeper it is. We’ve had a male and female fluttering around our garden for a couple of days now. And you’re right about a flush of butterflies just now. I was out walking the Trent from Fiskerton with a friend last Wednesday (when it actually didn’t rain until after 4pm!!) and we saw Red Admiral, Peacock, Painted Lady, and Tortoiseshell – as well as assorted Whites – mainly on the many thistles that are flowering at this time of year.Good to see, as a month ago there were very few and we were worried.
It seems a wet July has worked for butterflies.
I wonder why?, but I am pleased.
I have four gatekeepers in my back garden this summer. They spend their time fluttering around the marjoram/oregano (apparently their favourite food), which I’ve left to spread and more or less grow wild.
A little wildness helps a lot, it seems.
Went for a walk this morning along the River Wear to the East of Durham City.
Had lunch sitting under a pear tree in Old Durham Gardens while watching a comma butterfly in the apple tree opposite. It was there for at least ten minutes. I was surprised as I didn’t think it would be able to get much food out of a hard apple, but obviously it stayed that long for a reason. Maybe it had just come out of its pupa and was spreading its wings to dry.
It’s a lovely butterfly too.
Any number of gatekeepers in my inner London garden at the moment.
Good news
Stunning. I can only guess the gift to the spirits of being there.
Incalculable.
The Gatekeeper Butterfly was to be seen in large numbers during our woodland walk near Iken in Suffolk yesterday. Wonderful sight.
Excellent. It doesn’t stand out, but always good to see. Ikon is beautiful too.
A little bit of haiku to help narrate your lovely photos:
Gatekeeper flutters by,
Nature’s guardian up high,
Wings brush summer sky.
I like it
Thank you
Anyone else doing the big butterfly count?
Butterfly conservation want to know how many you see of about twenty different varieties. It goes on until 6th August.
Best one I’ve seen so far in my garden is a hummingbird hawkmoth, but they don’t have those in the butterfly count. Apparently there was a ten-fold increase of sightings last year compared to the year before.
I was unaware of it…..
I will look it up
You will definitely know a hummingbird hawkmoth when you see one! They are absolutely amazing. They particularly like valerian and buddleia, and here in Wales we’ve seen them on red campion too. We don’t see them every year, it’s always a red letter day when we do!
We finally made it to our caravan in Bwlchtocyn (near Abersoch) last Monday evening. Tuesday I saw more butterflies here than the whole of last summer! A peacock, a pair of red admirals dancing around each other over the hawthorn tree, and both large and small whites. Also several small brown ones I couldn’t get close enough to identify and some orange ones that also couldn’t identify. The rain is just starting now, so I think I’ll leave doing the Butterfly Count until tomorrow. I’m really thrilled we’re seeing so many butterflies after the poor numbers last year.
Ivan Horrocks, I’m envying you your sight of a painted lady. Haven’t seen one for ages. But do have wonderful memories of a year when we had an absolute plague of them here! We couldn’t walk along the patio by the caravan without bumping into them there were so many!
Have fun
I haven’t been to Bwlchtocyn since last November – the whole peninsula is beautiful
Saw eight species last year in Ladywell Cemetery, but that site has been bagged this year so I did it in my own garden. Just gatekeeper, holly blue, meadow brown and large whites. Broad bodied chaser dragonfly over my pond though, which is a first, so time well spent.
I have not got my head around dragonflies as yet, although I really should
Gatekeeper is the second highest counted butterfly on Butterfly Conservation’s Big Butterfly Count this year after the Red Admiral. I’ve only seen one in my garden. Must be too cold up here for them. However, I have seen a painted lady this year. I remember the year of the great influx. They come over from the continent, like hummingbird hawkmoths do.
Another interesting fact, moths beat bees as efficient pollinators, but they need brambles. I’ll have to stop pulling mine out!
I don’t like brambles, like most gardeners, but tolerate some 9n one edge of the garden and our beige our hood has loads 8n hedges, which must help. What surprises me is how very few people pick them. We do. Great in crumbles.