Friday 15 July 2011

Butterfly bush









There can be no finer sight on a lovely summers day than a Buddleia laden with butterflies. Unfortunately, this sight is getting less common as the years go by. Thankfully, however two species that still seem to be fairly common are the Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) and the Peacock (Inachis io) and are both pictured above.

The Red Admiral is a familiar garden butterfly, but it is an immigrant whose numbers depend on migration from North Africa and southern Europe. In recent years there have been reports of Red Admirals in December and January, suggesting that some overwinter in this country. The major influx of this butterfly occurs in late May and June, with migrants, that have already mated, spreading northwards, with others appearing in August and lasting until November. From mid-August these butterflies begin to move south to re-migrate to the continent. Sometimes, large numbers can be seen gathering along the south coast, before heading across the Channel. Purple buddleias, sedums and Asters are often visited in gardens and in the autumn the flowers of ivy and rotting fruit are the favoured food.

The freshly emerged Peacock is a stunning butterfly and can be seen in this country for most of the year, with hibernating individuals emerging on sunny days in February or March. The offspring of these butterflies emerge in July, when this beauty is at its most common. When alarmed, the Peacock flashes its eye spots and produces a hissing sound by rubbing its wings together.

All the photo`s were taken using my hand held Canon Powershot A640.

For those people who are interested, the Big butterfly count starts tomorrow (16th July) and lasts until 31st July. This is an event organised by the Butterfly Conservation in order to gauge the health of our environment. The numbers of butterflies has a direct link to the health of our countryside and the disappearance of our butterflies has an alarming link to the state of our environment. Click here to find out how you can get involved.

12 comments:

  1. Lovely images John. I can never walk by a Peacock butterfly without taking a photo of it. Amazing colours.

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  2. You are going to town with the butterflies. Just beautiful. That red admiral is just gorgeous. May the count go well!

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  3. That first one is just gorgeous! Such bright colors.

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  4. Hi John. We have a large Buddleia which I cut back severely every year but it returns like triffid! I must pay more attention and look for the butterflies around it. I can't remember the last time I saw a red admiral. Your first picture is superb!
    Click here for Bazza’s Blog ‘To Discover Ice’

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  5. Great, those butterflies are tremendous, well photographed.

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  6. Hi Roy,
    Thankyou, yes the Peacock butterfly is a stunner! It is the first butterfly I can remember identifying as a kid, even back then it had something special!
    J

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  7. Hi Susan,
    When birds are thin on the ground I try and get my `fix` of nature with the insects that are present, butterflies being the obvious choice!
    You only have to find a spare 15 minutes in the whole two weeks to do the count, hopefully we will have at least 15 minutes of sunshine in the fortnight! ;)
    J

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  8. Hi Sally,
    Thankyou, I am quite pleased with the first image!
    J

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  9. Hi Bazza,
    The Buddleia is a special plant that attracts lots of butterflies and also bees and other insects. The harder you cut it back, the better it grows next year! I have cut one down to ground level once and it came back better than ever, full of flowers!
    J

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  10. I just stumbled across your blog and have enjoyed seeing the different wildlife you have in your part of the world. I do a lot of butterfly and dragonfly photography here in the States, so I appreciate your butterfly photos. We usually have tons of Red Admirals her in Michigan, but this year they are few and far between, as well as every other species of butterfly. I think our really cool, wet spring and a dry, extremely hot summer has caused some problems.

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  11. Hi David,
    Many thanks for `stumbling` this way ;)! It has been a poor year for butterflies as a whole in the U.K. so far, my friends and I are often commenting on how few butterflies we have seen! We had a lovely warm Spring and there was a bit of activity, but the summer has been cool and wet, which has reduced the numbers somewhat. Hopefully things will improve next year.
    Thanks for the `Follow`.
    J

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