The Red Admiral Again

I finally managed to get closer to the Red Admiral (Vanessa Atalanta). This is a butterfly I don’t think I ever saw (noticed) until last summer, and it has been difficult getting close enough to it to get a good macro picture of it with its wings spread.

The wing span is 45-50 mm. The species is resident only in warmer areas, but migrates north in spring, and sometimes again in autumn. The caterpillar feeds on nettles, and the adult drinks from flowering plants like the Buddleja and overripe fruit. In northern Europe, it is one of the last butterflies to be seen before winter sets in. (Wikipedia)

Following the link to Buddleja, I also learned the name of those flowers in the park. It includes roughly 100 species. The generic name honours Reverend Adam Buddle (1662–1715), who was a botanist and a rector in Essex, England. Several species are popular garden plants. They are commonly known as butterfly bush due to their attractiveness to butterflies; they are also attractive to bees and moths.

I think the white ones below must be Buddleja too.

Damaged Beauty

This poor Peacock butterfly (top picture) was missing one of its wings, but still managed to flutter about and enjoy the flowers together with the other butterflies in the park. (I wonder if it feels pain, or just a slight imbalance?!)

Purple Cone Flowers

 

Purple cone flowers - and Peacock butterfly.

The Admiral and the Painted Lady

Red Admiral – Vanessa Atalanta – Amiralfjäril

Painted Lady - Cynthia Cardui – Tistelfjäril

I was out chasing butterflies in the park again the other day. The Admiral wasn’t very keen on having his photograph taken – he kept his distance. But his Painted Lady friend was quite willing to pose for me with wings spread.

The Butterfly Park

This is the park that attracts the butterflies. It is divided into different “rooms”.
The pink-blue-white room seemed to be the most popular this past weekend.

How many butterflies do you see in the last picture?

Mosaic Monday: More Butterflies

Butterflies, flutterbyes… All of a sudden there were a lot of them in the park.
Common Brimstone, Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock Butterflies.

For bigger pictures of the butterflies, see my Sunday and Saturday posts.

For more Monday Mosaics, visit Mary’s Little Red House.

Peacock Butterfly

Buzzzy Day

Glad to be able to report the butterflies were “back” in the park yesterday. 
The ones in these pictures are Small Tortoiseshell (Nässelfjäril) and Common Brimstone (Citronfjäril). Unfortunately the latter never settle with the wings spread. Hanging from the flowers they’re often hard to distinguish from surrounding leaves. Flying about the males are bright yellow (therefore in Swedish have a name that translates Lemon Butterfly).

Today it’s raining, and I’m playing with the butterflies on the computer instead of in the park.

Peek-a-boo!

 

“Now you see me… Now you don’t…”

Earlier this week I was complaining I didn’t see any colourful butterflies around this summer. The next day, I caught sight of this one – a Small Tortoiseshell (Lat. Aglais urticae, Sw. Nässelfjäril).

Can you see it in the bottom righthand corner? Pretty well camouflaged with its wings folded, isn’t it…

Flutterbyes

Last year I came across a few different kinds of colourful butterflies in the late summer, and also managed to get quite good macro shots of them. So this summer I have expectantly kept going to what I last year came to call my “butterfly park”, hoping to have the same luck. But no. The only butterfly I keep seeing this summer is this white one, which on top of all very rarely sits still for more than a second. (When I say “it”, I do of course mean “they”, but I have rarely seen more than one at a time even of these.) As far as I’ve been able to determine, from the few and rather blurry pictures that I finally managed to get, it must be a Cabbage butterfly or Large White  - Lat. Pieris brassicae – Swedish: Kålfjäril.

Maybe it’s not too late yet, though? When looking up my butterfly photos from last year, I notice that some of them weren’t actually taken until early September.

 

1. Common Brimstone – Gonepteryx rhamni – Citronfjäril
2. Peacock – Inachis io – Påfågelsöga
3. Small Tortoiseshell – Aglais urticae - Nässelfjäril 
4. Painted Lady – Cynthia cardui - Tistelfjäril

The First Butterflies

Sorry, a little blurry, but they're not easy to catch "before breakfast"! I mean their breakfast, not mine. I saw at least three of these on Saturday out in the countryside (and one bumblebee!), and since there are no wild flowers yet, I guess their only hope is to find some daffodils or pansies in a garden pot?



Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly - Aglais urticare - Nässelfjäril

Calendar 2010: July

Painted Lady - Cynthia Cardui - Tistelfjäril
I'm starting 2010 off by showing 12 photos from 2009 that I chose for a monthly wall calendar.

The Last Taste of Summer

Painted Lady - Cynthia Cardui - Tistelfjäril
The days are getting shorter,  nights and early mornings colder, but we have still been blessed with sunny days and warm afternoons this mid-September week.

Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly

Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly - Aglais urticae - Nässelfjäril