Butterflies

Is this a good year for butterflies?    It certainly seems to be the case in our garden.  We are currently enjoying seeing Peacocks and Gatekeepers in great numbers, Red Admirals, Commas, Meadow Browns and one or two Painted Ladies.   What could be nicer on a warm sunny day than going into the garden and walking through literally clouds of butterflies as they flit amongst the plants.    Gatekeepers and Peacocks are the most numerous this year,  you can reliably spot maybe a dozen Peacocks at a time on the Buddleia and Statice flowers and I can’t even count the numbers of Gatekeepers.  Their favourite plant at the moment is Marjoram/Oregano,  walking up to these plants obviously disturbs the butterflies but if you stand quietly for a few minutes they return in great numbers.  Earlier in the summer a few Marbled Whites could be seen in the orchard but in the adjoining pasture land they were present in huge numbers.   An early morning walk with the dogs was a great joy with Marbled Whites flying all around us. But where are the small Tortoiseshells?   Sadly not here in our garden this year.

Butterflies have to be my favourite of the “insect visitors” to the garden.  They are absolutely beautiful, their colours  shimmering  on a sunny day.  More to the point they do no damage either to the garden or to me!   What a treat to have such well behaved guests.  We welcome all wildlife that visits but it has to be said that some of the four legged furry visitors try our patience with their constant burrowing and nibbling of plants and as for those insects that sting – all welcome as long as they remember they are guests and do not sting!!