Sunday, August 02, 2009

Buddleia + butterflies

Loads of fantastic butterflies in the garden this morning. I am smitten with Painted Ladies. Most around now are of the generation that hatched in the UK/northern Europe, the offspring of the North African immigrants which themselves emerged in the Atlas mountains. The newer ones are in pristine condition. I could almost... eat one!

Peacock and Painted Lady
Peacock and Painted Lady

Peacock
Peacock basking on a dead tree stump

Painted Lady and Large White
Painted Lady (see a bit of a theme here?) and Large White

Painted Lady
Painted Lady...

Meadow Brown
Meadow Brown has its own subtle charms

The teasel

Teasels are fabulous wildlife garden plants. Insects go mad for the purple flowers and later on, Goldfinches can't get enough of the seeds. Well, male Goldfinches do, anyway. I think the females have thicker bills which don't let them get the seeds! Must check...

photos taken with Canon EOS 30D, EF 300mm f/4L IS USM

5 comments:

  1. Enjoyed these photos, I'm a butterfly photographer too. Sorry to see you have teasel too, did it come to the US from Europe? Luckily teasel grows to our north and has not invaded North Carolina

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  2. Believe it or not, I planted these teasels deliberately! Wikipedia says they're native to Europe, Asia and North Africa so I guess someone imported them to North America. They're wonderful for wildlife - on this side of the pond, anyway.

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  3. I think it was a good weekend for butterflies - my mother and I were at Slimbridge and on one buddleia there were peacocks, painted ladies, red admirals, commas and cabbage whites. All pristine, wonderful bright colours.

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  4. Peacocks when seen upside down as on your pics always remind me of an owl's face, very charming.
    It might sound (and be) ridiculous but I have yet to see my first Large White of the season, plenty of fresh Painted Ladies though here in Germany as well. A good year for sure.

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  5. Ah! I'd never spotted the owl resemblance before... And yes, it is utterly ridiculous that you haven't seen a Large White yet. Here they are easily the most common butterfly at the moment - certainly in my garden...

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