October Butterfly

A red admiral butterfly making the most of the valerian flowers in the October sunshine. After a cold spring there seemed to be few butterflies about in the summer. However, in the last few weeks there have been a few peacock, red admiral and painted lady butterflies in the garden.

October Red Admirals

This has been a very poor year for butterflies, but with the milder weather this week there have been quite a lot of red admirals about.

 Red admirals seem particularly fond of the valerian flowers in my garden.

A Far-Travelled Butterfly

 A painted lady butterfly enjoying the early October sunshine on valerian flowers in the garden. It is a migrant from North Africa. There is a programme on BBC 4 tonight about the extaordinary journey that it makes.

Painted Lady Butterflies

This has been a very poor year for butterflies and the large stand of buddleia at the back of the Lundin Golf Course car park, normally a reliable place to see them, has been deserted. However, today was more encouraging as there were several painted ladies, also spotted a peacock and a small tortoiseshell. It was very windy, so photos not very sharp.

Speckled Wood Butterfly

Speckled Wood Butterfly (Pararge aegeria)

On holiday in Yorkshire last week and saw this speckled wood butterfly sunning itself on a footpath near Helmsley Castle. It was the first time that I'd seen this butterfly as they are rarely seen in Fife. In Scotland they are mainly confined to the far west, north-west and Moray. The species is, however, said to be extending its range northwards and is now found in Durham and Northumberland so perhaps we will see it in Fife in years to come.    

As its names suggests, this butterfly is primarily found in woodland but can be found anywhere there is sufficient scrub to provide the dappled shady conditions that it favours and this includes habitats such as gardens and hedgerows.

Small Copper Butterfly

A small copper butterfly (Lycaena phlaeas) basking in the sun amongst hawthorn berries, alongside the old railway track in Lower Largo. A bright attractive tiny butterfly, this one has lost a little bit of its hind wing.

Comma Butterfly and Others

On the path leading down to the back of Lundin  Golf Course car park there is a large stand of buddleia and it's a good place to see butterflies. Today spotted a comma butterfly (above, unfortunately did'nt get a very clear photo), only the second time I've seen one in Fife and the first time in Lundin Links. The last one was at Balcarres near Colinsburgh in 2011. The comma has gradually been extending its range northward and is now relatively well established in the Borders and Central Lowlands.

 There were several peacock butterflies and in the photo below there's also a red admiral.

Buddleia attracts bees as well as butterflies

Hummingbird Hawk-moth

A hummingbird hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum) feeding on the valerian in my garden.

The first time I saw this moth, I could hardly believe my eyes. It was buzzing like a bee but looked like a tiny bird.

Hummingbird hawk-moths beat their wings at such speed they emit an audible hum. Their name is further derived from their similar feeding patterns to hummingbirds, collecting nectar with their long tongues. A day-flying moth active in both sunny and overcast conditions, hummingbird hawk-moths are strongly attracted to flowers with a plentiful supply of nectar such as honeysuckle, buddleia and as in these photos valerian. 

Difficult to get clear photos because their wings are just a blur.

There were also tortoiseshell butterflies feeding on the valerian, so although somewhat unruly and invasive, it seems a great plant for attracting moths butterflies and other insects such as hoverflies.

First Peacock Butterfly of 2014

One of my favourite butterflies, a peacock, on a dandelion flower. I've seen quite a few small tortoiseshell butterflies flitting about, although too fast to get a photo, but this  is the first peacock that I've seen this year.

Late March in the Serpentine Walk

Groups of daffodils line the path in the Serpentine Walk in Largo.

Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) is coming into flower. The flowers come out just before the leaves. With hawthorn it's the other way round the leaves first, then the flowers.

Here and there the first celandines are beginning to appear. As we walked along the path could here the buzz of a bumblebee and a small tortoiseshell butterfly flitted past.
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Small Tortoiseshell Butterflies

There have been very few butterflies in the garden this year, only some whites. However, this week small tortoiseshells have begun to appear. They seem to have a particular fondness for valerian flowers.

Green-Veined White Butterfly

Green-veined white butterfly (pieris napi) on cow parsley in the Serpentine Walk.

On the wing I find it difficult to distinguish between the white butterflies, particularly the small white, female orange tip and the green-veined white. However, when they are still with wings closed, it becomes easier. Here can see the greenish-grey marking on the underside of the wing which give this butterfly its name.

Orange-Tip Butterfly

Orange-Tip Butterfly (Anthocharis cardamines)

I have often tried to photograph the male orange-tip butterfly but they are usually so active that I have never managed it before. Today, however, in the Serpentine Walk one, obligingly, was still just long enough to let me catch an image, even though it's not quite as sharp as I would have liked.

Earlier this week we were staying in Ravenglass in the Lake District and took the little steam railway into Eskdale; orange-tip butterflies were flitting beside the train all the way, so hopefully this is one species that is doing quite well.

Some Butterflies at Last

Red Admiral Butterfly.

This week's sunnier weather has at last brought some butterflies to the buddlia in the garden. Small tortoiseshells and small whites have been present occasionally but today was the first time that I had seen red admirals and peacock butterflies.

 Peacock Butterflies.

Ringlet Butterfly

A ringlet butterfly on a butterbur leaf at the beginning of the Serpentine Walk in Lower Largo.

Searching for Butterflies

Common Blue Butterfly - Dumbarnie Links.

Presumably because of the wet, rather cold weather there has been a distinct lack of butterflies in the garden this year and even though there are many buddleia bushes in Lundin Links village, I haven't seen

any butterflies on the flowers. This morning, with the Big Butterfly Count in mind, decided to walk along the old railway lines to Dumbarnie Links, to try for better luck there. There were quite a lot of meadow browns, flashes of blue from the common blue, a few whites and tiny day-flying moths and also some 6-spot burnets but not as many as last year. Unusually no peacocks or red admirals.

Meadow Brown Butterfly on Self-heal - Dumbarnie Links

Meadow Brown Butterfly on Scabious Flower

Meadow Brown Butterfly - Dumbarnie Links

6-Spot Burnet on Knapweed Flower.

Small tortoiseshell on thistle flower on the return walk along the track

Not a very clear photo but I think this is a green-veined white, again on the old railway track..

Scotland's Gardens - Kellie Castle

The Scottish National Trust property Kellie Castle (in conjunction with Balcaskie) was open today under Scotland's Gardens Scheme. The castle dates from the 14th century and had fallen into disrepair until it was sympathetically restored by Professor James Lorimer in the late 19th Century. It contains magnificent plaster ceilings, painted panelling, and fine furniture designed by Sir Robert Lorimer.
The later Victorian garden has been restored by the Trust and features a fine collection of old-fashioned roses and herbaceous plants.It has been managed organically for over 20 years.

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The central path with the armillary sphere sundial in the middle.

Two white doves on the Coat of Arms high up on the wall. The inscription reads 'Honi soit qui mal y pense' ('Evil to him who evil thinks') the motto of the Knights of the Garter. Thomas Erskine, 1st Earl of Kellie, became a Knight of the Garter in 1615.

The door to the secret garden.

Chooks enjoying a feed of home-grown lettuce.

A border of sweet rocket - heavenly scent.

A red admiral butterfly on the sweet rocket.