Other than the occasional red admiral and the more reliable speckled woods of Speckled Wood, this has been a miserable few weeks for butterflies. Not that one can blame them for staying somewhere snug when we have a wretched westerly blowing and temperatures which rarely deign to rise above 18C.
That said, in the few sunnier intervals we have seen some common blues on the wing and, unexpectedly....
....some ringlets. This one was in our garden and two more were up the forestry track, a big change as, before now, we've only seen this species in a limited, grassy area just beyond Dunrobin Castle.
The only other butterfly to put in an appearance was this one, which may have been a ringlet which lacked the 'eyes' on its wings or, I suppose, a new species confined to the Golspie area.
The last butterfly is a Meadow Brown. The blue looks like he has a warm fluffy jumper on; like bumblebees and many insects, they conserve the internal heat from muscle movement or sunbathing, with a layer of insulation. Lovely photograph.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks, Derryck, for the butterfly's ID, and for your kind words about the photo. Jon
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