A Parting Gift

We've spent the summer working hard in the garden to provide food for the worryingly few butterflies which have come our way, including this tortoiseshell, and have been so pleased to have some still in the garden as we've moved into October. They've been encouraged by some gloriously sunny days when the temperature at midday almost reached 20C.

Joining the two painted ladies have been a few red admirals and peacocks - and then, on Thursday, a lone white which was far too skittish for me to get a picture.

However, it seems that, during an earlier visit, this white....

....managed to lay about a dozen eggs which have now hatched as caterpillars.

I wouldn't have minded if the eggs had been laid on one of the plants we've grown for the butterflies' use, but that wretched large white chose my precious broccoli plants, of which I have far too few to get us through the winter.

And, no, I'm not going to record what happened to those caterpillars.