This week I have had lots of Red Admirals and Painted Ladies in my garden. No Hummingbirds yet but they will arrive if the heat keeps up. I know of one person who killed one last year thinking it was a large and dangerous insect with a huge sting
Anyway here is a Red Admiral
and with it's wings open
This message was edited Sunday, Aug 17th 5:22 AM
Great photos as usual Mark, could you send a bit of that heat back this way please,not too much, just enough to bask in.
Is it because of the weather do you think.My garden has been swarming with them, and hoverflies and all sorts of flying thingys, (including gnats! )
I have a Joe pye weed down my side drive, and when you walk past it they take off in swarms.
What does the humming bird look like?
What I have had, and they keep joining me in my bed are these big fat lime green grasshoppery type of things, but they're rounder and fatter in the body.I keep waking up in the night finding them crawling on me,I must smell sweet. I keep putting them out the window, but either the same one keeps coming back in, or there's loads of them.
My hubby says it's because I have a rose and a fredmontodendron right outside,that they're all coming from these.Tough!The plants stay.
It's the heat that is driving the driving the European butterflies north. They dont arrive with us unless we have an Indian Summer but they are here early because of the fine weather we have had since hmmmmm the last weekend in June
Hummingbird Hawk Moth http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/wildfacts/factfiles/3063.shtml
We have just about everything you can think of flying at the moment - Small Torties, R Admirals, Painted Ladies, Commas, Blues (I've seen Common, Holly and Adonis recently), Whites, Meadow Browns, Gatekeepers, Small Coppers, Skippers.
I love those Humming Bird Hawkmoths. I spose that person mistook the proboscis for a sting mark? Lovely photos
Thanks Mark, I'll be keeping an eye open for those.
Good grief those moths are soooo beautiful!! I can definatlly say I have never seen one of those! how common are they?
Yesterday we had an invasion of peacock butterflies. We havent had any all summer and they are usually common around here! Yesterday I also saw my first tortoiseshell, another one that is usually common and has disappeared this year. The commonest butterflies this year have been commas, painted ladies, red admirals, cabbage whites, meadow browns and skippers.
We saw the humming bird moth this afternoon,I couldn't believe it. It was after the petunias in my hanging baskets by the patio door, incredible,had to call everyone out to see it, went to get camera, but it keep darting off again.
I' seem to be invaded with those huge dragonflies also.Hundreds of them,especially down on the patio area, they seem to keep flying in figure of eights.Facinating to watch.
yes we have those huge dragonflies too! they look like mini helicopters! amazing!!
still havent seen a hummingbird moth though.:((
I've seen a hummingbird moth also..for the first time ever..never had seen one before here in the south of Netherlands..It comes every evening around 8 o'clock..loves my phloxes and Eupatorium and Verbena So beautifull to see..indeed it has the looks and acts of a little bird. Impossible to make a pic becauce it moves so quick.
They're great aren't they? I've had one on my buddleia, verbena and pelargoniums :)
after about half an hour of repeatedly chasing (well slowing walking up to) a Painted Lady I finally got my shot. They are so camera shy LOL
Bravo, bravo Mark....she's beautifull!
Great photos mark! The colours of your flowers really set them off so well too. Zingy!
This one's not nearly as colourful, but was a single shot taken in the woods. I spotted this Speckled Wood sunbathing as I got out of the car to go dormousing and only the one single shot was possible - so relieved I got lucky and it isn't just fuzz LOL
Had hummingbird moths for the last three years usually flitting round my plumbago. Saw one tonight. It was quite surprising as it's chilled up a bit round here at the minute.
