Comma on Buddleia Studying butterflies, I'm drawn into the rhythm and pulse of their lives. I fine-tune to sense the weather that draws them forth- temperature and humidity, sun and at most a light breeze. The instant cloud veils the sun, they're gone. Returning as the sun returns, often to the same flower. I am immersed in butterflies and bees and hoverflies jostling amongst the flowers.
Some years, I've had no more than a Comma at a distance and an indifferent image. Today. Comma settle on flowers at my feet, and within touching distance. And I follow the butterfly as it nectars on Buddleia.
Some years, I've had no more than a Comma at a distance and an indifferent image. Today. Comma settle on flowers at my feet, and within touching distance. And I follow the butterfly as it nectars on Buddleia.
In full sun the deep rich colour of Comma and the jagged edge of its wings is startling. With tints of autumn leaves, the under-wings conceal the butterfly as it hibernates amongst dead leaves.
Yesterday, I glimpsed a sole Comma. Today, Comma visits the Buddleia bush whilst the sun shines. Buzzed by a bee or a Peacock butterfly it takes flight, but soon returns. I'm so intent on photographing the butterfly when it settles close to me that I only look up when it flies, so I cannot tell if there are others. There are fewer species today, fewer butterflies, but this mid-day hour with Comma is rewarding. Brown patches on Buddleia inflorescences show that flowers are fading but these butterflies are fresh and bright.
Yesterday, I glimpsed a sole Comma. Today, Comma visits the Buddleia bush whilst the sun shines. Buzzed by a bee or a Peacock butterfly it takes flight, but soon returns. I'm so intent on photographing the butterfly when it settles close to me that I only look up when it flies, so I cannot tell if there are others. There are fewer species today, fewer butterflies, but this mid-day hour with Comma is rewarding. Brown patches on Buddleia inflorescences show that flowers are fading but these butterflies are fresh and bright.
Nettle is the food-plant for Comma caterpillars, hereabouts. The Ghyll has banks of umbellifers and tall grasses, and nettles too. The bank is steep and summer vegetation rank. If undisturbed, there's a good chance these butterflies could over-winter here- either as adults or as chrysalis.
There are brambles with ripening blackberries growing close to the Buddleja bush. Comma will seek sugars from fermenting fruit so they may return as the blackberries become over-ripe. Whitbarrow is renowned for its butterflies and beside the road was an al fresco fruit stall and the owner had placed rotting apples and damsons at a distance from her produce to keep bees and wasps away. Butterflies had found the fruit and gorged upon it.
The image sequence below shows Comma nectaring on ripe blackberries on Scout Scar, 19 September 2016.
23 July 2025
This last few days shows The Ghyll merits conservation, for its flora and fauna. Butterflies throng about the Buddleia. Today, I caught three Comma in a single image. A Peacock with a Painted Lady which settled amongst the pebbles of the track. Several families paused to admire the butterflies and I'm always pleased to see children introduced to wildlife. There are clumps of stinging nettles, the food-plant of caterpillars for several of the species I've photographed here. And brambles are an important nectar source. So my next step is to alert Westmorland and Furness Councillors to ensure track-side verges are minimally trimmed. And no spraying of plants with herbicides. The Ghyll is a haven for wildlife, something for residents to enjoy and to safeguard.
This last few days shows The Ghyll merits conservation, for its flora and fauna. Butterflies throng about the Buddleia. Today, I caught three Comma in a single image. A Peacock with a Painted Lady which settled amongst the pebbles of the track. Several families paused to admire the butterflies and I'm always pleased to see children introduced to wildlife. There are clumps of stinging nettles, the food-plant of caterpillars for several of the species I've photographed here. And brambles are an important nectar source. So my next step is to alert Westmorland and Furness Councillors to ensure track-side verges are minimally trimmed. And no spraying of plants with herbicides. The Ghyll is a haven for wildlife, something for residents to enjoy and to safeguard.
On 2 February 2022 locals were horrified to find mature trees were being felled at The Ghyll, The creation of a SUDS attenuation basin destroyed habitat. There had been a mass of Garlic Mustard beloved of Orange-tip butterflies, and Green Veined Whites. All that was lost. So in July 2025 there is regeneration, different but with wildlife potential. That's why it's exciting to find Comma and Painted Lady here for the first time. The link below is one of a sequence of blogs following what happened here in spring 2022.
cumbrianaturally.co.uk
https://www.cumbrianaturally.co.uk › blog › collateral-damage-consequ…
cumbrianaturally.co.uk
https://www.cumbrianaturally.co.uk › blog › collateral-damage-consequ…
28 July. I've monitored butterfly species visiting The Ghyll Buddleia between 10.45 am to 1.30 pm from 21-29 July
On 28th I saw a sole Small Tortoiseshell I'd found during this period. Also 2 Peacock, 1 Red Admiral, 1 Comma. No Painted Ladies. As always, many whites whose flying ranges more widely over the bank of vegetation.
29th July. 11.15 am. Warm and humid. Flowers and leaves on Buddleia wet after early morning showers. An audible buzzing of flies, hoverflies about the shrub. A single white. That's the usual sequence: bees and hoverflies, whites, then smaller numbers of butterflies shown in this blog sequence over nine days monitoring.
11 August Brimstone
Walking through The Ghyll I saw a Small Tortoiseshell and the first Brimstone I've seen there. So I rushed home for my camera and here are Brimstone. 11.00 am seems a rewarding hour on butterfly watch in another heat-wave phase when it's 26 degrees at 3.00 pm. It was good to share Brimstone with friends passing that way.
This is not the whole picture. There's an abundance of whites this summer and I confess I neglect them. I have images but I have rarely presented them. Throughout summer I meet folk who speak of all whites as cabbage whites. So tomorrow I'll set about distinguishing them.
On 28th I saw a sole Small Tortoiseshell I'd found during this period. Also 2 Peacock, 1 Red Admiral, 1 Comma. No Painted Ladies. As always, many whites whose flying ranges more widely over the bank of vegetation.
29th July. 11.15 am. Warm and humid. Flowers and leaves on Buddleia wet after early morning showers. An audible buzzing of flies, hoverflies about the shrub. A single white. That's the usual sequence: bees and hoverflies, whites, then smaller numbers of butterflies shown in this blog sequence over nine days monitoring.
11 August Brimstone
Walking through The Ghyll I saw a Small Tortoiseshell and the first Brimstone I've seen there. So I rushed home for my camera and here are Brimstone. 11.00 am seems a rewarding hour on butterfly watch in another heat-wave phase when it's 26 degrees at 3.00 pm. It was good to share Brimstone with friends passing that way.
This is not the whole picture. There's an abundance of whites this summer and I confess I neglect them. I have images but I have rarely presented them. Throughout summer I meet folk who speak of all whites as cabbage whites. So tomorrow I'll set about distinguishing them.
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