Wood sorrel beneath the shade of a woodland fringe A warm day, Thursday 23 April. There were male orange-tip butterflies on the wing, settling on flowers in the under-storey. so caught-up in a spiralling dance their wings almost touched my face. A brimstone and a green-veined white too.
Ewes with lambs in the pasture on the track to Hellsfell Hall. Someone had adorned a ewe with the rainbow motif that reminds us of children during the Covid 19 lock-down. I've seen the emblem displayed in windows, now travelling the pasture on the flank of a ewe. The morning was so warm that lambs stretched out luxuriating in the sun beside their mothers. A peaceful scene.
Showing butterfly photographs, I often crop them close to show detail- and cryptic colouring which fascinates me. And to show how you may identify them. A long-shot gives a better appreciation of habitat and the detail of surrounding vegetation. Sometimes, it's hard to show what the butterfly is doing as it settles. In the above image the male orange-tip is clearly seeking nectar within the violet. Cardamine pratensis ( lady's smock) and Aloliaria petioltata, Garlic mustard are food plants of the orange-tip caterpillar.
April has seen glorious sunny days. Rather too dry for gardeners and for primrose wilting before they came into flower, being parched. We need rain to refresh spring flowers. The next day was cloudless, bright and hot. There were female orange-tips on the wing, lively and restless. And green-veined whites. To distinguish the female orange-tip from small whites most of us would need them to settle.
There are rock-faces from quarrying, some now overgrown with a cladding of creepers and dense vegetation, with mature trees. From somewhere in layers of creepers I could hear a stonechat giving an alarm call.
There are rock-faces from quarrying, some now overgrown with a cladding of creepers and dense vegetation, with mature trees. From somewhere in layers of creepers I could hear a stonechat giving an alarm call.
Look in the blog archive, May 2017 for my best images, to date, of orange tip and green veined white. There was, before Council grass cutters blitzed it, a swathe of garlic mustard and green alkanet, close to home. I waited fot the sun to be full on the flowers and went back and back to study butterflies.
Tree Pipit. It has a buffy chest and very pale belly and spots on the chest which turn to streaks on the flanks all which are typical for Tree. Meadow is usually more uniform on the chest and belly with smaller streaks. Jan said that it was flicking its tail often and again this is a behaviour which you would expect from a Tree. Both species will perch freely in small trees and shrubs. The call of Tree is quite different from Meadow and often this first alerts you to its presence.
With thanks to Jeff Holmes for his identification and detailed information.
Tree Pipit. It has a buffy chest and very pale belly and spots on the chest which turn to streaks on the flanks all which are typical for Tree. Meadow is usually more uniform on the chest and belly with smaller streaks. Jan said that it was flicking its tail often and again this is a behaviour which you would expect from a Tree. Both species will perch freely in small trees and shrubs. The call of Tree is quite different from Meadow and often this first alerts you to its presence.
With thanks to Jeff Holmes for his identification and detailed information.
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