White wings dance through summer flowers, ethereal and elusive. Whites come early and are everywhere. In the walled kitchen garden brassicae swarm with caterpillars in a trail of frass. Pieris brassicae, the Large White and Pieris rapae, the Small white. Gardeners hope to harvest cabbages for the kitchen, tempting butterflies to choose nasturtiums for their caterpillars' food-plant. Visitors delight in butterflies and unless you grow brassica it's unusual to watch caterpillars munching the leaves so they are something of a novelty.
The head gardener at Sizergh has a challenging balance here: grow healthy vegetables, and attract a range of pollinators which must include butterflies. Her herbaceous borders are marvellous and dancing butterflies bring vitality.
Last summer, dragonflies and damsels were all along the southern shore of the lake below the castle The morning is calm and warm with a mirror-image of the castle reflected in the water but there are few dragonflies. House martin must have raised their young as the window beside the nest is splashed with recent droppings. The whites do well but where are the more colourful butterflies?
Last summer, dragonflies and damsels were all along the southern shore of the lake below the castle The morning is calm and warm with a mirror-image of the castle reflected in the water but there are few dragonflies. House martin must have raised their young as the window beside the nest is splashed with recent droppings. The whites do well but where are the more colourful butterflies?
Below the south-facing castle wall there's a terrace with a colourful herbaceous border. There are pears, and green grapes ripening on vines against the brick wall. Bursts of sunlight through fair-weather cloud bring forth bright butterflies in the highlight of the morning. Two butterflies on the same flowers in sequential images, one moment a painted lady and a small tortoiseshell, then a painted lady and a red admiral. With a flutter of wings the picture shifts, wings close and colour is lost, the sun is veiled for a few seconds and butterflies disappear, closing their wings to become a streak of shadow until the next sun-burst. A thrilling interlude along the herbaceous border beside the castle wall. Peacock are comparatively few. Red admiral and small tortoiseshell are as frequent today as the painted lady- a long-distance migrant. Some years see spectacular painted lady migrations, some years they don't appear.
Still images show their loveliness but not their elusiveness. Quick and light through a drift of late summer flowers. These Painted Ladies look fresh and new so where did they hatch, and when, how many broods this summer? How many fuelling stops since leaving Africa?
Still images show their loveliness but not their elusiveness. Quick and light through a drift of late summer flowers. These Painted Ladies look fresh and new so where did they hatch, and when, how many broods this summer? How many fuelling stops since leaving Africa?
BBC Radio 4 Rare Earth Great Migrations re Cabbage Whites, Painted Ladies and how insects navigate.
Will Hawkes explains that insects migrate to increase their reproductive output. Butterflies like the Painted Lady will overwinter in sub-Saharan Africa where wild flowers are a source of nectar so they feed, mate, lay their eggs and increase their numbers. With the coming of spring in Europe they fly north, following flowers and breeding throughout the year.
Insects can navigate huge distances to reach a very specific destination. They have an array of navigational tools. A compass using sun, stars, moon and the Milky Way- all visible and once the only tools for mariners., prior to GPS. Insects can set a course using earth's magnetic field. They see polarized light which is filtered by the atmosphere to create patterns in the sky.
I had not thought of Cabbage Whites as migratory species but clouds of butterflies have been observed in the Pyrenees and crossing the Straits of Gibraltar. Painted Ladies migrate thousands of kilometres to an area south of the Sahara. Their antennae sense wind direction and they choose when to migrate on a favourable wind. They can use the olfactory sense, or sounds, and magnetic maps. Individuals learn from others,, including from other species. Isotopic signatures make it possible to map the migration route of an individual butterfly.
The ICARUS project gives the opportunity to follow a named individual and its migration journey.
It's awesome, and teaches us to show great respect for all creatures.
Will Hawkes explains that insects migrate to increase their reproductive output. Butterflies like the Painted Lady will overwinter in sub-Saharan Africa where wild flowers are a source of nectar so they feed, mate, lay their eggs and increase their numbers. With the coming of spring in Europe they fly north, following flowers and breeding throughout the year.
Insects can navigate huge distances to reach a very specific destination. They have an array of navigational tools. A compass using sun, stars, moon and the Milky Way- all visible and once the only tools for mariners., prior to GPS. Insects can set a course using earth's magnetic field. They see polarized light which is filtered by the atmosphere to create patterns in the sky.
I had not thought of Cabbage Whites as migratory species but clouds of butterflies have been observed in the Pyrenees and crossing the Straits of Gibraltar. Painted Ladies migrate thousands of kilometres to an area south of the Sahara. Their antennae sense wind direction and they choose when to migrate on a favourable wind. They can use the olfactory sense, or sounds, and magnetic maps. Individuals learn from others,, including from other species. Isotopic signatures make it possible to map the migration route of an individual butterfly.
The ICARUS project gives the opportunity to follow a named individual and its migration journey.
It's awesome, and teaches us to show great respect for all creatures.
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