Red admiral feeding on ripe damsons in SIzergh orchard
To the bright flowers of the herbaceous borders in search of butterflies. But today the butterfly highlights are elsewhere as new flowers offer nectar and orchard fruits ripen. Windfalls crunch beneath my feet as autumn brings an abundance of apples. Bramble scones are on offer in SIzergh cafe. Charlie the cat comes to greet everyone and sprawls full length in the hot sun as the day grows warm after a chilly night. Some years I've seen Red admirals nectaring on flowering ivy that curtains the wall above the bee hives in the orchard. Some bees are there on the ivy but flowers are over and green berries form. Amongst the orchard trees there's a damson tree with ripe and fermenting fruit and an aura of butterflies. At least ten Red admirals at once, and a few Comma. They circle the tree then settle on fruit, some encrusted with sugars. Sugar plums. The tree is in full sunlight so its fruit is a magnet for feeding butterflies.
Down by the lake, below the castle, there's a poplar alive with small birds. A pair of nuthatch, a pair of long-tailed tits, great tit and blue tits. Damsels and dragonflies are breeding along the shores of both lakes. There's a flower bed with a lovely Guelder rose. Sedum has come fully into flower and Comma have found it. One image shows three Comma nectaring close together on sedum and it must be a recently hatched brood. Toward mid-day the sun is higher and the angle of incidence has changed so the sprawling sedum is half in shade and butterflies always seek flowers in the warmth of the sun. Following butterflies, I sense the optimum conditions that will bring them forth, but there remain mysteries. Why is the verbena that was such an attraction two days ago now fallen out of favour? Are its flowers past their best, as a source of nectar when most have been pollinated.
Down by the lake, below the castle, there's a poplar alive with small birds. A pair of nuthatch, a pair of long-tailed tits, great tit and blue tits. Damsels and dragonflies are breeding along the shores of both lakes. There's a flower bed with a lovely Guelder rose. Sedum has come fully into flower and Comma have found it. One image shows three Comma nectaring close together on sedum and it must be a recently hatched brood. Toward mid-day the sun is higher and the angle of incidence has changed so the sprawling sedum is half in shade and butterflies always seek flowers in the warmth of the sun. Following butterflies, I sense the optimum conditions that will bring them forth, but there remain mysteries. Why is the verbena that was such an attraction two days ago now fallen out of favour? Are its flowers past their best, as a source of nectar when most have been pollinated.
There are few Painted Ladies in the herbaceous borders and whilst I fall into conversation with a lady from Levens who tells me, with wonder that she has seen Humming -Bird Hawk-Moth in her garden this week. So, on the grape vine (literally here at Sizergh and in gossip) it's a good autumn for the moth.
Next day, Friday, sees another cold night, a chilly morning soon warmed by the sun. But what a contrast with four days ago. By Friday the herbaceous borders have bees and a few white butterflies but that's all. The sun falls fully on the flowers but, once pollinated, I presume they no longer offer nectar. The sedum that was alive with Comma lies in shadow, so no butterflies. The damson continues to be an attraction for Red admiral and Comma.
In the orchard ladders reach up into the trees and apples and pears are being picked and they'll appear for sale in the kitchen garden, with windfalls for free. It's a bumper year for apples.
Red admirals feast on damsons shaped like plums and dusted with sugar crystals, that's sugar plums-a Victorian delicacy for fine dining.
Saturday 11 October How weather and season interact
On a still day I walked, via Scout Scar, to Sizergh Castle. The weather was perfect for butterflies so what might be about in October? By mid-day it was hot and the sun shone in a sky with only a few fair-weather clouds. The damson tree in the orchard had been stripped of leaves by Storm Amy the previous week-end. A few wizened damsons showed, mostly high in the tree where picking would have been difficult. One or two red admirals sought out the few ivy flowers. A notice in the orchard asked visitors to leave windfalls on the ground - some collect them and take them home but they're best left as food for insects and for nutrients to return to the earth.
Herbaceous borders, both in the kitchen garden and along the terrace gave only a glimpse of a butterfly in flight. Sedum was bare of butterflies. 11 October is comparatively late in the season but the day was very warm. Perhaps flowers have given-up pollen and nectar and are simply past their best. Visiting these same locations frequently shows you have to be around and keep looking, keep trying to work out why they show and why they don't. Maybe strategically placed cameras might capture more of the sequence that is hidden from visitors, however often we come here.
The limestone garden was resplendent with acers in splendid colour.
Next day, Friday, sees another cold night, a chilly morning soon warmed by the sun. But what a contrast with four days ago. By Friday the herbaceous borders have bees and a few white butterflies but that's all. The sun falls fully on the flowers but, once pollinated, I presume they no longer offer nectar. The sedum that was alive with Comma lies in shadow, so no butterflies. The damson continues to be an attraction for Red admiral and Comma.
In the orchard ladders reach up into the trees and apples and pears are being picked and they'll appear for sale in the kitchen garden, with windfalls for free. It's a bumper year for apples.
Red admirals feast on damsons shaped like plums and dusted with sugar crystals, that's sugar plums-a Victorian delicacy for fine dining.
Saturday 11 October How weather and season interact
On a still day I walked, via Scout Scar, to Sizergh Castle. The weather was perfect for butterflies so what might be about in October? By mid-day it was hot and the sun shone in a sky with only a few fair-weather clouds. The damson tree in the orchard had been stripped of leaves by Storm Amy the previous week-end. A few wizened damsons showed, mostly high in the tree where picking would have been difficult. One or two red admirals sought out the few ivy flowers. A notice in the orchard asked visitors to leave windfalls on the ground - some collect them and take them home but they're best left as food for insects and for nutrients to return to the earth.
Herbaceous borders, both in the kitchen garden and along the terrace gave only a glimpse of a butterfly in flight. Sedum was bare of butterflies. 11 October is comparatively late in the season but the day was very warm. Perhaps flowers have given-up pollen and nectar and are simply past their best. Visiting these same locations frequently shows you have to be around and keep looking, keep trying to work out why they show and why they don't. Maybe strategically placed cameras might capture more of the sequence that is hidden from visitors, however often we come here.
The limestone garden was resplendent with acers in splendid colour.
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