All of a Flutter

I hope no one caught sight of me in a local meadow chasing the Orange Tip butterfly. It was leading me a merry dance fluttering backwards and forwards all over the place. Then it was very hard to photograph as it refused to stay still. When it did settle on a flower two other white butterflies chased it off their patch! These were Green Vein White butterflies. Sometimes these are mistaken with the female Orange Tip butterfly which does not have orange tips, but is identified by its patchy green closed wings like the male.

Below is a Green Veined White butterfly. The same one that was chasing away the Orange Tip!

First on the scene in Springtime is often the Peacock Butterfly. It looks like it has large eyes staring back at you, just like peacock feathers have.

Another commonly seen butterfly is the Painted Lady.

I sometimes mix the Painted Lady up with the Small Tortoiseshell butterfly below. This one looks like it’s been in the wars.

Then there is the Red Admiral, so named not because of any admiral stripes as I supposed but because in the 18th century it was called a “Red Admirable” and the name gradually changed!

Yesterday I saw this big fat 7cm long caterpillar in the grass and wondered what on earth it would change into. It is named the “Drinker Moth” caterpillar because it drinks the dew off the grass. The actual Drinker Moth itself is seldom seen as it only comes out at night.