Spring Butterflies

Today's glorious sunshine woke the hibernating butterflies and lured them out to warm themselves up. The first one I spotted was a Peacock that lingered for a while on my purple pansies, but didn't stay long enough for me to fetch the camera. Then a Brimstone flew swiftly over the hedge into next door's garden.

Two Commas appeared next and were much more obliging, allowing me to take this shot.

More cubs on the way!

I can't believe that 'our' five-year-old vixen is pregnant again and is in such brilliant condition. Here she is up the side of the house, finishing off Charlie's food. We feed him outside to stop him scrapping with Flad at mealtimes. Whatever is leftover is taken by robins, blackbirds, magpies and the fox! Nothing goes to waste in this house. I've just thrown out a heap of boiled rice and tomorrow, the pigeons will be in for a treat. The squirrels prefer pasta!

Lots of visitors

With the colder weather coming, we've seen an influx of interesting creatures into the garden. A green woodpecker yesterday and last week, the muntjac deer again.

The vixen, who we felt sure must be dead by now, as she's at least five years old and has reared four sets of cubs, suddenly appeared on the deck, sitting like a dog with her muzzle close to the patio doors, wagging her head this way and that as she followed the movements of my fork to my mouth. Of course, I soon carved a piece off my chicken fillet and threw it out for her. Now, we've laid in a stock of dog food as she is coming every day. She's in prime breeding condition with a beautiful, thick brush and we're sure we'll meet a new family of cubs next Spring.

Potted slow worm!

We have new neighbours and they invited us round to discuss their plans for the garden. Then they asked if I was scared of snakes. I said no, so they led me to a plant pot in which this lovely silvery-blue slow worm was dozing. Mrs Neighbour said she wasn't keen on anything snakelike, so I carefully carrying it home and released it next to the old butler sink that is sunk into the lawn, where I know a slow worm used to live. To my delight, it seemed to love its new home and whisked itself underneath in no time at all.

The friendly robin

Every garden has one - a robin that stalks you whenever you're digging soil or raking leaves, its sharp eyes ready to spot the faintest wiggle of a worm or the scurrying of a bug. Today, this one sat on a twig watching as I picked apples. I put out some morsels from a bag of 'robin food' and after eyeing it for a short time, it flew down and helped itself.

Magpie Moth

When I spotted this pretty creature fluttering against the window, at first I thought it was a butterfly. But when it settled with wings spread, I realised it was probably a moth. I had never seen one like it before, so I took a photo, then released it into the garden.

I
t wasn't until I zoomed in on the photo that I noticed the rust-coloured spots. This enabled me to identify it in my field guide as a Magpie Moth. Common in gardens and hedgerows, it flies from June to August and is disliked by gardeners as it likes to lay its eggs on gooseberry and currant bushes, which then get decimated by the hungry caterpillars!

Swifts off soon?

Today, I counted a shrieking crew of twelve swifts, massing together then scimitaring through the sky, arcing between houses, flicking sideways through trees, then soaring back up into the blue.

I have noticed that the ants always pick a hot, thundery day, usually at the end of July or start of August, to swarm. I have just been out and they are swarming now, two weeks early. The swifts usually leave soon after gorging their fill on ants carried upwards on thermals, so I think we shall soon have to bid these glorious acrobats of the sky farewell till next May. The skies will seem quiet and empty without them.