another spot of colour

And just as conspicuous a tortoiseshell sunbathing on Felix, our monumental cat.

spot of colour

a fritillary adding some vivid colour to a meadow full of devil's bit scabious and betony (below). To our eyes these butterflies seem very conspicuous; maybe they are advertising that they are highly inedible.

web central

mission control receiving data from the tortoiseshell rover

curiosity

the tortoiseshell rover has landed, our mission of exploration has started

Spot is in the building

Oh to be outside when the sun is shining!

(large paintings by Dianne Nevitt see link, small pictures by Mary Stork ..it is worth googling Mary Stork images for more)

butterfly heaven

For the first time this year the air is full of butterflies.  One can see why the buddleia is called the butterfly bush. There was even a solitary painted lady on the bush amongst the dozens of red admirals, peacocks and tortoiseshells. Below are two pictures of a female wall brown and friend. Wall browns are usually very skittish and hard to photograph but the weather has been so wet they are probably desperate to refuel.

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