Better Late than Never…….

September the 19th and our first and, so far, only Comma Butterfly of the year.  Feasting on our Sedum this Comma is obviously preparing for the long winter and its hibernation period.  The lack of Butterflies has been a great cause of concern over the past few years here in the U.K. Poor springs and summers followed each other and Butterfly numbers declined dramatically.  Whilst we did see some species in the wider countryside last year, there were none that visited our garden. So this year whilst numbers have not be great it has been encouraging to see Peacock, Tortoiseshell and White bobbing about amongst our flowers.

Comma’s visit gardens as an ideal opportunity to feed but there more usual habitat is the edges of woodlands and hedges and it is there that they hibernate over winter. So to avoid being an easy target for hungry birds the underside of their wings are much more muted and act as ideal camouflage in the woodland setting…..

It may only be one single Comma that has selected our garden in which to feed but reports suggest that many species of Butterflies have done well this summer and that with a favourable winter and spring we should see numbers increase and Butterflies return to being a common site in our countryside.

19th September

© David Oakes 2013