This year, for some reason, I have become more aware of caterpillars, moths & butterflies. Obviously I know they’ve always been around but they’re not something I would have paid much attention to in the past, preferring to focus more on garden birds.
This year, however, has been different. I’m not really a fan of creepy crawlies but the past few months has seen me lying down with my camera among the nettles looking on the underside of the leaves in the hope of spotting something I’ve never seen before.
I’m excited to say today I found it π
But first, a little background information… I work from home and have no car, which is why all of my posts are photos taken around my garden. I can’t get anywhere local as there are no walks around where we live, and to be honest I don’t fancy walking down the country lanes that surround us as I know how fast the tractors, coaches & cars bomb down them past the house!
So, I’m kind of limited to the number of butterflies & moths I get to see. So far this summer I’ve seen Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral, Small Heath and small “brown ones” which I can’t get close to.
We’ve had our fair share of caterpillars recently, with huge numbers of the Cinnabar Moth caterpillar…
So, getting back to today’s exciting news (well for me anyway)… a butterfly I’ve always wanted to see & never have is the Comma. I think it’s the most beautiful butterfly we have. After half an hour looking amongst the HUGE nettle patch we have in the “wild/left to its own devices” patch, I saw this caterpillar underneath one of the leaves…
Straight into Google and I was delighted to find out it’s a Comma butterfly caterpillar – thanks to Butterfly Conversation.org It’s very hairy/spikey and has a white bar on it’s back, which I’ve since found out is supposed to resemble bird droppings…
So, that’s my exciting news for this month! My mum is coming to stay for a week in September & I’m actually hiring a car so watch this space for photos of “beyond Ballydavis” π
You may have to invest in a Buddleia bush, the butterflies love them π Great to get the Comma caterpillars at least you know they are around!
Thanks Pam – the Buddleia is on my list for next year, I’m going to turn the little patch of wasteland in the backyard into wildflower patch (leaving the nettles though). The caterpillar was a lovely surprise as I’ve never seen a Comma butterfly around here π
That sounds like a great idea, i’ve left a few nettles in my garden but so far i’ve never seen any Caterpillars on them!