A new garden butterfly ..

Following the introduction of scraps of wildflower turf into the back garden, we have enjoyed successive years with "home-grown" Essex Skipper (Thymelicus lineola) gracing the lawn. They are often seen - brand spanking new - on the day that they emerge. Our max. daily count to date has been 3 individuals.

I always check them carefully, never assuming that they are all Essex - but for the past five summers that has always been the case.

However, today, I noted a single skipper arrive and it went straight to nectar on the Red Valerian (Centranthus ruber).

I gave the butterfly a quick scan, and there was just something different about it's jizz? It definitely needed a closer look!

Grabbing my camera from the house, I knew I was risking the butterfly moving to another part of the garden, or worse still leaving the garden altogether - and being unable to relocate it. Not trusting my poor eyes alone, I needed a photo to clinch it.

My risk paid off, the skipper was still imbibing from the same plant, and I was able to get a decent close-up, and confirm that my gut instinct was right, and that it was indeed a Small Skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris).

This new arrival, brings my garden butterfly list up to 20 species.

Enter the Dragon .. (Reprise)

It has been a quiet year to date for Odonata in the garden. On the 8th of July a male Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella) was noted resting on the Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris) at the water-butt pond. It was only seen that once.

On the 1st of August, a Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) was holding territory using the back of the garden chair as a lookout post. This encounter transpired to be an all but brief affair too, with only a single day's activity observed, before it disappeared from the garden.

Throughout this heat-wave, both small ponds have required continous top-up  and much attention has been given to removal by hand, of the filamentous green alga which threatens to completely cover the surface of the ponds.

During the course of one such clearing, I was delighted to find a dragonfly nymph (Sympetrum Cf striolatum), in the water-butt pond.

water-butt pond

Azure Damselfy

Common Darter

Sympetrum Cf striolatum nymph