What can I say about today, other than that the heat was horrendous? I’m aware that there are people who love temperatures in the mid-30s, but in my opinion they are psychopaths.
Of the six images I’ve kept today, all taken first thing this morning, three are shots of this little Essex Skipper, and the others involve the demoiselle colony at the bottom of our garden. It was especially helpful of the butterfly to show the underside of its antennae like this, because their inky black tips are diagnostic of the species – and in a female, or a male with folded wings, they’re the only feature that can distinguish an Essex Skipper from the very similar Small Skipper, whose antennae are tipped in orange.
The plant here is black horehound (Ballota nigra), which I strongly recommend as a garden plant if you’re able to get hold of some because butterflies and bees adore it. Unfortunately it’s hard to buy, even from specialist suppliers of wild plants, and I suspect that this may be because it’s tricky to grow. There used to be huge clumps of the stuff all along the wall at the edge of Tilly’s field, and about five years ago I cut some flower heads when the plants were setting seed, and dropped them in various spots around the garden – only to have absolutely nothing happen until last year, when a single plant appeared in one of the borders. This year that plant is growing strongly and attracting insects, but the colony at Tilly’s field is being overwhelmed by nettles and long grass, and really seems to be struggling. When my own goes over later in the summer, I’ll try to repay the favour by taking some seed back to the field – though experience tells me that it won’t necessarily take.
R: L2, C10, D33.
