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Wildlife sunbathers

This post is especially for those who enjoy seeing wildlife photos from my garden. It is also quite a contrast from frost in the previous post. I am delighted that today I finally managed to get photos of the Red Admiral butterfly visiting the plants in my garden around 12.30pm when it was warm and sunny. These photos finally make a complete set of the butterflies that I have seen visit this year. We have had many Small Tortoiseshells, a number of Peacocks and a few Painted Ladies.

The butterflies are definitely looking like sunbathers at the moment. I have seen them sitting in the sunshine on window sills, rocks, stone edging and gravel paths for long periods of time. They are also thoroughly enjoying the flowers of my Verbena Bonariensis, Nepata and Cirsium.

The Red Admiral can be seen on the Vebena flowers in the first photos shown above followed by the Small Tortoiseshell on a rock.

What can I say about the bees? It is only recently by taking photos of them and have come to appreciate quite how pretty they are. I have to be honest though and say that I am not sure what type of bees I have photos of. Although now, I am definitely interested in finding out so I will contact the Bumblebee Conservation Trust and ask them.

Update 24th October – Thank-you Gillian, from the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, for identifying the bee in my photo above as a queen buff-tailed bumblebee. I would never have guessed that a queen is out and about at this time of year.

The photos of the Red Admiral Butterfly were taken in my garden on October 18th 2007. All other photos were taken in my garden on October 17th 2007.

14 thoughts on “Wildlife sunbathers

  1. It’s nice to see so many butterflies in the garden still. I like bees too they look so nice and fluffy. So far no night frost over here but some is predicted for the weekend.

  2. Hi Shirl, beautiful butterfly and bee photos as well. I’m a garden nut myself. I cannot believe , here in NY, how warm it still is for Oct. All of my butterflies are gone though, I think to see them again, I’ll have to look at my photos or wait till next year. Enjoy yours.

  3. How lucky you are!! You were at the right time near the right flower so that you could take the pictures of the beautiful butterflies. Here they have already gone, I gues,s as I didn’t see any of them since ten days.
    Enjoy them as long as they are still in your garden!
    Barbara

  4. Wildlife thrives in your garden that is evident. Great photos and I know what you mean about the bees. They almost look soft enough to touch don’t they?

  5. I love all your photograohs, Shirl. You get the best shots from your camera. The ones of the bees, in this and an earlier post, are sooo beautiful, as are the ones of the butterflies.

    I’m looking forward to seeing your hellebores when they are in bloom. I have three in the garden, but may buy a couple more as they are worth their salt, blooming when little else is out.

    I love seeing your Japanese anemones too. We have pink ones outside our front door, and like yours, they look so sweet and delicate, though they are vey hardy. They stay in bloom for weeks on end too, a definite ‘must have’ for any garden, to help prolong the flowering season.

  6. Hi again everyone – how lovely to see so many comments πŸ˜€

    Yolanda – I agree I am actually noticing more butterflies now but I think it is because of the unexpected places they are sunbathing. The bees are just beautiful! We had no frost last night so that is good as I have a few jobs I would like to do in the garden over the weekend πŸ˜€

    Hello Ruth, there are lots of garden nuts around! Funny when it is warm in New York that you are not seeing butterflies. I only notice ours when there is sunshine – I wonder where they hide until the day gets warmer. It is great to have photos to look back on – I expect that you will have photos of the Monarch butterfly. I have really enjoyed seeing it in the photos on the American Garden Blogs πŸ˜€ I might link to some of these in a future post.

    Connie – Thank-you! I must be honest and say that I am very new to butterflies. When I choose to make my blog a gardenwatch rather than just about my plants it has meant I myself have had to look up books to ID them. I had no idea until now that I had four types of butterflies visit my garden. Although there was one other, a small white one, that visited earlier in the year.

    Barbara – thank-you I have been very lucky! As I am new to observing butterflies in my garden I have no idea when they will stop visiting – so I’ll just have to get as many photos as I can πŸ˜€

    Cat – sorry you had probs leaving your comment, it was good of you to mail me. Thank-you! You have so many wonderful photos on your blog πŸ˜€ I’ll add your comment here: β€œYour pic’s are beautiful….I love seeing all the wildlife in your garden….it does look as if they are all basking in the sun!! Just beautiful!!”

    Layanee – Thank-you! Writing this blog has made me observe all that goes on in my garden and I can’t believe myself so much wildlife visits and before now I have been missing it. I am loving the bees πŸ˜€

    Wildlife Gardener – Thank-you! With every set of photos I take of the bees I am loving seeing them more πŸ˜€ Ah the hellebores – I do hope I see them flower this year. I have them planted in my Gunnera border which I will post on soon. The Anemones are just wonderful. I had the pink β€˜Hadspen Abundance’ at one time but moved it – then lost it. I like the pinks too but I just love the whites πŸ˜€

  7. Hi again, Shirl!

    Japanese anemones, in my experience, hate being moved. Friends told me this had happened to them…but one day I thought I’d split and divide the large clump I have and plant some cuttings…no joy. I’ve tried many times since then, with the same disappointing result…and I thought I had green fingers!

    However, they do multiply really well by themselves and my clumps are really large. But I had to buy new plants to have them in different parts of the garden.

  8. Hi again, Wildlife Gardener!

    Thanks for that πŸ™‚

    I found out that Japanese Anemones couldn’t be moved after I had moved them! Yes, dividing is always worth a try isn’t it?

    However, I am delighted to tell you that I have successfully propagated mine and that is how they are growing in different parts of my garden. I plan to try it again soon and I will post on it πŸ˜€

  9. Hi Shirl, I’m one that loves to see nature pictures, whether they are flowers, trees, butterflies or bees. It is interesting to observe the little details up-close in pictures that we sometimes miss.
    You really got some great shots!

  10. Hi again, Robin and Hello Bare Bones Gardener πŸ™‚

    Robin – no surprises that you like nature pictures as you have many fantastic photos on your blog! I particularly enjoy your shots of the Monarch butterfly and the Humming birds. You are absolutely right – you really appreciate the subject more when you see the details in close up shots! Thank-you πŸ˜€

    Bare Bones Gardener – Thank-you! What wildlife visits your Brisbane, Australia, garden and do you have any photos? It is very interesting to see the wildlife of other gardens especially when it’s in a different part of the world πŸ˜€

  11. Hi! I’m Gillian from the Bumblebee Conservation Trust. What lovely photographs! The bee is a queen buff-tailed bumblebee, and very beautiful she is too!

  12. Thank-you, Gillian!

    I am delighted that you were able to ID the bee in my photo – I would never have guessed that she was a Queen! I will now update my post with her name. Yes, she is beautiful πŸ˜€

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