I got distracted on my afternoon walk down to the sea trying to take a photograph of one at least of the hundreds of butterflies fluttering about in the grass – not an easy task with only a mobile phone to hand. But eventually two settled just long enough for me to take them:-
The second is clearly a Meadow Brown. The first looks to me like a Gatekeeper, whose habitat is the same as the Meadow Brown. But my knowledge of butterflies is zero, unlike my mother who was proud of having caught twenty five species by the age of five, and whose net I could have inherited. I feel I’m the same age as universal pesticide.
Beautiful. Gatekeeper it is – I saw lots by the gate of Tower Hamlets cemetery last Thursday, the hottest day of the year so far, when the temperature was 37 Celsius.
Glad to hear I identified it correctly from a position of total ignorance. Charles
Thank you for re-awakening an interest in butterflies. Fifty years ago hunting for butterflies was widespread. John Moore wrote wonderfully about it in his Brensham books. Why has it declined so?
Maybe the huge influx of Meadow Browns this year will lead to a revival of interest ?
It’s surely declined because it’s become rare to see so many as are out this summer – that’s certainly what has got me interested. Charles
Typo. I meant the influx of Painted Ladies, of course.
And loads of Meadow Browns too. Charles