The first red admiral butterfly of 2020 was in the garden yesterday! I bet it’s come a long way!
Category Archives: Butterflies and moths
Comma checking punctuation?
A comma butterfly (hvit C) has been hanging out in the garden the last few days and its favourite perch is an area covered with newspapers. Is it checking the punctuation?
Brimstone butterfly and moth
Brimstone butterflies (sitronsommerfugl) have become much more common on the other side of the fjord in recent years and I saw one in the garden for the first time in 2009. I thought this would be a regular occurrence but it took another 11 years before the next one turned up yesterday feeding on lesser celandine (vårkål) in my forest garden.
This reminded me that I’ve also recorded the brimstone moth (sitronmåler) here, in my living room on 25th January 2014!
31st May 2020: A second one turned up, on Lunaria annua (honesty)
Brimstone moth:
31st May 2020: A second brimstone butterfly turned up, here on Lunaria annua (honesty):
The last Admiral on Buddleja
The last Red admiral on the last Buddleja davidii flowers this week :)
Red-green carpet
Another nocturnal beauty from the garden, Chloroclysta siterata (the red-green carpet / mørk irrmåler):
Early Autumn Pollinators
With only a few inflorescences left on my Buddleja plants, the red admiral and painted lady (tistelsommerfugl) butterflies are transferring their attentions to other flowers in the garden, notably and most importantly Eupatorum cannabinum (hemp agrimony / hjortetrøst, seed of which came original from the banks of the River Itchen in Hampshire). Other flowers of choice at the moment are Anise hyssop (Agastache), Monarda and Marigold.
In the first video, the Red Admiral defends its hemp agrimony flower against a bumblebee!
…and a few other pollinators:
Pink-barred Sallow / Fiolettbåndet Gulfly
Here’s a previously unseen beauty in the garden (until I started trapping moths this summer). It’s Xanthia togata (The pink-barred sallow / fiolettbåndet gulfly). This is an autumn flying moth with larva feeding on Salix and Populus. 5 of them were in my trap this morning.
Peak butterflies
There are record numbers of butterflies in the garden at the moment, crowding on the last Buddleja flowers. A few days ago, I counted 35 butterflies, about equal numbers of painted ladies (tistelsommerfugl) and red admirals (admiral) with a few small tortoiseshells (neslesommerfugl) as well as a lot of silver y moths (gammafly). All are seen in this video taken from my balcony which overlooks the largest Buddleja.
Iron prominent moth
I caught Notodonta dromedarius (Iron Prominent moth / Dromedartannspinner) in the garden yesterday!
Painted Ladies vs Red Admirals
Yesterday there were 15 Red Admiral butterflies in the garden and 2 Painted Ladies, today the Ladies beat the Admirals 8-6 :)
