Butterfly Patrol

Dave and I were talking yesterday about how we haven't seen many butterflies yet this year. We saw a red admiral in the garden yesterday (which prompted our conversation) and I'd seen a peacock earlier in the spring. But otherwise, just a few cabbage whites, small blues and the speckled wood I blogged a few weeks back.

There's always some variability to when the butterflies show up, based on when and how much it's rained and what the temperatures have been. I don't really understand all the factors and how they play out.

I thought I'd walk up to the butterfly garden at Hampstead Cemetery and see what I could find there. And bingo, there were butterflies out and about. Above is a skipper, though exactly which one I'm not sure. (There are three possibilities: small, large and Essex, and they all look pretty much the same to me.)

Here's a meadow brown...

...and another one with open wings.

And here's a cabbage white, feasting on thistles. All these are common, small and somewhat unremarkable butterflies. I didn't see any burnets or any other very interesting ones until...

...this peacock flew into view. Unfortunately, for the longest time it sat atop flowers with its wings closed, not cooperating with my photography.

I finally got one shot of it with open wings, from a pretty far distance.

And then I saw this rather tired-looking painted lady, which I was happy about. It's the first painted lady I've seen this year.

Now I have to keep my camera ready for that red admiral when it comes back around! Our buddleia is blooming up a storm, and that has attracted colorful butterflies in the past, so I'm hopeful.