Thank you for the ID on the fungus, Greenie - I remember the inkcap name now.
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
We used to get them in the garden when I was a kid.
Cheers, Buggy - a double ab, then - I thought there had to be a name for the broken red band.
Thursday 5th October: My local patch again. The overnight cloud kept the temperature up a bit, so that when it cleared around 10, the sunshine turned the day into a fairly warm one. The butterflies responded beautifully. On top of the ten species seen so far this week, I saw another three (Large White, Painted Lady and Brimstone) and perhaps a fourth (a questionable GVW). I also managed a shot or two of one of those I missed the other day.
First to be seen today were a Red Admiral and a Comma, basking on windowsills of nearby houses. White PVC does a great job of reflecting the sun onto basking butterflies. A bit further on, and there were more Red Admirals basking in the more natural environs of the bramble bushes. A couple of Speckled Woods disturbed them, and suddenly there was a multi-species bundle of butterflies. What else was in there? A passing Large White male and a new male Holly Blue minding its own business in the sun. The latter butterfly posed very nicely with regard to its lovely silvery underside, but no amount of whispering could persuade it to open beyond a certain point. Nevertheless, I took quite a few shots from all angles of this near-perfect third brood butterfly.
![HB11 051017.JPG (4.03 MiB) Viewed 686 times sucking up moisture I think](./files/thumb_9839_3638ec0b44eb36e8e639534989854c82)
- sucking up moisture I think
Eventually moving on, there were more Large Whites (one of each sex).
They stopped - however, four Small Whites (and the one possible GVW) did not - the sun encouraged them to cruise across the grass endlessly. Along one hedgerow came something similar, but it soon resolved itself into a male Brimstone. This also didn't pause, behaving more as they do in Spring and making no attempt to stop and nectar. Throughout all this I was counting Red Admirals again, and having ticked one off on an ivy clump, I spotted that as well as a Comma companion, there was a rather faded Painted Lady avidly nectaring. Heading south no doubt, making use of the strong northwesterly wind to help it along.
I managed one or two shots of the regulars as well, of course.
So, today's count:
Red Admiral 24
Comma 9
Speckled Wood 8
Small/GV White 5
Large White 3
Brimstone 1
Holly Blue 1
Painted Lady 1
Species seen here this month: 13 (perhaps 14)
Every day brings a surprise!
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
(As well as the old favourites...)
Dave