Sunday 24 August 2008

Safari Sunday.......

What a lovely welcome......the common blue is back and settled where I was working.......
This lovely dragonfly settled nearby to.....so got this beautiful photograph............
The speckled wood visited .......there are two to four generations a year.....
Caterpillars of the early summer become fully grown in about a month......
Autumn caterpillars live through the winter, feeding during warm spells......
and take eight or nine months to become fully grown........ There were only a few hoverflies in the garden today....I have noticed their numbers are dropping.....
Lots of birds, the majority hiding in the foliage so hard to capture........the great tit stopped for a minute for this photograph.......
Lots and lots of bees.......this one seems to be enjoying the warmth of the sun.........
Well another Sunday safari.....I think there will be less and less to show you as autumn approaches.....it will be interesting to see just what is around.......

Enjoy your day...........


17 comments:

Rose said...

Cheryl, it's always so interesting to see the insect life in your garden. It makes me look at mine more carefully and wonder if I have some of the same species. The butterflies are increasing in number here; we must have more of the later varieties.

My weekend didn't go as planned--will post about it soon--so I so appreciated your last post about the garden. Wonderful words to uplift my spirit!

I hope you have been enjoying your time alone in the garden this weekend.

Cheryl said...

Hi Rose....so sorry to hear that your weekend did not go to plan....my little grandson stayed last night, we went hunting for foxes in the garden at dusk.....he thought it most exciting, although we didn't find any.....Mummy took him home at lunchtime....it was lovely to have him here.....

I am just about to go out into the garden......looking forward to tending my new butterfly patch......

beckie said...

Cheryl, Roses and Lilacs posted about buterflies as being 'flowers with wings'. As the photo of the little blue was loading all I could see were the tops of 2 wings and though flower! I had to smile. As Rose said, we are seeing more butterflies now and a lot of different varieties-but they are so hard to get a picture of. Still lots of bees visiting the remaining flowers thankfully. Your picts. are always inspiring and I love Safari Sundays with you. Thanks!

A wildlife gardener said...

Just popped by for another 'fix', dear Cheryl :) ...Another veritable cornucopia of delights which made my day :)

I'm still waiting for my butterflies...soon I hope, if the deluge of August hasn't stopped them in flight...

John Young said...

Hi Cheryl, you do get some great wildlife in your garden.

Cheryl said...

Hi Beckie....flowers with wings....delightful.....
it was a good safari today I was spoilt for choice.....I could have uploaded a lot more but thought it would be too much.....

Cheryl said...

Dear wildlife gardener.....I thought we would not see many butterflies this year but have been pleasantly surprised....yours are probably waiting in the wings.....

Cheryl said...

Thank you John..........

Q said...

Dear Cheryl,
A lovely Safari!
The Blues are so very delicate looking and tiny! Beautiful photograph. I am smitten with the Dragonflies and this one in your garden is charming. Again a fantastic picture....
I also am noticing a slowing down of the bugs. It was cool this morning. I may want to wait to go bug hunting until the afternoon. Autumn is approaching quickly.
Thank you for a fun bug hunt.
Sherry

Cheryl said...

The days are changing quickly and autumn is knocking on the door.....the bugs are slowly disappearing....I shall miss them.....time to photograph the birds (I am not looking forward to this).......

Lisa at Greenbow said...

What a great photo of the little blue butterfly. I know how difficult it is to get a decent picture of a butterfly with its wings open. I also liked seeing your bird in the bush. Birds are also difficult to photograph.

Wendy said...

Wow! What a spectacular blue butterfly in your header! Such a vibrant colour.
Your little bee looks so happy, sunning itself in the pretty purple flower.

I have noticed the dwindling number of hoverflies in our neck-of-the-woods too.
I guess I can't deny it any longer - summer is drawing to a close.

Casey said...

Great safari today! I especially liked the dragonfly and the beautiful blue butterfly.

Cheryl said...

Hi Lisa....Butterflies I find ok but for some reason I just cannot photograph birds very well....their movements are so sudden.....but I will keep trying.....

Cheryl said...

Autumn Wendy is definately closer than we think......everything is changing here...the colours and the insects life......

Goosey said...

Lovely pictures as always but there is still alot to see in Autumn and in all of our seasons. I think we are so lucky to live in a country with so much diversity with the seasons...always something to look forward to.
I'm sure you will find lots to photograph and keep us enjoying your blog! BW Goosey x

Dawny P said...

They are all gorgeous pictures Cheryl but the dragonfly is out of this world xxx You really managed to capture the detail - fabulous. Hope you are enjoying your bank holiday weekend and that you and yours are all ok xxxx