Lock-down Adventure No 7 - Two New Arrivals in the Garden

16th April 2020

I have had six species of butterfly in the garden so far this Spring , Small White, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Brimstone, Comma and Orange Tip, but only the Orange Tip stayed around long enough for a photo.

But today I saw my second blue of the Spring, but this one settled first on the Pyracantha and then on the variegated Holly. This was a Holly Blue because of the pale blue under-wings with small black dots. However, the only other confusion species in our garden is the Common Blue which is not on the wing for several weeks yet and is more a species of grassland rather than garden shrubs. I was quite lucky because they don't always open their wings.

While I was photographing the Holly Blue I saw a small hoverfly on a leaf just below the Holly Blue. This is a female Epistrophe eligans, a first for the garden, and thanks to Simon Knott for his help with the ID.