Garden Butterflies in Ayrshire

Ayrshire sometimes delivers wildlife spectaculars; this week we had one in the garden. Sometimes, in good summers in North Britain we get a good display of butterflies. Yesterday, there were about twenty feeding on the buddleia (Buddleja davidii): Peacocks, Red Admirals and Small Tortoiseshells. We rarely see Red Admirals and never before in such numbers as this year. I used my Nikon P510 superzoom bridge camera to get a few shots with the zoom fully extended (1000 mm in 35 mm full-frame terms). Early in the year Small Tortoiseshells were on the buddleia in the front garden (Buddleja alternifolia). The latter is a magnet for the Painted Lady but so far this year this species has not put in an appearance.

Peacock

Red Admiral

Small Tortoiseshell