Marbled

Passing through a wooden gateway late this afternoon I came upon a meadow, droplets glinting in the rays of sunlight pouring through the canopy around.

The dogs chased over the long stemmed tussocky grass and it was only then waves of butterflies reached for the sky ahead of me..

Standing still in the quiet of this wondrous place, the butterflies then carried on as usual, settling on the flowers sipping the nectar. Down in the valley there was the echoing hoot of a steam engine which floated over the fields but other than that just the birdsong in the woods to keep us company.

I've been wanting a marbled white for sometime and here they were in a little colony. In spite of it's colouring - black and grey with white patches - this butterfly belongs to the brown family. I have no idea why. Eggs are laid while the female flies, landing amongst the grasses and the caterpillar hibernates from autumn to February.

When it came to the crunch on writing this up, I was more interested in what it had landed on. This is St John's-wort. During the crusades the knights of St John of Jerusalem used the leaves to heal wounds received in battle. It's sold over the counter here as an aid to depression. You can see the tiny black spots on the sepals of the flower which are black glands.

All in all a good day and Tilly and Poppy enjoyed it too as there were numerous squirrels popping out all over the place. Always good for a chase till they speedily fly up a tree but not so good for blipping!!