Season's end

Back to work today......I am very sad and just a little depressed...the shorter days, and the hedgerows all set seed and slowly dying back remind me that I now have to wait 6 months till it is spring again. Don't get me wrong, Autumn is a beautiful season with it's rich colours and mellow fruitfulness but it sadly leads to winter and if it is anything like last year I would honestly rather hibernate!!!!
After work was finished I went for a quick trip to St John's churchyard as the sun was shining and it was still full of heather and devil's bit scabious.
Sadly there weren't many hover flies, but I did see a huge Hornet queen, going about her business, she was absolutely enormous, and a really beautiful chestnut brown colour.
There were several butterflies too, a male brimstone flitting from flower to flower and a male Green veined white, a very showy comma and this equally showy but fittingly (for the end of the season) tatty peacock.
The Peacock Inachis or Aglais io is one of our most well known and easily identified butterflies. It is large and a strong flyer, with spectacular eye spots on the wings evolved to startle prey.
This one seems a little past it's showy best, but seen here on the blue and green background I think it is still amazingly beautiful.