Some unusual butterflies

David F spotted a number of butterflies this week along the Protected Road Verge (Bourn Bridge Road), taking advantage of the lovely flowers along there.  These included Small White, Small Skipper, Marbled White and Painted Lady.

Also this week, Derek T spotted a White-letter Hairstreak in his garden.  Derek sees one or two of these unusual butterflies each year, and is one of the few people in the village to report this species.  He does have some small Elm trees in his garden which, being the food plant of the White-letter Hairstreak, may go some way towards explaining this.  Derek was able to get only a distant photo, but this more than sufficed to secure the identification.

 

Marbled White - PRV [photo DF]

Painted Lady - PRV [photo DF]

White-letter Hairstreak [photo DLT]