It’s all in the details
I love walking around the Vatican Museum. It’s great to see the treasures that were accumulated while the majority of the population …
Eastern Dappled White Butterfly
There are butterflies galore in Broken Tower Meadow, il Pratone di Torre Spaccata. Here’s one. I think it’s the Eastern Dappled White, …
2022 highlights of a wilder Italian life (part 2)
Being able to explore a natural world with different, unfamiliar species is a privilege. It was a thrill to visit Italy in …
A Silver-Washed Fritillary
I took a photograph of this Silver-Washed Fritillary, Argynnis paphia, this summer in Italy. They are astonishingly fast, have pointed wings and …
Flutterbyes
Here’s a flying Swallowtail butterfly, Papilio machaon: It’s a little tattered but beautiful all the same: Here’s a perfect example of how …
Egg-Laying
I’ve enjoyed being amongst the butterflies in Parco della Caffarella. There are many different species and it’s great to see them actively …
Have you ever seen a photograph like this?
I’ve seen a lot of photographs of butterflies but never one like this. It’s not just that it’s a shot of a …
Orange and yellow
This Orange-Tip, Anthocharis cardamines, is a beautiful spring sight, especially when feeding on an intense yellow dandelion. Have you seen its tongue? …
Clouded Yellow
This yellow butterfly is such an attractive species. It’s a Clouded Yellow, Colias croceus. It’s flying in Italy in winter amongst the …
Knees up Meadow Brown
There’s a Meadow Brown butterfly, Maniola jurtina, on Angelica, Angelica sylvestris, at the Castle o’ Burrian. It makes a lovely scene.
Goosegrass
Sticky Willie. Cleavers. Goosegrass. All great names for an extraordinary plant. Here it is is a pool of sunlight in a South …
Green Hairstreak
The Green Hairstreak is a green butterfly. Saying it’s green really does do it a disservice, though. Just look at that colour! …
Running up that hill in Madeira
It’s the first day of my time in Madeira. I’ve booked the cheapest place I can find to stay. It’s a room …
Lang’s Short-Tailed Blue butterfly
There’s a blue butterfly on a short flowering plant amongst the grass in Parco della Caffarella in Rome. It has antennae with …
Once a decade, the Thistle Butterfly
The UK is full of butterflies at the moment. It’s a once in a decade phenomenon. Have you seen one? They are …
A poisonous debate
Ragwort. It’s a beautiful yellow-flowered plant which flowers profusely in summer and is food for a myriad of wonderful creatures. Just look …
Thistle is the life
There are thistles everywhere here in Parco della Caffarella in Rome. They are very architectural against the flowing meadows of buttercups beneath: …
Undercarriage down, preparing to land
Seeing a Swallowtail butterfly in Italy is always a shock. They are just so big: The Parco della Murgia Materana is full …
Clouded Yellow
Seeing butterflies in November and December is an unexpected joy. This Clouded Yellow, Colias croceus, is wonderful to watch. There are Red Admirals, …
Birds, bees and butterflies on the river
I’m back on the banks of the River Tevere in Rome. It’s teeming with wildlife, despite the hard landscaping and high banks …
Tortoiseshell
There’s a Small Tortoiseshell butterfly which has settled in front of me: I’m thrilled because I hardly ever see them. I took …
Painting with light
There’s a Painted Lady butterfly in the garden on the Abbey here in Tarquinia in Italy. It’s high up and nicely isolated …
Insects by the pond
It’s blisteringly hot at the Abbazia San Giusto in Tuscania in Italy today. There’s not much wind and precious little shelter. Tucked …
Brimstone
I’ve seen a Brimstone butterfly before. They are the sulphur-yellow ones which come out of winter hibernation early: Brimstone without the Treacle …
A Swallowtail butterfly striped like a zebra
There’s a swallowtail butterfly species I’ve never seen before fluttering around me. It’s too close to focus on. I move away and …
The Eastern Black Swallowtail
I’ve recently been to Italy and there we saw a Swallowtail butterfly: Swallowtails They are huge and unmistakable. This week I’m in …
Woodland glade
It was very late last year when I saw a Speckled Wood butterfly: Speckled Wood This year it was May when I …
A Southern Comma
There’s a butterfly in front of me and I know what it is: it’s a Comma. I’ve seen it before, slurping on …
A Bath White, not a white bath
If you try doing a Google search for the Bath White butterfly, you get a lot of white baths. Don’t try it. …
Knapweed Fritillaries
I’m in a field in the south of Italy. A butterfly has settled in front of me: I know it’s a fritillary. …