MAD SUNDAY, COWS, DEVILS AND BUTTERFLIES

Mad Sunday


Another Mad Cow on the island

Bikes and tigers and butterflies, oh my!

The devil rides out with his pussycat doll. Dontcha wish you tourists were hot like mine? Dontcha!

Last of the Mohicans

At last we are underway with the . These images are from what we call "Mad Sunday." As you can see it's just lots of bikers having fun doing laps round the island some in fancy dress. Besides the above I also captured the Pink Panther, Sylvester the Cat, a wasp a bunny to name but a few. Hundreds of people out on bikes and hundreds more along just to watch the parade of two wheeled fancy dress riders.

The sun is shining. The new race schedule has been published. Busy day ahead and posting as and when this week.

ONE BUTTERFLY LEFT- CRITTERS

Painted lady takes a break

Critters

Well that was either a very pretentious title, a really great pun or a misquote of one of my fav ipod albums. All three. Don't worry I am not about to break into a tedious Haiku with the sound of one hand clapping. Not that they are tedious ( oh ok actually a lot are) it's just everyone now thinks they can write one and frankly my dears, well they can't. I think you know what I mean. What we do have though are more butterflies. More of those painted ladies to be exact. Unlike the one last week I showed you looking onto half closed wings, here you can see the overwing and the underside of the wing. You can see the spotting and colouring better too. So I know what the butterfly is but not a clue on the plant. Last week the plant was a butterfly on a buddleja (butterfly bush to some of you) but this week I haven't a clue. I know I can rely on you as you comment to clarify what wild thing it is. It's in the meadow I showed last week last week, dry grassy area if that helps for identification purposes. To check out about the painted lady in more detail above click here

For more butterfly images on wild plants click the words below.


Buddleja Buddies
Red Admiral

Stoned Butterfly

For other critters of all shapes and sizes check out Misty Dawn's den and Camera Critters which is one year old today. As spring has sprung and the nights are getting lighter and longer expect to see more butterflies, especially painted lady ones. I did warn you there would be more of these butterflies. If you see a post for Big Fat Hairy Bikers though that will not be a species of butterfly but the real thing. If you see a post for Big Fat Hairy Bikers and Painted Ladies... you are on a very different blog to this one! To understand that paragraph from last week you really need to know what the other kinda painted lady is. No you find out for that info for yourself.

Now go flutterby some other critters.

foj

PAINTED LADY UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL - CRITTERS

Well what kinda lady were you expecting?

I always think this is a funny name for a butterfly. Painted ladies just have so many connotations. You just know someone has googled and ended up with Vanessa cardui (to give the butterfly above her latin name) and not Vanessa, Painted Lady offering... well you get the gist. Anyway where was I? This is the first Painted Lady of the year here. I have seen lots of conservation maps that say this butterfly does not migrate here. Hello! Here's Vanessa. She must be lost then along with the many others we get.


Is it true that in North America this butterfly is referred to sometimes as a Cosmopolitan? I have posted this question before. Lots of websites say this but no one has confirmed it. I'm feeling quite lazy tonight and in need of being a couch potato so I'm going to leave you with a few links all about the Painted Lady.


Uk Butterflies
Wiki
Enchanted learning
Last PL of summer



For other critters of all shapes and sizes check out Misty Dawn's den and Camera Critters which is one year old today. As spring has sprung and the nights are getting lighter and longer expect to see more butterflies, especially painted lady ones. If you see a post for Big Fat Hairy Bikers though that will not be a species of butterfly but the real thing. If you see a post for Big Fat Hairy Bikers and Painted Ladies... you are on a very different blog to this one!

Social Butterflies, not pretty just plain rude.

BUDDLEJA BUDDIES - CRITTERS SUNDAY

No this isn't the nature reserve, garden or park, but a humble, Ramsey back alley. Amazing where you find photo opportunities. Hardly seen any butterflies or bees this year and now both appear on this beautiful bush. I call this bush a buddleja( pronounced buddleha) but I've noticed in America it's called a butterfly bush. I can see why. Butterflies to swamp them. What of it's strange name though?



Buddleja is actually a spelling mistake. which accounts for the strange j. Jst how it was recorded. Butterfly bush is how it is also often referred to




Some species are commonly found as escapees from the garden. B. davidii in particular is a great coloniser of dry open ground; in towns in Britain, it often self-sows on waste ground, where it grows into a dense thicket, and it is listed as an invasive species in many areas. It is frequently seen beside railway lines, on derelict factory sites and after the Second World War on urban bomb sites. This accounts for me finding this buddleja pictured down a stoney back alley. A garden escapee I like that.


For more wonderful camera critters see MISTY DAWN Camera critters and be sure to leave a nice comment for Misty' s own outstanding posts.