Late to the party

Last week: a party without any punters

This post was almost called 'A party but nobody came'; but eventually a few did show up, though later and in much smaller numbers than usual.  The buddleja in our garden has been here longer than we have, and is both very mature (that's the polite description) and very large.  There are varieties with better-coloured flowers, but I'm not complaining too much, as it's very floriferous and usually attracts large numbers of butterflies.  This year, however, it was in flower for about three weeks before there was much butterfly activity; whereas in past years I could count a dozen or more peacocks and red admirals at peak times on its flowers, until this week there was no more than one of each, plus a few small whites, around.  I've now seen at least two peacocks and at least five red admirals, plus one tortoiseshell, one painted lady and one elegantly shaped female brimstone; but that's paltry compared to past years.  No commas or meadow browns at all this year, although a speckled wood did flit past me in another part of the garden today.  I assume that the August hatching of this year's brood is a little later this year, and I see that the RSPB is attributing the low numbers of butterflies to the warm weather last December keeping caterpillars active when there was no food available.  I hope this autumn's lot fare better.  (One thought about the meadow browns: I used to see a lot of these on my lavender and oregano, but have seen hardly any since the lavender was removed.  Perhaps the lavender was the big attraction, with the oregano a mere sideshow?)

This week: Red admirals

Peacock

and a female brimstone

The weather has turned warm again, with some rain and (today) a big thunderstorm (that sent water from the greenhouse roof cascading into a badly-placed seed tray outside!  fortunately the contents were to be thrown away anyway).  The inside of the greenhouse got a bit of a watering through the roof vents, which were open because of the warmth, but luckily no damage was done.  The seedtrays of hardy annuals in there were kept nicely moist as a result, and I don't suppose the tomatoes in the growbags will complain either.  Some of the seeds sown the other week, including winter veg in the coldframe, are starting to germinate; it's obviously ideal weather for them. 

Young birds continue to turn up in the garden: today a young woodpigeon and two young bullfinches, not yet in full adult plumage.  And one night there was a tawny owl calling persistently, or perhaps two; one sounded shrill, and was perhaps a youngster looking for territory, with the other one staking its claim.

A bit of a mystery today: a sudden shower of white feathers from on high.  A sparrow briefly picked one up, then seemed to decide it didn't know what to do with it, lost interest and flew off without it.  There's no sign of a carcass, nor am I sure what bird they came from (seagull? chicken??) or what might have happened to it!  Some of them are fair-sized feathers, and I can't imagine a raptor flying overhead with such a large bird in its claws - but I can't think of any other explanation!