Peacock

Peacock butterfly feeding on hemp agrimony, Foulshaw Moss

The weather forecast wasn't that wonderful for Cumbria today, and it started overcast and grey. As the day went on it got better and better.

I popped in to Foulshaw after work, meeting up with that recovering blipper Brokenbanjo (he really thinks he's kicked the habit, hah!). There were good views of an osprey, possibly two, the second viewing was when a bird was carrying a large fish (I have a distant, fuzzy but recognisable photo of it). There was another bird perched in the pines that was probably a hobby.

The sightings blackboard reported Awesome Adders, but despite my being with the snake magnet, today we didn't see any. There were plenty of dragons and damsels flying over the ponds, including at least one Emperor. I tried hard to get a photo of a dragon in flight, and one or two were identifiably dragons but that's the best that can be said for them. Now there's a challenge.

So today's blip is a peacock butterfly at Foulshaw, pristine and bright in the afternoon sunshine. It was one of many feeding on the hemp agrimony along the access track. After I blipped the peacock chrysalis last week, several people asked to see the emergent butterfly. My colleague took the chrysalis home that night, so there was no chance to get a photograph of it newly hatched. But this one, flying wild, is maybe better.