Gatekeeper Butterfly

I went to Newport Wetlands yesterday to try and get a days fresh air in before the weather broke. There was heavy rain forecast for today and tomorrow, so I wanted to get some fresh air before it did.

The heavy rain didn't materialise. It's been a sunny, breezy day here in South Wales. The wildlife garden patch is once again full of bees and butterflies.

There's been a lot of these Gatekeeper Butterflies about lately, it must be their time of year. There is only a handful of butterflies I can ID with any kind of certainty, and this is one of them. Mind you a twelve month ago I would have had no idea.

I am not one of these people who studies wildlife books, and hopes something sticks. I would much rather go out, see something, hopefully capture it on the camera, and then come home and ID it. I find that works for me, and most things I ID I tend to remember when I see them again.

We're doing out wedding menu selection tonight. No idea how this works. We had to pick two choices from four from each course. Don't know if this means we get a course each, or half a course each, or a taster ... all very exciting!