Scene of the Crime

A yellow admiral caught red-tongued in the plum tree. However, it is just an opportunist. The real perpetrator is the waxeye that made the hole in the plum. It left a clue on a nearby leaf, and evidence also that it has been scoffing ripe black elderberries.

I don’t mind about the plums. They have become too sweet for me, (they are not the wonderful Purple Kings that I blipped a few days ago). I’m amazed at the butterflies that have flocked to them. When I walk past the tree I am enveloped by dark, fluttering shapes. I have never seen so many admirals in one place. Five of them came inside. They were easy enough to catch and take outside.

Photographing them was another story. The sunshine was intense, the shadows dense, and the wind kept the shadows in constant motion. Most of the shots I took were blurry, or too dark, or blown out. And it was all together too hot to stay out. The searing sun and the hot, dry wind are sucking all the moisture from the garden, leaving trees and shrubs wilting, as well as flowers, vegetables and lawns.

As if that wasn’t bad enough the internet has been down all day. It's only just come on.