Flavour of the week

The burdock is out along the bank of the Avon at Stratford, and this afternoon it was swarming with butterflies, most of which were Commas. I didn't know before today that Commas find burdock nectar irresistible, but it must be the case, because I've never seen so many in one place at the same time before.

Once again I was frustrated in my search for Migrant Hawkers, but I did find a Brown Hawker and an Emperor, bickering mildly over possession of a stretch of river bank, and there were also plenty of damselflies around. The extra is a male Banded Demoiselle, doing that inexplicable but rather enticing thing they do of spreading their wings and then snapping them shut again. Sometimes I think this is a prelude to taking off, and sometimes I wonder if it's a way of signalling to the opposite sex, but in this case it was neither: he simply sat on that leaf, with no other demoiselles in sight, and flicked his wings at me while I took photos.