Nature

elusive butterflies

It’s muggy today as I wander through the forest. There are Peacock, Brimstone and Red Admiral butterflies about but they are all on the small side and flit nervously about tantalizing me. Finally I have to make do with a small brown Speckled Wood butterfly which did oblige by taking a short break. There are many small white, yellow, and purple wildflowers to be seen but not the sort that attract butterflies it would seem. It is still rather early for mushroom picking but I did come across this champignon-like mushroom, which I suspect, was poisonous.

Pollywogs to frogs

On my Sunday walk to Fünf Bäume I check the progress of some tadpoles that I first spotted as eggs in a small puddle back in April. Despite several dry periods since then many have survived to become frogs (or toads, see b.r. pic). At the same location I capture an adult keeping a wary eye on them. Despite being rather humid, not ideal for butterflies, there were a number of small brown ones fluttering about (see pic) but no sign of the Brimstone, Peacock or Red Admirals, which are normally very common. Meanwhile the ants continue to rebuild their nest, which took quite a battering over winter.