Did you know there are 46 species of butterflies in Britain alone, which appear in August every summer? That explains why I’ve had several butterflies visit my room since July. Brown, white and if I’m lucky colourful ones too, some have been small and some have been big enough for me to see the fine detail in their precious fragile wings.
From Adonis blue to Wood white these incredible insects are so special that they only live approximately one month and some live shorter due to diseases, predators and objects.
The butterflies we see in our garden feeding on a flower will on average live for only a week, these insects are delicate and must be handled with extra care.
I’ve always found seeing butterflies quite infrequent, until the last two to three years that is, one of the biggest butterflies to visit stayed with me for almost a week, it was beautiful and I was surprised to see it stay for so long.
I’ve had two visit my room in the last week, mostly at night as the weather is hot and they like to flutter their way in. One survived for I think what was about three days and the other died the following afternoon (it somehow managed to trap itself underneath my suitcase). It fascinates me that these creatures evolve from a tiny egg which then hatches into a Larva (the caterpillar), the third stage is the Pupa (the Chrysalis), better known to us as the cocoon. However there is a difference between the Pupa and the cocoon, one is made from protein and the other is spun from silk, so the last stage is the adult butterfly emerging- interesting isn’t it?
There’s actually an on-going project called- Butterfly World situated in Hertfordshire to promote the learning of these pretty insects and I quote from their website: “raise awareness of the environmental needs of the most beautiful and fragile representation of nature – The Butterfly.”
Another flying animal I’ve had frequent visits from this year is the bird, particularly as this heatwave has arrived in London, at first it was a black bird that I would see from time to time in our back garden. For the first time in my life I was shown photos of a real baby bird, a very close friend of mine had four budgies at the time and as the mummy laid her eggs, it was amazing to see such a tiny creature come into the world. He’s grown now and is close to learning how to stand alone. The most recent visits I’ve had are over the last fortnight as a couple have been visiting our back garden every day, sometimes I miss them and others like this morning I got to take several photos of them. Today, only one of them spent almost five minutes in the same spot before flying over to the nearest tree, their presence is enough to make my day.
Below are some interesting facts on butterflies and birds:
• Birds have feathers, wings, lay eggs and are warm blooded
• There are around 10000 different species of birds worldwide
• Butterflies can see yellow, red and green
• Butterflies taste with their feet
• The Ostrich is the largest bird in the world
• Scientists believe that birds evolved from theropod dinosaurs
• Butterflies can’t fly if they’re cold
• The wings of butterflies are transparent
• Owls turn their heads almost 360○ (a complete circle) but they cannot move their eyes.
• Mockingbirds can imitate many sounds, from a squeaking door to a cat meowing.
• Hummingbirds can fly backwards.
• Butterfly wings are not only for flying, they also act as miniature solar panels.
• The Bee Hummingbird is the smallest living bird in the world, with a length of just 5 cm (2 inches
• Homing pigeons are bred to find their way home from long distances away and have been used for thousands of years to carry messages.
