Yesterday’s fine spring weather certainly brought some interesting visitors to the garden. A long and interesting walk through the Parke Estate at Bovey Tracy on the edge of Dartmoor, in fact home of the National Park Offices, was not particularly rewarding for birds but Holy Blue Butterflies and a couple of Orange Tip–Anthocharis cardamines males settled long enough for me to get these pictures. I was particularly pleased with the Orange Tip because last year I hadn’t been successful. So, imagine my surprise when on our return we had both of these species in the garden. The Holly Blue was a frequent visitor last year but the Orange Tip is a garden first. I find it interesting that they have appeared in different parts of the county at around the same date. Both of these images are taken with my Tamron 1.1 Macro lens and they are life size. I love the way the Orange Tip looks as though he has been dipped in paint. If you live in an
area that has this species look out for them on grass verges near woods but in bright sunlight. The food plant of the caterpillar is always crucial and these feed on Ladies Smock and Wild Garlic Mustard, so a good place to look will be where you know these plants grow. Their markings are a warning to predatory birds that they are distasteful as their bodies contain mustard oil. The Holly Blue lays its eggs

on Holly or Ivy as well as Dogwood. We have both in our garden in abundance. This is a a species that fluctuates due, it is thought to a parasitic wasp which develops inside the pupae and destroys it before it has chance to emerge as an adult.