SPRING BUTTERFLIES BRING THE HEART JOY

Watching butterflies emerging into the spring weather provides Keith with some quality time while enjoying the great outdoors

The sunny aspect of the lane that runs down to the small settlement of Crawton, south of Stonehaven, is a wonderful sanctuary for peacock butterflies at this time of year, where they float and dance on fragile burgundy wings like autumnal wind-blown leaves.

The peacock is one of our most beautiful butterflies, but they are flighty and often frustrating to watch as they never stay still for any length of time, settling briefly before spiriting up into the air once more.

When one does eventually alight for a while, the wonderfully-patterned wings shine out, most notably the four false “eyes”, one in each corner.

Nature is when it comes and purpose of unrivalled to intricacy design, and these “eyes” are a clever ruse to scare birds and other predators.

Peacocks are long-lived insects, many surviving from July until the following May.

During winter they hibernate in sheltered sites such as garden sheds, stone walls or outhouses.

Just a few months previously I had stumbled upon a hibernating peacock when moving logs in my garage, which delivered a welcome flash of colour during the darkest depths of winter.

Keen not to disturb it further, I gently secreted it into a deep recess of the wood store where it would remain safe from the predatory attentions of scuttling mice.

Prior to hibernation, peacocks gorge themselves on nectar on garden plants such as buddleia and sedum, and will seek out rotten windfall apples to sup upon their life-enhancing sugary sweetness. Despite this fattening up, it is hard to comprehend how such a vulnerable, paper-thin creature can endure our coldest months, and many succumb over winter.

After emerging from hibernation, it is a race against time to find other peacocks to mate with to ensure the creation of the next generation.

Peacocks lay their eggs in nettle patches, and in June it is not uncommon to find their dark hairy caterpillars feasting upon nettle leaves.

Nettles in a far corner of the garden may look unsightly, but for many insects they are the very oxygen of life, and gardeners should cherish these green stinging plants as welcome friends that are havens for nature.

Over the next week or so, on days when it is sunny and warm, I will be keeping my eyes peeled for orange-tip butterflies. Smaller than peacocks, the males are tangerine dreams with their white wings tipped with the brightest orange imaginable. The females are stunners, too, and on closing their wings, the most exquisite green scribblings are revealed on the undersides.

Watching a male and female spiral together in their aerial courtship dance is one of the pleasures of spring, a teasing of the mind that leaves you begging to see more.

Butterflies do that to you; such special little natural creations that are addictive to watch, and which forever make your heart sing with joy.

INFO

Small tortoiseshell butterflies also hibernate and are on the wing just now. They lay their eggs in May, which hatch a few weeks later. A further generation materialises in August, which will go into hibernation in the autumn.

THE ‘EYES’ HAVE IT: A peacock butterfly and bumblebee sit on a flower.