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Painted Lady Butterfly

Normally I am a butterfly-free zone with any number of butterflies in the area, fleeing in panic at the very sight of me. Yesterday Mags and I were strolling in the beautiful gardens of Falkland Palace and despite the rapidly cooling temperatures, we were surrounded by butterflies in the early Autumn sunshine. This is a beautiful Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) normally a less common migrant to the U.K. than the Red Admiral in my other photo. Like the Red Admiral butterflies this is feeding on lilac Aster frikartii flowers (please feel free to correct this identification). However, this has been a very prolific summer in the UK for Painted Ladies!

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Uploaded on October 6, 2009
Taken on October 5, 2009