my photo

HOLLY BLUE BUTTERFLY

My garden has a good population of Holly Blue butterflies.

Fact is, this species will feed on holly and ivy, and on plants such as euonymus, snowberry and bramble, of which I have a plentiful supply of.

These asters will quite happily set seed around the garden too.

A good food source for bees.

o

photo from the BBC Wildlife Finder website

LIFTING THE LID

... on a Grass Snake.

There's one in my compost bin!

On our first meeting, the shock of seeing it curled up there, basking on the top made me jump out of my skin, but ...

I am glad it's there, and for choosing our garden as its perfect habitat.

At this time of year a female will lay eggs in this warm and protected environment, and those eggs will incubate and hatch in September/October.

A Grass Snakes staple food is frogs. Guess that's maybe why I haven't seen many this year!

Grass Snakes are a protected species, so the compost will have to be left well alone

... for a while at least.

Easy identification - a Grass Snake and Smooth Snake (non-venomous) has round eyes, an Adder (venomous) has slit ones.

o