One of the joys of spending 4 days at home, much of that time lying in a sun lounger in the garden, is that things we'd normally not notice in the rush of life, we see. The holly blue butterfly is aptly named. Actually it should be called the holly and ivy butterfly as within it's life style it requires holly for the first generation and ivy for the second. We have both. This species is one of the beneficiaries of climate change as it is moving further north than before. My parents in Tyneside have a huge holly tree, lots of ivy, and around 5 or 6 years ago, holly blue butterflies arrived. One of the first records in the area. Now these enchanting butterflies are in Scotland. The holly blue is also the only blue butterfly you will see in gardens (unless your garden is open grassland loved by the other blues). I've been mesmerised by them all weekend, a male and female (in pictures) have swirled and danced around the two holly pom-pom's we have. A sure sign that even the smallest of habitat changes will bring the wildlife in. I tried to get a good picture of the male but he was very flighty. Interesting final thought, holly blues don't take nectar, but drink honeydew from plants such as the forget-me-not below. Nature is fascinating.
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