Any sunny spell of weather these days and you are likely to come across a Red Admiral, basking or nectaring on flowering Ivy. Red Admirals are generalist butterflies and late flowering Buddleia, Asters or other late blooming bushes will be used too. Red Admirals are also partial to fruit, and rotting, windfall pears or apples attract many individuals. Last week, a pear and an apple tree at a car park provided a glut of food for Red Admirals and wasps alike. About a dozen Red Admirals were around, either feeding on the fruit under the trees, wings closed, or basking on leaves with their wings fully open. Wasps were also feeding on the fruit, but the butterflies were not keen on sharing their table, so every time a wasp got too close the Red Admiral flicked its wings open (top shot) and flushed it out.
