Black and yellow makes green...

A day for catching up with the domestic and administrative backlog that always build up after a few days of fieldwork. In between shopping , washing (four loads), weeding and changing all the beds I managed to sneak an hour or so out with the dogs. The sun deigned to shine, and in sheltered spots it was positively spring-like, though that all changed in more exposed areas, where the keen northerly wind was making itself felt.

The hawthorn blossom and cow parsley are now fully out, and the air is scented with flowers, the first time I've really noticed that overpowering sweetness this year. Despite the sun, insects were fairly sparse, though I saw several orange tips patrolling their territories. This one actually stopped long enough for me to snatch a photograph showing the marbled underside of the wing, which looks remarkably like lichen. The marbling has a greenish appearance, but if you look closely you will see that this is an illusion, and results from the combination of yellow and black scales.

My Mum, who was an amateur watercolour artist, would often tell me that mixing blue and yellow wasn't the only way to make green, and that black and yellow resulted in some lovely olive shades. In the case of the orange-tip it's the eye that does the mixing!