Strange Goings-on!

Garden Spiders (Araneus diadematus) are abundant in the garden at present and have started to build web bridges between their shrubbery and my car each morning.
An idiot moth has laid eggs on a sock drying on our washing line. Commonest things being commonest, I suspect the species to be a Large Yellow Underwing and have released the young larvae into the weedy part of the lawn.
I have just watched a Red Admiral butterfly displace a Small White from an Edelweiss flower. That's a first for me, here in West Yorkshire, but it's probably not an unusual scenario in the Austrian Alps!

Grey Dagger Caterpillars

I discovered last year that Grey Dagger caterpillars are easily found on isolated Rowan trees like this one on Barden Moor.

I returned to the same tree last weekend and took this photograph.

Comma pupates

A Comma caterpillar, from my garden Elm, pupated today. The discarded larval skin can be seen close to the point where the pupa is attached to the twig.

Chrysalids of this species typically last 10-20 days.