One thing I like about having a garden is that it attracts its fair share of butterflies (I love butterflies). We usually get European Peacocks, Cabbage Whites, Small Tortoiseshells, Common Brimstones and with luck the occasional Swallowtail. Lately, a Red Admiral has been circling the honey-smelling ivy but seems a bit intimidated by the many bees that hang out there. Last week, however, I spotted someone I had never seen before:You can see he’s easy to miss — if you don’t look closely, he could be just a dried leaf like the one he is sitting on.

(Cellphone pics only, I’m afraid.)

At any rate, I finally looked him up (can you tell I’m still working on a boooring project?) and it seems to me he’s a Speckled Wood. The German name translates to “Forest Board Game” — I can see why.