Cheers Wurzel
5th May
After a previous visit to Noar Hill had only afforded us one Duke of Burgundy sighting, we were encouraged by the sudden spell of warm weather to venture out again today to see if any more had emerged there. It was early afternoon by the time we reached the reserve, and with the sun's intense heat and not a cloud in sight we only saw fleeting glances of a couple of passing male Brimstones, clearly intent on finding themselves a mate, and one or two male Orange-tips following suit. Fortunately, when we spotted the first two Dukes they were males defending their territory and were quite content to perch long enough for us to take some pictures.
![P1220045.JPGResize.JPG (930.5 KiB) Viewed 553 times P1220045.JPGResize.JPG](./files/thumb_11970_62e8229b23a712c2769300e204236d87)
![P1220074.JPGResize.JPG (873.99 KiB) Viewed 553 times P1220074.JPGResize.JPG](./files/thumb_11970_caaa48a3705f1ca40773f148c635a588)
We were lucky enough to then spot a Duchess settled on a cowslip leaf, but as we approached she took flight and we only just managed to keep her in our sights until she settled again and we were able to take a photo, after which she promptly disappeared. As we continued looking we spotted a second Duchess sat on a blade of grass, and as she seemed fairly settled we were able to take a few pictures before she too flew out of sight.
Our third and final Duchess we spotted weaving in and out of the undergrowth with a very persistent male in pursuit. I managed just one shot of them out in the open where the male was clearly trying to mate with her, his abdomen fully curled round towards her. All to no avail, as she rebuffed his advances and took off, leaving the poor Duke staggering around in the grass in search of her.
We watched this same female settle on a cowslip further up the slope and curl her abdomen under a leaf, only then realising why she'd rejected the Duke's advances. When she moved on we took a careful look under the leaf and discovered two shiny white eggs near the edge. A first for us
![P1220592.JPGResize.JPG (1.43 MiB) Viewed 553 times The Cowslip looked quite ordinary, and was in full sun](./files/thumb_11970_86c3b97e01ef1dece32c090e3de8768b)
- The Cowslip looked quite ordinary, and was in full sun
In all we saw 12 Dukes throughout the reserve today, 3 of which were females, all looking very fresh.
A little later in the afternoon we stumbled across our first Green Hairstreak of the year posing nicely on a patch of brambles. Although we looked thoroughly it seemed to be a solitary specimen. We also found about half a dozen Dingy Skippers at various spots on our way out of the reserve which finished off our day rather nicely.