21st June 2014 - Part 2
I returned to a new site in the afternoon - Sheepleas, near West Horsley. It has a huge nettle meadow, surrounded by large wooded areas and further meadows, all with different characters and flora, depending on their past use. Surrey BC had been trying to get the nettle meadow as a second branch reserve. Unsurprisingly, plenty of nettle feeders breed here.
![20140621_115457.jpg (644.8 KiB) Viewed 881 times Sheepleas nettle meadow, West Horsley, Surrey, 21st June 2014](./files/thumb_6364_4187bf170d53cd9b0e5e3e6e0acc07a5)
- Sheepleas nettle meadow, West Horsley, Surrey, 21st June 2014
First up though was a pristine Marbled White on a thistle in the hedgerow.
![20140621_115740.jpg (1 MiB) Viewed 881 times Marbled White, Sheepleas, West Horsley, Surrey, 21st June 2014](./files/thumb_6364_5706e3e9bad1723cdb2aba47fc3b4f06)
- Marbled White, Sheepleas, West Horsley, Surrey, 21st June 2014
![20140621_115850.jpg (887.19 KiB) Viewed 881 times Marbled White, Sheepleas, West Horsley, Surrey, 21st June 2014](./files/thumb_6364_6fd68b6012d39a4b549dcc03aa1f155e)
- Marbled White, Sheepleas, West Horsley, Surrey, 21st June 2014
I soon found someone enjoying the nettles.
![20140621_121809.jpg (930.62 KiB) Viewed 881 times Peacock, Sheepleas, West Horsley, Surrey, 21st June 2014](./files/thumb_6364_5b8bb34613f30eb9a8b78e75a29d2097)
- Peacock, Sheepleas, West Horsley, Surrey, 21st June 2014
I saw around 8 Small Tortoiseshells, a couple of Red Admirals and Commas.
A Ringlet was in one of the neighbouring meadows. These were in good numbers along with Meadow Browns.
![20140621_122454.jpg (892.11 KiB) Viewed 881 times Ringlet, Sheepleas, West Horsley, Surrey, 21st June 2014](./files/thumb_6364_a63c4cfdaa33b1543ad7caf7907c9a81)
- Ringlet, Sheepleas, West Horsley, Surrey, 21st June 2014
This is one of the nearby meadows which contained many different plants to the nettle meadow.
![20140621_125515.jpg (488.89 KiB) Viewed 881 times Sheepleas, West Horsley, Surrey, 21st June 2014](./files/thumb_6364_39db87cf5322ed3c200f0c62ccbd2d65)
- Sheepleas, West Horsley, Surrey, 21st June 2014
In a clearing nearby, I came across my first Silver Washed Fritillary of the year, a pristine male. There were three males along with a couple of Dark Green Fritillary.
![20140621_131220.jpg (855.72 KiB) Viewed 881 times Silver Washed Fritillary, male, Sheepleas, West Horsley, Surrey, 21st June 2014](./files/thumb_6364_ba15332a8eb6e094208c697546dc0420)
- Silver Washed Fritillary, male, Sheepleas, West Horsley, Surrey, 21st June 2014
To butterfly meadows, chalk downlands and leafy glades; to summers eternal.