![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
Wednesday 31st May: Part Two. It took almost exactly an hour to reach the Hill from Bentley Wood, and I arrived there exactly at five, with now almost wall-to-wall sunshine. I didn't need to go far to find Marsh Fritillaries - there were several nectaring on the brambles close to the bottom path, along with more honey bees than I've seen for a very long time, and dozens of burnet moths. Many of the Fritillaries were getting worn and acquiring the "greasy" look that earned them one of their former names. However, before I had really started to look a bit further afield, a male and female Brimstone encountered one another right in front of me. The female settled, wings open and displaying the classic rejection posture, but the male flew repeated sorties at her. His lengthy pestering allowed me the time for once to fiddle with the camera and try for some open wing shots. After a lot of blurred attempts, I got it right. A couple of bursts of ten shots at 1/2000 (as far as the camera will go) produced what I wanted. A pity the butterflies were so worn! The photos also pick up the complete indifference of the female - she is nectaring throughout it all. Moving on, there were more Marshies scattered along the slope, and I found one mating pair. They were very restless, with both parties trying to bask in the sun at the same time at one point. Also seen this evening were several Large Skippers, a few Adonis, a few Brown Argus, one Green Hairstreak, and a Peacock. One moment of confusion when a large orange-brown butterfly arrived, dwarfing the Fritillaries on the brambles, turned into a female Wall. Finally, today's moth was this little green chap. Dave