Thanks, Trevor - more from Collard in a post or too, and on a cloudier day as well.
More like Tortoise and Tortoise, Wurzel - I'm falling further behind as the sunny days pile up!
Cheers, Buggy - no whispering to the SSB, I only speak Holly...
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There were surprisingly few older butterflies around, considering they'd been out here at least a week.
Thanks to you too, Mike - fresh DGFs are terrific butterflies and look wonderful swooping and diving over the top of the ridge at Burford Spur.
Thank you, David - you could be right, though a certain imperial contender is edging forward into the midsummer category these days.
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And yes, not doing the "W" word any more is a distinct advantage.
Friday 15th June was another sunny one. I headed first to Chiddingfold for a curtain-raiser before the rides fill with the heady aroma of tuna (and worse things)... As I expected, I quickly saw several White Admirals along all of the main paths. They were cruising up and down, but spent far more time on the ground itself than on any of the brambles or up in the trees. They were very restless though and continually moved on to a new patch of gravel, making photos hard to come by.
It was only when the attractions of a pile of horse manure became too much to resist did one stop for a bit longer.
I also came across a few Ringlets, Large Skippers and Meadow Browns, plus the surprise of a couple of aged Brimstones.
After Chiddingfold, I headed for Denbies to see if any Marbled Whites had emerged. I saw ten or so, but it was windy as usual and they were mostly hunkered down in the grass. I also saw a couple of DGF suffering in the same way. Small Heaths and Meadow Browns were everywhere, as were a variety of very worn blue butterflies. Age turns Adonis Blues a shining electric blue, and they flash in the sun as the wind tumbles them along.
I did find one that was much less worn, however.
There probably as many, if not more, female blues but telling them apart becomes tricky as they age. I think this is an Adonis.
I went on after Denbies (and after popping into the Surrey Hills Brewery behind Denbies Vineyard for some Shere Drop for the weekend) to Box Hill again. This deserves a separate post.
Dave