Gosh, isn't it hot!!! Today there were 10 species of butterflies in the garden - I am not overly obsessive about counting them but I do believe that might be the highest daily total. They included SWF and Small Skipper which I don't see often but they were all singletons except for the Whites and the Commas. Many were looking for shade so the only shot I took was this Brimstone who had found some - although I don't know what that smudge is on him:
Yesterday, in a bid to escape the heat and find some breeze, myself and a friend ended up here:
There was hardly any breeze, it was just as hot as in the garden (so I couldn't resist a paddle and even the water was warm) and the butterflies were frantic. The second brood Common Blue is well and truly out here:
This afternoon I had to make a choice between the football and the butterflies - it was a tough choice but the butterflies won and in a bid to improve on those Chalkhill shots I set off to my closest site. I did a bit better but not by much. Only a few more had emerged which surprised me as in this heat I thought there would have been loads. Wurzel, I think I should get you to mark my photos for technical ability, composition, subject matter etc etc. Marks out of 50 would be fine - I think I'd score these at about 20 -22. As much as that I hear you say!
Spotting a couple of DGF gave me an opportunity to try to improve on my previous shots of those too. Getting close to this species is something I find almost impossible. The only real opportunity I had was when I watched the female egg-laying but I wasn't about to disturb her in any way. Without my specs I didn't stand a cat-in-hell's chance of finding the egg but I have marked the spot and will check at some point: