Thanks all!
27/09/2018 - Walmgate Stray
I really,
really didn't expect to be writing another diary entry this year! However, at 3.15 this afternoon I came out of a particularly intense meeting with my postdoc advisors and saw the sun shining outside, and it was too much to resist! I grabbed my camera from the car and wandered out on to Walmgate Stray. There was a fairly stiff breeze blowing, but I knew of a nice corner that's sheltered from sou-westerlies and full of thistles, so there I headed, hoping for both Coppers and Tortoiseshells Small!
The Coppers were easy - there were still a good 5 or 6 at least flying. Some of them were beginning to show their age!
This one had a photobomber...
...and this one was (finally!) my first blue badger of the year!
There was one other species, but it was certainly not what I expected. I've heard of Brown Argus records from the Stray before, though I'd never seen one there myself. Regardless, it is
extremely unusual to see a third-generation Brown Argus up here in Yorkshire! But surely this one, looking pretty fresh in the last week of September, in an early year, must be exactly that...
In the end, I did see my Small Tortoiseshell as well - it whizzed past as I was walking back to the office, but didn't stop for a photo. The next few days look to be set fair as well - perhaps a bit of an Indian summer?