No worries, I look forward to seeing what you can do with it
Wurzel ![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
I'm trying to keep up with things
David but I fear I may slip into 'Wurzel territory' as the season continues, Xmas Purple Emperors maybe
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
It's only the one spot where Small Tortoiseshells seem to flourish near me sadly
Thanks
Dave, I heard word that the first Adonis are indeed out now down Sussex way, so they must be only days away at Denbies too... if Spring ever returns that is
![Rolling Eyes :roll:](./images/smilies/icon_rolleyes.gif)
!
Thanks
Andrew ![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
Thanks
Trevor, and yes Sussex is calling (indeed has already called, see below).
Well I hope you had a brew and a few biscuits for dunking before settling down to my Spanish 'novella'
Ernie
May 2019 part 1
1st May
Just a quick stop off at Tottenham Marshes on the way home from the cinema. A little bit late in the day and a tad too cloudy and cool for there to be much activity but a couple of Peacock and Comma were just getting ready for bed and made sure it wasn’t a completely wasted stop off.
4th May
The weekend was a bit iffy, a rather chilly northerly wind was going to put a tight lid on the temperature but there was at least some sun predicted, along with light showers, downpours and thunder storms. It turned out to be a pretty accurate prediction for a change. To avoid the worst of the wind a figured a woodland site would be best and seeing all the Pearl-bordered Fritillaries gracing various diaries, Abbots Wood seemed an obvious choice.
As is traditional for me, I got lost, taking a wrong turn somewhere but I managed to work out where I was and found the small clearing that provided the most amount of shelter from the wind. I hadn’t seen a single butterfly until I reached it, but almost immediately upon arriving an orange butterfly flew up from under my feet. There were three or four on the wing and the cool conditions kept them nice and approachable.
10 minutes of chasing was enough to start the day so I went off to see if anything was awake elsewhere. At the large clearing I found just a single butterfly, not a Fritillary but it was in keeping with the days colour scheme.
At the third clearing I found just a Speckled yellow moth posing for me.
The return was a little more fruitful. A male Minotaur Dung Beetle successfully distracted me from the butterflies for a while.
A couple of Fritillaries, somewhat friskier than earlier, were searching out females along the sheltered edge of the large clearing. Whilst watching these I could myself being observed from up above, lets play ‘guess the butterfly’, shouldn’t be too hard to work out what this sneaky fellow was
![Wink :wink:](./images/smilies/icon_wink.gif)
. Quite a few bejewled Longhorn Moths were also doing their best to hide from the wind.
Back at the first clearing several more Fritillaries were now doing their thing in the sun but my eye was drawn to something smaller, I’ve never seen a Dingy Skipper here before.
It was however sunny spells rather than wall to wall blue skies so there was ample opportunity to hunt for napping Fritillaries.
By noon I decided to move on and try for another seasons debut, getting slightly distracted by a small colony of Small Heath, a HUGE Small Copper (the pictures don’t do her justice she was at least as big as a Large Blue), and a passing Red Admiral.
Next stop was the South Downs Way in between Eastbourne and Beachy Head and an attempt to find a Wall or two. The path I normally focus on here, Wall Brown Alley, is pretty sheltered even on the windiest day.
I’d managed to avoid the rain all morning but now the showers were appearing much more frequently and there were several anvil shaped Cumulonimbus clouds loitering ominously around on the horizon too. Despite all this and the general nip to the air, a few butterflies were still brave enough to come out to play. First off, a Green Hairstreak threw some shapes as it tried in earnest to gather enough of the suns rays to remain active and then halfway along the path, target acquired
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
. As befitted the days less than ideal conditions, there were only two or three of these sun worshippers active but like the Fritillaries, at least they were easier than usual to approach.
The day ended with a fluky shot of a Stonechat just taking off.
5th May
The following day didn’t look to be much better, still cold with less of a breeze but also less sun predicted. There was however enough sun to tempt me out to visit Hutchinson’s bank, a warm south facing site so possibly the best chance of finding anything without spending lots of money on train fares. In the end I managed seven butterflies of five species and photos of two species. It was nearly an hour before the first butterflies showed themselves, a couple of active Small Heath enjoying a prolonged sunny spell on the main scrape and a little while later a couple of Dingy Skippers joined them.
I was following the second one when the sunny spell ended and the Skipper seemed to know there was not much chance of the sun returning. He flitted around until he found a suitable resting spot where he settled down.
I did another circuit of the site, seeing nothing much else until I returned to the main scrape again to stumble across a freshly emerged Grizzled Skipper, wings still a bit soft. Occasional slithers of sunlight encouraged it to flex its wings but it never got very far. And it soon settled down when the clouds thickened again.
At this stage temptation got the better of me, it wasn’t far from where the Dingy was still snoozing so I coaxed it onto my finger and posed them together.
MrSp0ck joined me at this stage and we chatted whilst waiting for a patch of blue sky to wake them up properly. It was worth the wait
After they both fluttered off it was time for me to make a move, a glimpse of a male Orange-tip and a fresh Speckled wood encounter completing the days tally. A day of quality over quantity
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
.