With the text of my book now written, this season is all about getting better photos of life stages, habitats etc. Since I'm currently 'in-between' jobs, I've spent this week running around to various sites to fill some gaps. Martin Warren kindly offered to show me around Alners Gorse in Dorset - what an amazingly diverse site, and highly recommended! The commonest butterfly, by far, was Marsh Fritillary. As you can imagine, I also learned quite a bit while talking with Martin! That was followed by a trip to the Cotswolds to meet up with David Simcox and Sarah Meredith to undertake the final review of the Large Blue, Small Heath and Small Blue species descriptions - always great company and, again, another learning experience. I thought I'd pretty much read everything there was to be read about the Large Blue, but David and Sarah are a mine of information!
![1.jpg (1.36 MiB) Viewed 5365 times Martin Warren](./files/thumb_3_aca457c1696aeaf7701ebc1bae60ac34)
- Martin Warren
![2.jpg (1.5 MiB) Viewed 5365 times Small-leaved Elms near the reserve entrance. Lots of nibbled leaves but no WLH larvae on show!](./files/thumb_3_8382063958ea25a764b584257ed3034e)
- Small-leaved Elms near the reserve entrance. Lots of nibbled leaves but no WLH larvae on show!
![3.jpg (1.55 MiB) Viewed 5365 times Mixed scrub in the middle of Alners Gorse](./files/thumb_3_0f7ef57e4142462f6c9ad800a1b75d44)
- Mixed scrub in the middle of Alners Gorse
![4.jpg (1.09 MiB) Viewed 5365 times Rooksmoor that adjoins Alners Gorse, which also had Marsh Fritillary flying](./files/thumb_3_9a1528240398549af294951d065805e2)
- Rooksmoor that adjoins Alners Gorse, which also had Marsh Fritillary flying
Yesterday I met up with Angela Leaman who showed me around parts of Salisbury Plain, somewhere I've never really ventured since I've never been sure where you're allowed to go, or where the best spots are. Again, Marsh Fritillary seemed to pop up just about everywhere, especially in a couple of hotspots - along with Dingy and Grizzled Skippers, Green Hairstreak, Common Blue, Brown Argus (including an egg), Small Heath and Small Copper.
![5.jpg (1.09 MiB) Viewed 5365 times Salisbury Plain, with the ever-present distant sound of gunfire](./files/thumb_3_3a2bc7a6966028791f095cb50ae7a457)
- Salisbury Plain, with the ever-present distant sound of gunfire
Cheers,
- Pete