I'm sure Holly Blues & Orange Tips are imminent for you, Otep.
Tuesday 7th April 2020 - Wall of Blue.....
I took a long lunch today and went over to Cwm Ivy again. It was deserted, unsurprisingly, although the glade where all the butterflies are is always devoid of people, although today it was full of Holly Blues.
A handful of Brimstones were about (10-ish) and around half a dozen Speckled Woods:
Eight Orange Tips were seen, including this individual who was posing at such an angle that the sunlight was reflecting off the left half and causing the underside mottling to show through on the right half:
The blackthorn still isn’t quite at its peak; I reckon another 4 to 5 days:
There were around half a dozen Peacocks and a couple of Commas buzzing around, but by far the commonest species was Holly Blue, which must have numbered 40 or so. This spot had around a dozen swirling around the sunlit area by the ivy clad tree trunks:
Practically all were males, and in between their dogfights they willingly came to rest and basked:
However, it was females that I had come to search for, and I managed to find this little stunner in a quiet corner:
I was surprised at how much more light was reflected off the hindwings than the forewings. I took a risk and cast my shadow over her for a more even image:
The only other species was a White, which could possibly have been my first Green Veined White of the year, but it remained airborne and I couldn’t get close enough.
After leaving, I took a different road out and couldn’t resist taking an image of this lovely view overlooking Whiteford Burrows: