Wurzel

[Goldie M]

Lovely shots Wurzel, I'll get one shot in some day Daughter is arriving Thursday to take me to Kent,
can't wait Goldie

[Wurzel]

Cheers Dave It is a cracking little and little known reserve - also has had DGFs, SWFs, Chalkhills, Adonis and a couple of Cloudies in the past - just need a passing Emperor to round the list off nicely
Cheers Goldie Hope you have a great time in Kent, the weather looks set to be improving by next week so hopefully you'll get onto some cracking butterflies

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Martin Down 06-05-2020

After recent visits for exercise had produced four of my ‘Firsts for 2020’ I was wondering what today would hold in store. From my previous visits there had either been a nice range with only the odd one or two of each species seen or there had been good numbers but only from a limited palette as it were. As I drove down over from Salisbury I didn’t see a single butterfly and so I reckoned that the Butterfly Gods were holding everything back until I got to my destination and so I drove with the growing feeling that this was going to be a bit of an epic visit despite the limited time I would be able to spend on site.

As I drove down Sillen’s Lane it was as if the ‘Butterfly Switch’ had been clicked on and there were male OTs patrolling all the way along the hedge. I would have counted them but I could only catch glimpses of them as I was too busy concentrating on missing the potholes and dips in the road/track. At one point I glimpsed another white butterfly and it was as though time has stood still for it stood out from the background pin sharp and crystal clear - a Green-veined White. Then Physics caught up with me and I had to turn my eyes once more road wards. I parked and set off along the track that follows the hedge and I was soon adding butterflies to the tally with first a Grizzlie and then a Greenstreak. I’m guessing the GH was a female as it was low down in the grass as opposed to sitting up high and holding court? Further along was another Grizzlie and this one had been joined by 2 Dingies and a female Brimstone all down on the deck. Was this because it was still early and they were gathering warmth? It could also have been that they were trying to suck up the dew and any minerals that were dissolved in it as the ground was parched and baked hard and the only other source of moisture/dissolved minerals that I could see was a deep tractor rut that still held some mud. As I approached I saw 2 more Grizzlies crawling around and mud puddling. Chuffed at witnessing this behaviour I tarried for a while to watch but I didn’t want to try for any shots until I was going to move on as I didn’t want to disturb them. At this point the path curves away from the hedge leaving a triangular ‘verge’ and in this little patch I counted a brace each of Greenstreak and Grizzlies and a singleton Dingy.

By now I’d reached the start of the tunnel but before I could dive down into it a tiny Small Blue was trying to punch above its weight class as it scrapped with a Dingy and a Grizzlie – it was like a miniature Fight Club. In between bouts the Small Blue would pause and I could make out the blue scales lightly dusting the wings making this a male and also explaining the high testosterone levels on display! Once the Skipppers had made off I settled down to get a few shots of the SB as it recuperated and refuelled. Looking back at the photos later it appears that there were actually two Small Blues here as I got shots of one that didn’t possess a single blue scale – a female.

Onwards I went into the tunnel which was actually very quiet, the only places I saw butterflies were at the various openings; the few places where the scrubby hedge on one side had been pulled up. In the light from the first of these I found two Dingies and another Small Blue and at the second there were a couple more Grizzlies including one which flew up high, jinking around in such a fashion that had I not seen it down on the deck and had I to have guessed its ID I’d have gone for Greenstreak! I could tell when I was reaching the end of the Tunnel as I started seeing Specklies one of which was down and taking salts from one of the rare damp patches on the ground. As I broke out into the sun shine at the far end I watched for 3 Dingies for several moments. They were involved in a bit of a fracas and I’m guessing that either all three were males squabbling over territory or possibly a brace of males squabbling over a none too impressed female. At one point during the seemingly random acts of violence a hapless Grizzlie got dragged into the fuss as well.

Onwards and upwards I went – literally as I followed the track up the hill and skirting round the rings of the hillfort. I got onto the main track and then cut across towards the little meadow looking chiefly for Greenstreaks. On the narrow and overgrown tracks I picked up 2 Dingies and another Grizzlie and in the now usual place I found a/the Greenstreak looking quite tired and ragged. I cut back through to the main trackway near the hotspot and spent some time here with a female Holly Blue that was down near the ground. She was tempted to open up but small twigs or leaves kept interfering with her wishes. Luckily she had enough of this and so flew up the path a bit towards some of the tussocky grass and the less cluttered bramble leaves at the side of the path. Also here were a couple of Greenstreaks and a male Brimstone. The real star of the show here though was an almost black Small Heath which didn’t possess a single blue fleck – its inky sheen contrasted gorgeously with the almost silver white margins – a real stunner.

Round at the Hollow were a further 2 Greenstreaks, a comparatively docile Small Heath and singletons of Grizzlie, Dingy and Peacock. I now started the slow trudge along the Dyke towards what I think of as the top end of Martin Down, the bit by the main car park. I walk along meticulously noting down the butterflies that fly within view and hoping that some will actually land. On the way my note book pages start getting filled running along the lines of:

Dingy, 2 Grizzlies, female Brimstone, 2 male Brimstones, Greenstreak, male Orange-tip, 2 Brimstones…and Ariston…

It felt like I was spending more time with my nose buried in my notebook than actually watching out for butterflies. It also felt like I was seeing a lot of the same but when I reached the bit of the Dyke which started to level off near to the cross path that enters the reserve from Dorset a Small Copper saw me writing in some different initials. Though I also had to note down a few Small Blues prior to this WINK. Just as I was enjoying these a large butterfly appeared cutting and slicing its way through the air and then gliding past before veering off in a new direction with a flick of its wing tips and a rapid set of flaps. It was a Marshie and it was swiftly followed by a second that followed flew a similar flight plan before disappearing over the bank and disappearing into Dorset. But whilst I was again able to write something different in my notebook I wasn’t able to add something different to my memory card…yet…

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[trevor]

Good to se your Small Blues, Wurzel. A species I failed to catch up with this Spring.
Back home tomorrow to more wind and rain if the forecast is to be believed.
Looking forward to another Tilshead visit in August.

Keep well,
Trevor.

PS. A Brown Hairstreak was photographed in Sussex recently,
and a Large Tort in my local woods.

[millerd]

Some lovely Small Blues, Wurzel, especially that inky black one. It could be a very fresh female. When brand new, they can be very dark and often have that almost oily sheen that some new brown female blues display. Martin Down is such a great site...

Cheers,

Dave

[Wurzel]

Cheers Dave I was thinking that myself - she was a beauty That's been one of the positives of Lockdown - reacquainting myself with this cracking reserve
Cheers Trevor I visited Martin Down at the weekend and saw a second brood Small blue there so you might be able to catch up with them
when you're out and about .If you're back early August we could sort out a Shipton visit for Brostreaks - that's if they haven't already finished, it's been a crazy year so anythings possible!

Martin Down 06-05-2020 Part 2

The Dyke had now ended, petering out to the same level as the rest of the fields a Large White flew rapidly by and there were a couple more Small Blues and a Peacock but what I had been really looking forward to seeing had disappeared in a flash of red and ginger. I strolled across the grass looking out for Adders and took a turn down the small path at the ½ way point. As I strolled down the path a Brimstone flew by and was quickly followed by a second, two Dingies scrapped low down and on a little cleared bank a Small Copper tried to have a breather but two Greenstreaks kept coming down from the surrounding Hawthorns and hassling it. At the end a third Greenstreak was flitting about and on my return a second Small Copper posed on a Dandelion and I don’t know what was brighter – the yellow flower or the orange of the butterfly?

After this brief respite I plunged back down into the Dyke…well that was the intention but the Dyke was closed off with electric fencing. Typical as now I started seeing Marsh Frits – sitting on the far side of the Dyke and well beyond the sensible reach of my lens. I carried on looking down longingly into the Dyke and spying another Small Blue and Marsh Frit. Luckily as I was drawing near to the Butts the fence ended and I was able to get down into the Dyke again and start seeking out Marsh Frits and I was successful, finally after seeing at least 5 individuals without any shots. Also here were a brace of Peacocks that started following me as I progressed further along the Dyke.

Just beyond the Butts the Dyke starts to shallow out again and run for 20 metres or so barely noticeable amidst the other vegetation but then after a track crosses it returns rapidly to its original depth. It was at this point that I started to really get onto the Marshies. First there was the tell-tale flight of on lone individual, the vanguard of the group as it were. Then several just appeared and at one point had had three in one view. These were joined by another two so a small square of approximately 4 metres held up to 8 Marshies - a nice density! Possibly feeling left out by all the attention their distant cousins were getting a Peacock, Small Copper and a Small Heath also put in an appearance but I’ sorry to say they got short shrift as I was enjoying the Marshies so much particularly the variation I could see. Every year I forget and so spend my first few encounters with Marshies revelling and wondering at their difference in appearance. So it was on this occasion; one had a beautiful milk chocolate brown ground colour and yellow and cream chequers whilst another had a similar ground colour but this was only visible as thin streaks in between orange and yellow blocks. My favourite however was a very fecund female who was jet black with orange and red blocks.

After getting started again so abruptly the Dyke then stops abruptly again but only because there’s a large growth of scrub blocking off a section of the Dyke. So I walk round to the final part before the Dyke is cut off by Blandford Road. This final part is divided up by a series of little cross paths into about 4 sections the furthest two don’t hold much and most of the action seems to be focused in the two just after the ‘blockage’. So it’s this part that I climb down into. I spend 10 minutes or so in here with a Dingy, patrolling OT and Brimstone and four brilliant looking Marshies. I climb back out to pour a coffee and leave it to cool by my bag and follow another gorgeously fresh looking Marshie. It lands just as my phone rings. It’s work:
“Can you get onto the network?”
“Err…I’m taking my exercise?”
“Okay stay on the line we can put you through speaker phone while we Zoom”
While this was happening the Marshie had landed in a perfect position…I passed my phone to my other hand, leant in with camera one handed and fired off a few shots and then carried on with the call. Once it was complete and my coffee was drunk I got back to the butterflies picking up even more Marshies and a Greenstreak that was wing rolling and hinting at the chocolate brown uppers.

One handed...

After this delightful time I realised that I needed to get back as despite having the Conference Call (well I suppose that’s what it could be called) I was dangerously close to being out too long when accumulating my lunch, break, free lessons and the fact that I was intending to work an extra hour in the evening. So I started back and for a while I refrained from counting, just put my head down and motored for home. I was going quite well until I got past the Butts and got onto the diagonal track that carves a the reserve into half when still head down and still motoring I almost trod on a Small Copper. I checked my watch and did a few mental calculations and realised that I still had a bit more time than I’d previously thought. Now motoring reverted back to ‘proceeding’ a gait used by both the Police and Teachers where you can cover ground with minimal effort. I’d just passed the old patch that in years gone by had been ploughed up especially for Stone Curlews when I had a little purple patch. A Dingy started it all off as it appeared from nowhere in the middle of the track. A female Brimstone did a flyover and then a smaller brown butterfly hove into view. At first I was a bit confused about what it could be but luckily it went down on the deck and I found that it was a Greenstreak, totally out of place amid the sea of grass that forms this part of the site. As I look up a male Brimstone flies along the edge of the track – possibly looking for the female and a few steps on a Grizzlie also pops up.

After this I reached the little hollow near the entrance to the tunnel. I saw three Dingies and a Grizzlie all hanging out nearby to each other in the various different ruts. I checked back in my notebook and was so left wondering whether they were the same individuals that I’d encountered squabbling to their hearts content earlier in the morning? Added to this group of reprobates were a few Small Heaths and a pair of Marshies and as I made into the tunnel I was again left wondering – but this time where the Marshies had been earlier in the morning? I seem to recall that of the three Frits that I’ve encountered at Bentley this year Marshies are generally the last species spotted so I reckon that they are the most ‘Student’ like of Frits – odd fashion and favouring long lie-ins. I dove on down into the tunnel stopping here and there for the odd butterfly and to make the odd note in my book. By the end I’d amassed braces of Holly Blue, Specklie, Dingy and Brimstone and then I was leaving the cooler, pleasant shade of the tunnel and starting the final furlong. I didn’t get very far from the entrance/exit to the tunnel when a Small White flew into view. It’s not often that this species does me a favour and usually I’m left cursing it as they’ve just spooked my target species, but today as I was watching the Small White if flew past a Red Admiral and I was able to get at least a record shot before it realised that I was onto it.

On the final stretch there were more Dingies and Grizzlies – most of which I’d probably already counted on the outward route and there was also singletons of Brimstone, Small White and Greenstreak. The star of the reprise was a male Small Blue that was sitting on the very edge of the hedge where it curves round at the old gate. Smiling I thought it best to leave it at that and head home directly. A truly epic morning with both quantity and quality – Martin Down at its spring best!

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[millerd]

Lovely fresh Marshies, Wurzel - I didn't get to see them there until they'd worn a bit and lost that clean fresh look. They do like the dandelions, don't they? Yellow flowers are definitely a favourite, and they wear them well too... Great shots.

Cheers,

Dave

[essexbuzzard]

Agreed. We were hoping to catch up with Marsh Fritillaries this year, but it wasn’t to be.

[trevor]

Some stunning, mrgeen worthy, shots there Wurzel.
That fresh Small Blue , And the very fresh Marsh Frits.
I missed out on both species this year owing to ' the bug '.

Shipton sounds good, anything to get an open wing male BH.

Stay safe and well,
Trevor.

[Neil Freeman]

Some cracking Marsh Fritillaries there Wurzel

We were hoping to catch up with Marsh Fritillaries this year, but it wasn’t to be.

Same here. Oh well, maybe next year.

Cheers,

Neil.

[Wurzel]

Cheers Dave Martin Down has certainly come on in terms of Marshies over the last few years, when I started you had to keep schtum about sightings . Did I detect a reference to Rod the Mod there?
Cheers Essex I know the feeling - Heath Frits and Large Blues for me. I also have missed out on Wood Whites as I allowed myself only one 'Big Trip' this year - oh well it's always good to have something to look forward too
Cheers Trevor I'll see what I can rummage up from Shipton - hopefully they'll have a more 'normal' season this year and stick to their rule book
Cheers Neil It has been a funny old year, I only did one 'Big Trip' this year instead of a three or four I was considering but staying local where possible has brought it's own rewards

I recently watched 'James May in Japan' or some such on Amazon TV and loved the idea of Haikus...So for the last two posts here goes...

Martin Down in May
Was marvelous for Marshies
Chequers in the grass

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Vernditch 07-05-2020

As we all managed to get most of our work done first thing and as the weather is still so nice we decided to pack a snack and head over to Vernditch for our daily exercise. The good thing about this site is that it’s little known and so really quiet, on this visit there was only one other car in the car park as we arrived. The leaves have unfurled now and whilst the sun was shining strongly overhead lighting the path a few steps into the woodland meant that you were enveloped by a green shade. The Bluebells are still upright but no longer do they form a sea of blue, more like a scattering of small ponds and puddles and whilst the Wild Garlic is still pungent in aroma their petals are starting to thin forming a mosaic of pale green and white. We only encountered a couple of butterflies on the walk through the woodland and those were Specklies, numbering 3, in the now usual spots.

As we broke from the cover onto the open scrubland of Kitts Grave a male OT tore past us from behind almost as a welcome. This time we kept walking to the ‘end’ sticking to the high path. Once there we stopped for the snack and while my coffee cooled I watched a couple of Brimstones patrolling, a Peacock basked momentarily on the path and a male OT dropped in for a quick drink. Even in their dotage they’re still able to move like rockets and approaching them is still tricky. A Specklie came down close as I drank my coffee but was seen off by a malignant little grey blur which swiftly became a diminutive Grizzlie.

The girls then started the slow walk back to where we usually had our snack where they would settle down and give my 10 minutes or so to try and find some butterflies. Whilst they took the top path I strolled down the bank and worked along the bottom of the valley (if you can call it that?). Straight away I found a few butterflies. As well as the larger whites patrolling about and sexually harassing one another and a Silver Y which behaved itself for a few seconds there was a smaller brown blur. It was a Dingy Skipper and once it had buzzed around and about it seemed to relax and landed on my boot.

The little valley I was in was dissected occasionally by another path at right angles which continued up into the woodland on my left. This means that the valley is almost broken up into four sections. As I came into the next one the larger butterflies were all present – a couple of Brimstone males and a female, a Small White and a male OT but all were hanging back in the longer, thicker vegetation on the valley bank. The floor of the valley though held the smaller butterflies and her three were three little blurs around in a little cleared area where there had been a clearance fire. One blur was slightly bigger than the others and was brown – a Dingy and the other two were silver and grey. I reckoned the grey had to be a Grizzlie but what about the silver one? Could it be what I’d been hoping to see? Unfortunately all three were at each other throats the whole time. On would fly in upset the other two, they’d all spiral around each other upwards and then break apart flying off a speed in different directions. Luckily I managed to be in the right place at the right time as the silvery blur landed next to the Dingy and I was able to get a couple of shots of my first Brown Argus of 2020.

I carried on with my walk seeing a Dingy in each of the two remaining sections before working up the hill and having a fleeting view of a Red Admiral. Meeting up with the girls we dispatched a Tick which had been unable to latch on to little L and made our way back again seeing the Specklies in the usual places, a total of 4 this way. I’m really enjoying this daily exercise!

Love chocolate orange
Belligerent butterfly
Little Brown Argus

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[ernie f]

Wurzel - Loved your recent Marshie pics and that brilliant Small Blue.

Question - Your pic of the Green Hairstreak showing a small portion of its upper hindwing. Was it doing a wing-roll? Is that why we can see it? If so, is it OK to copy this pic into the general forum thread on wing-rolling?

Cheers

[Goldie M]

Hi! Wurzel, not much time down here for two many posts but spotted your lovely shots of the Marsh Frit's , they really are a great. Goldie

[Wurzel]

Cheers Ernie They were a joy to behold
Cheers Goldie Glad you're busy with the butterflies It was wing rolling and so I'll put the picture in the gallery forthwith

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Duke Site (Hopefully?) 08-05-2020

To give my wife a bit of a break an also to get the girls away from the computer screens that they’ve been staring at day after day since March (et moi aussi) I bundled them and a picnic into the car and we set off for my Duke Site. In previous years, when I first visited and I gave it its moniker there were Dukes all over the trackways. Alas in subsequent years the numbers dwindled and so my Duke site reverted to its original name. Then in 2019 they were back so I was hoping that the site could hold onto its name in 2020…

We left the car with the dust settling over the body work and made out way straight across the spongy turf area which is now decorated with huge scars from tank tracks. There were plenty of Dingies and Small Heath about but the little section on the margin of the small copse was bereft of Small Blue unfortunately so we kept on making our way across the side if the hill and then up the other along the main trackway with more of the same flying but not much else, occasional Small Heath, Grizzlie and Dingy and the odd white drifting by. It felt strange to be wandering along and only seeing the odd butterfly here and there and not the teeming abundance I’ve come to associate with this place. A quick walk around the Cypress and in the field in front of it and there again was more of the same – it was almost like things hadn’t really woken up yet?

We carried on traipsing the trackways and there was a slight change in temperature and all of a sudden there was also a change in the fauna. A Mother Shipton played really hard to get and a Peacock bombed by. At the top of the track turned left and we cautiously crept along the narrowing path, or feet seeming to disappear, ‘sinking’ in the grass as we walked in the ruts. In the far corner we pause as the tussocks amid the moss and short spongy turf have held Dukes many times in the past. I’m startled momentarily by a brown blur but all too quickly I realise that the ‘jizz’, its flight is all wrong and my supposition that its just a Dingy is swiftly confirmed when it lands momentarily. It’s soon up and away again as a second Dingy inadvertently wanders into its airspace/territory. It seems butterflies only really have two things on their mind, fighting and f…meeting their Biological Imperative. At this juncture a Brimstone passes overhead and so I’m diverted from the Dingies. As I drop my head once the Brimstone has passed a small, darker butterfly is there sitting on a strand of the tussocky grass. It’s a Duke and I watch it and get a few shots revelling in its feisty demeanour despite its diminutive size while all the while chuffed that I can still call this my Duke Site for another year at least.

The girls had already walked round to the T-junction of paths opposite the little ‘Valley’ so instead of walking back the same way I came I cut through the line of trees and walk back to meet them across the sparse turf on the dusty gentle slope. Again there are more Dingies and Grizzlies (they seem to be having a fantastic season!) as well as the odd Small Heath and then out of nowhere there is a silvery blur that announces the presence of a Bad Attitude (my name for Brown Argus). This one keeps on going passing through and looking for another hapless victim to intimidate and rough up. Luckily a second is enjoying a brief breather between bouts so I click away.

Next I climb over the stile and have a quick scout around in the Little Valley – guess what butterflies are there? Yep Small Heath and the ickle Skippers but another Bad Attitude is also here this time it’s scaring off a Red Admiral, a butterfly that has to be at four times its size! This observation leads me to come up with an hypothesis as why I can’t recall seeing bird strike marks on a Bad Attitude; it’s because they fly towards their erstwhile predator and try and nut them to death! Chuckling to myself at this fanciful idea I make my way back over stile and collecting the girls we make our way back up the hill on main track brilliant. About half way up we’re stopped dead in our tracks as an electric blue butterfly flies towards us singing our retinas it’s so vivid. It lands just over the fence and so I slip under the barbed wire and stalk it, hoping it’ll go down which eventually it does but only after buzzing about in random circles for a few moments.

Last year I discovered that the little crossroads at the top of the track is a good spot for Walls and so I was hoping for maybe one or two to be hanging around here this year. What I hadn’t bargained on was there being four whizzing round and patrolling the verges of the tracks. The girls watch as the butterflies shoot by meet in mid-air and then spiral upwards locked in a duel to the death. Eventually some of them need to refuel and so by positioning myself near patches of yellow flowers I’m able to get a few shots that at least are recognisable as Walls.

Grizzlie on the clock
Good to still see the Duke here
Cor Adonis Blue!

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Duke Site (Hopefully?) 08-05-2020 Part 2

The girls were starting to get a bit peckish by now and so we pressed on through the gate and into the rings of the hill fort at the top of the site. It seems we were followed by one of the Walls as it set about another that had been sitting peacefully on the top of the inner ring. A female OT flashes by enticing us to walk further along the floor of the ditch created by the two rings. There is also a splendid Marshie here nestled in among the long grasses which in places reach my waist. A bit further round we pause and set up camp for a snack. Whilst the girls munch and read I walk a bit further on round to where the rings open out onto the side of the Down. Most of the side of the ring is clothed in short turf but where the grass is missing and the bare earth is exposed the butterflies seem to be sitting absorbing the warmth of the sun. Indeed among the by now ‘usual fare’ I find two Small Copper sitting out and standing out against the bare earth like discarded garnets. There is also a Wall – flying by and not stopping and a Marshie sits atop a yellow flower which sets of the colours marvellously.

After checking in on the girls I keep walking back the way we’d come a short way and come across a Wall sitting on the corner of a break in the outer ring. I’m frustrated at myself for flushing it and so check out some of the more verdant patches of grass in the sheltered spots around the rings. It seems that the Grizzlies favour these little areas but they’re all a bit too quick for my camera lens. As I’m making my way back to the girls the Wall is back on the corner. This time I spot it in advance and wait and watch to see what it will do. After a moment or two it sets off and so I make my way through the break and back into the ring but I don’t head straight back to the girls. I play out a hunch which delightfully comes off. Within a couple of minutes the Wall is back in roughly the same spot. It sits still for a short while and then off it goes again. I stay still and wait and sure enough a minute or so later it’s back again, same butterfly, same spot. This time whilst it is off on patrol I sneak in, get comfortable and focused in ready on where it had sat previously. Sure enough it comes back, lands and I get some nice close-up shots. After a few more shots from another visit I wait for it to go on patrol and then back away into the middle of the ditch and re-join the girls.

The walk back is joyous but by now it had gotten extremely hot so instead of baking out on the dusty, reflective and exposed tracks we take a path through the Beech wood seeking both shade and Orchids. I know that there are two particular species growing here and K spots one of them almost as soon as we set foot in the cool and dark bosk although how I don’t know as it’s a Bird’s Nest Orchid and perfectly camouflaged among the small twigs and branches littering the woodland floor. The others are really obvious with their small enclosed white flowers glowing little fairy light sin the gloom – White Helleborine. After cooling down we venture once more out into the sun and we check out the Duke hotspot again as Little L was eager to catch up a Duke. As we step off the path into the little patch a Duke flies into view almost in greeting. However I can see straight away that it’s a different individual than before as one of the wings has lost its yellow colour and the chequers are ghostly pale.

On the final leg of the trip the site is once more awash with butterflies and I stumble homewards marvelling at the sight. In the heat we stop only once on the walk back when finally I spy a Greenstreak. This one is low down on the deck and as it’s the only one I’d seen all morning I try for a few shots. There were also a pair of very flighty Marshies that just wouldn’t stop and then we were back at the car and making our way homewards after a thoroughly brilliant morning.

Marshies and Coppers
Beaten by the worn old Duke
Wing rolling Greenstreak

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[millerd]

Another terrific site, by the sound of it, Wurzel. The chalk hills of Wiltshire offer that bit more than the ones in my neck of the woods (Dukes, Marshies and Walls in fact!). Some great shots there and your Wall-stalking technique is worth copying I think...

Cheers,

Dave

[trevor]

Your new site is certainly productive, and should produce some fresh Dukes next year.
That last Green Hairstreak is one of the brightest I've seen.

Great stuff, keep well,
Trevor.

[Neil Freeman]

Cracking shot of the Grizzlie on the dandelion clock Wurzel

You have a great selection of species within easy reach down there at what sound like some lovely spots

Cheers,

Neil.