Thanks, Wurzel, I really do intend making the most of next season, lockdowns etc permitting
Good to hear from you too, Trevor, the first lockdown was very grim. It was great though as you say, that we had the Orange-tips closer to home to keep us sane
It was tricky, David, but fortunately we found an unexpected species, much closer to home
Following our trip to Noar Hill we looked for locations closer to home to visit, both to get our exercise and to hopefully find some butterflies. One place that we had been to before, looking for post- hibernators with some success, was the historic Brookwood Cemetery, about a ten minute drive from us. During our visits we parked in the layby at nearby Dawneys Hill and walked across to Brookwood. In June we would be back at Dawneys to pay a visit to the colony of Silver-studded Blues to be found here, although their numbers have been much reduced in recent years following the ‘improvement’ work carried out a few years ago.
On this particular visit to Brookwood, having drawn a blank in the usual places, and as we really needed the exercise, we decided to take a much longer walk, and after a mile or so we decided to cross over the road (Cemetery Pales) from the north side into the southern part of the cemetery. Once through the gate we could see that this was very different to the rather manicured north side, consisting of a much more open environment of grassland containing plenty of wild flowers, and in particular much wild strawberry in evidence. Walking along an unmade track we suddenly became aware of several fast moving blurs darting from side to side along the edge of the track. keeping our eyes on one of these we followed 'it' until 'it' eventually stopped. Making our way slowly across to where 'it' had settled in the grass, much to our amazement 'it' then revealed itself to be a male Grizzled Skipper!
![P1040611.jpgAResize.JPG (1.13 MiB) Viewed 812 times Male Grizzled Skipper.](./files/thumb_11970_6dbcba22534241bca2cb19d1458b53f6)
- Male Grizzled Skipper.
We had no idea that they were here, so close to home. Our usual go-to site for these was at Butser Hill, an hours drive for us.
Numbers were not high, with about a dozen seen over two visits, mostly fresh looking and a mix of male and female, perhaps we were late and peak emergence had already passed?
![P1330980.jpgAResize.JPG (1.24 MiB) Viewed 812 times Female Grizzled Skipper.](./files/thumb_11970_62845611f8990c2fa54d82a99d410574)
- Female Grizzled Skipper.
![P1040648Resize.JPG (919.3 KiB) Viewed 812 times This shot shows just how small these butterflies are. Fem. Grizzled Skipper.](./files/thumb_11970_5e7c041f2e096156651d2279fa6f43e1)
- This shot shows just how small these butterflies are. Fem. Grizzled Skipper.
![P1330991.jpgAResize.JPG (819.56 KiB) Viewed 812 times Fem. Grizzled Skipper on Buttercup.](./files/thumb_11970_4aa52cf176254444faf235e1b170f958)
- Fem. Grizzled Skipper on Buttercup.
![P1040591.jpgBResize.JPG (1.34 MiB) Viewed 812 times Male Grizzled Skipper.](./files/thumb_11970_32d7f400137e5f5ade25aa334133e7cb)
- Male Grizzled Skipper.
![P1040588.jpgBResize.JPG (1.05 MiB) Viewed 812 times Grizzled Skipper on wild strawberry.](./files/thumb_11970_f7dcaf61bc281418edaaffc8b28f3a4a)
- Grizzled Skipper on wild strawberry.
![P1340002.jpgAResize.JPG (881.22 KiB) Viewed 812 times Grizzled Skipper about to alight on Green winged Orchid.](./files/thumb_11970_06ab9d4b83b45e69dccf6a7fbbb8b585)
- Grizzled Skipper about to alight on Green winged Orchid.
![P1040681.jpgAResize.JPG (926.32 KiB) Viewed 812 times Worn Grizzled Skipper, but happily nectaring on Green winged Orchid.](./files/thumb_11970_51fd41fafe686adf6d5cc3204a7f076d)
- Worn Grizzled Skipper, but happily nectaring on Green winged Orchid.
Plus we found some other bonus butterflies too...