Cheers Goldie
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...
The Devenish 19-09-2020
I don’t know quite what had happened but when I pulled into the Car Park on this visit it was full! I guess it was down to various families struggling for somewhere ‘local’ to walk during the Lockdown earlier in the year and they’d discovered my secret. Time was when I’d have the car park and the whole reserve to myself. Wondering how much Social Distancing I’d have to do I strolled up track and through the little bit of wood towards the Orchid Meadow (Map 1). When I arrived there I was greeted by a Large White. They’re so much more amenable at this time of year; in the Spring they never seem to stop.
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After getting a few shot of Mr. White I moved over to the fence and tried, unsuccessfully, to follow a Small White. It would flutter awkwardly to a stand still only for a Specklie to barrel into it each time it did and send it packing. As if to compensate the Specklie posed nicely on the top of the fence post, perhaps it was feeling a little unappreciated and wanted its share of the limelight? While I waited and watched the Specklie I let my eyes wander up and down the fence. There was plenty to see and photograph here with a further two Large Whites, a Comma slightly further back on the other side of the fence, a wasp with an extraordinarily long abdomen and ‘spike’ and a battle worn Common Darter. It seemed ancient and it had lost its red colour almost entirely. Its once resplendent livery replaced by a dull rusty looking beige a bit like a stripped down classic car awaiting a respray. An Ivy bush on my left has a couple more Darters partaking of its cover and a Red Admiral snobbishly looked down its nose at them.
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I drifted down to the far end of the Meadow surprised that I’d not encountered any of the marauding masses and here I busied myself trying to follow one of the three Green-veined Whites that were present here. It was hard work as I’d decide which one to go for and then one of the others would flutter by closer and distract me. I paused for a moment and what with the sun, the calling of a Buzzard overhead and the self-generated warmth I could almost have been back in mid-summer. I decided to work my way back along the fence but got stopped early in my tracks by another Red Admiral. It was high up in a shroud of Ivy so I waited for it to deign to descend to my level and when it did I clicked away merrily and momentarily.
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Form here I took a deep breath and made for the little track up the hill and further on up the Down. As the little tunnel of vegetation opened out a Red Admiral and a Small White greeted me but didn’t hang around and so I cut across the side of the Down about half way up following the diagonal path which leads back down to the margins of the Beech wood that forms the boundary between the Down and Orchid Meadow at its foot. In the large clump of Hemp Agrimony (Map 2) I paused to take stock and scanned the flower tops. I spied out a Red Admiral and a Green-veined White. Slightly further along was a Small Copper and right at the end were a non-paired pair of Green-veined Whites. With the available targets logged I slung my camera from my shoulder and ventured forth. The first Green-veined did an evasive manoeuvre but all the rest fell into line and I moved from one butterfly to the next and on finally coming to rest at the end of the Hemp Agrimony. Looking up I saw that there were two Roe Deer ahead of me, seemingly boxed in by the boundary fence. How long they’d been there I couldn’t say as I’d been so engrossed in the micro that I was totally oblivious to the macro around me! Now as I looked upon them it was as if the holding spell had been broken and they made off up gully looking for a break in the fence. I made to follow them and a Large White did a fly-by but none of the couple of Specklies sat for me (Map 3).
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After this things went very quiet as I wandered the top fields. Mind you the wind cutting through from the fields behind the reserve didn’t help and the sward seems much higher this year so perhaps this had influenced the butterfly distribution? I maintained my altitude across into the middle part of the Down before following the fence line down and hopping over the stile into the Paddock (Map 5). In the distance I could make out a Large White and nearer to a Specklie but both were flying in the wrong direction so I had a quick look around the tiny paddock. As usual there was a Specklie holding territory around the gate the closes off the ‘tunnel track’ (Map 4). I managed to get a few shots of this despite being really concerned about trampling the huge number of Ivy bees that covered the ground. After this I tentatively tiptoed back and followed a Small White from the tiny Paddock out into the Paddock proper. I was glad that I’d out the effort into this individual as getting a photo of him had put me in the right place at the right time to spot a Brown Argus. I was a little surprised to see it still here, especially as it was still reasonably attired and over at Martin Down they were showing signs of fading fast but I didn’t let that get in the way of trying to get a few shots of it.
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Time was pressing on so I decided to make a move and it was just as I started towards the gate and the car park that I finally found some of the multitude that I’d been expecting to see. It was one family out for a walk and so I let them use the gate first, partly out of politeness but mainly because I’d spotted another Specklie, a really fresh looking one at that and a Comma that they must have spooked form the Tunnel Track. Once they’d exited I swung the camera off my shoulder and set to on the photographing. I selected the Specklie first as it was in a better position. It was really fresh and the lustre and sheen from its wings was further accentuated by the minimal cream markings on the wings. When it flew to a new perch atop the gate it closed up and I could see that the markings one the underwing were more normal looking. That taken care of I sought out the Comma. It was still up high in the Ivy and so I thought about giving up and heading for home then and there but then it dropped down just long enough for it to have a quick sip of nectar and for me to get a shot off.
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After this I climbed the gate, loaded up the car and made for home – not sure how much longer The Devenish will produce the goods now as it feels like 2020 is going to be an ’early doors’ season?
Time passes onwards,
With the butterflies waning…
Reasonable haul though.
Have a goodun and stay safe
Wurzel