Thank you, Katrina. As ever, getting four Brimstones at once was a fluke. There were quite a few flying all across the site, and inevitably there were some males trying it on with the females (which all must have been mated a while ago). One such pair circled by, were joined by a second male, and then by a third. The foursome spiralled around and at one point came very close to me. I was snapping away merrily throughout and one shot had reasonable views of their antics. A nice reminder of the day!
Cheers, Wurzel - a cracking day indeed, and another to follow in a mo. You've made an interesting point about in-flight colours: they can be quite surprising. To my eyes, Green Hairstreaks look dark blue, Small Blues often look strikingly blue, Swallowtails are cafe-au-lait, and Marsh Fritillaries look distinctly pink. But that's just me I suspect!
Talking of Marshies... while chatting to Bugboy at Hutchinsons Bank, we established we both had independent plans to head down to Cotley Hill on
Sunday 30th May. When Bugboy's transport arrangements fell through late on Saturday evening it took only a minimal tweak to mine to pick him up en route.
Another sunny day (by the time we'd arrived anyway) - a bit hazy, and coolish to start with, but nothing to deter a butterfly. Now the grass had grown ( in the recent combination of wet and warmer days, it seemed to have rocketed upwards), the site management here did not appear drastic at all. Some scrub clearance on chalk grassland is essential to stop hawthorn and bramble taking over, so it has no doubt been beneficial overall.
There were certainly plenty of species seen, though perhaps not quite in the numbers and variety of previous years. The main target of the day was the Marsh Fritillary of course, and there were good numbers, some of which were fresh - indeed we found several females sitting considering whether to hazard their first flight. However, I'll start with a selection of some of the other species.
Also seen: Dingy Skippers by the dozen, a single Wall looking very large compared with the Marshies, Small Heath (perhaps the commonest species), Speckled Wood, Peacock, Orange Tip, Brimstone, Small White and Green-veined White.
The Marsh Fritillaries deserve a separate post.
Dave
Glanvilles when fresh are brilliantly orange (just like your examples 
