Thanks everyone, since it's that season here's some more of everyone's favourite harbinger of spring
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April 2022
Tuesday 12th, Bookham. I’d seen a few pics of Orange-tip from here on social media so I knew they were out, and it doesn’t take much to get me down to Bookham anyway. I was also well aware that both Green Hairstreak and Grizzled Skipper were out on Denbies too so if I time the trains right I can do both in a day, that was the initial plan anyway…
It wasn’t too long before I caught sight of the first OT of the day, a male flitting around along the shady path leading up from Effingham Junction. Intermittent cloud cover kept him relatively docile and a good few pics were in the can before he decided the photoshoot was over.
A bit further along I spied a white similarly fluttering about ahead of me and my suspicions were confirmed when she settled just as I caught up to her.
I had a few more flybys, along with a few fidgety Peacock and Comma walking along the edge of Banks Common. By the time I reached the Brown Hairstreak hotspot known as ‘nightingale corner’ I was close to double figures with OT’s but the next photo opportunity arose at the aforementioned corner, where there also happens to be some lush Cuckoo Flower and low and behold, I found a male and a couple of lurking, camera shy females. The male was a bit of a show off!
I finally tore myself away from him to go and find my White Admiral cats. The first two that were active on my last visit were still alive and well
The next one was still in its hibernaculum… I have a feeling I’m actually now (and perhaps have been a for while) following a corpse!
The final one is officially MIA. The hibernaculum is empty but there is no evidence of nibbled leaves, various species of Tits are currently prime suspects as to its knowledge of its whereabouts!
More Comma, Peacock and Orange-tip, a few Brimstone and my first Holly Blue were enjoying the newly cleared areas and delayed my departure to Denbies.
This delay turned out to be a blessing in disguise since it had begun to cloud over quite a bit now. Earlier when I’d been chasing the Orange-tips, I’d noticed a female visiting every Cuckoo Flower spike but not feeding, barely settling for a second and then moving to the next. Her behaviour suggested egg laying but none of the flower spikes were suitable. I had my suspicions so since the butterflies had stopped flying, I returned to have a closer look. Nearly every flower spike had one freshly laid egg, presumably she could smell pheromones she herself or another had left.
In the end I found 15 eggs and inevitably I came across a roosting male, almost certainly the same male I’d photographed earlier. It was still warm enough for him to be active, especially when I got my foot tangled in a bramble stem and nearly fell on top of him! Anyway he survived my clumsiness and after flitting around for a while decided upon some Blackthorn to roost on, allowing some closeups.
By now it had started to rain, just a few spots but the dark clouds coming my way suggested worse was to come but, on the way back I slowed down where I’d seen the very first one of the day. They are so predictable!