Cheers, Otep. The knack of getting butterflies to sit on your finger varies between species, but finding them when they are sleepy is one pointer.
Thank you, Goldie - I am just a bit lucky to have a lot of semi-wild land on my doorstep, tucked between the urban/suburban sprawl of London (and the airport of course) to the east, and mixed countryside to the west.
Cheers, Wurzel - I do like to get a few action shots if I can, as they are better reminders of the day than some of the more posed images.
Thanks, David - The Hollies have appeared at long last, and in good numbers, so there will be a few more images to come. Orange Tip behaviour is fascinating - I like to make the most of their relatively brief appearance each year, the zenith of which we must nearly have reached.
Thursday 21st April was another sunny day, and became quite warm again. Denbies beckoned again, and this time the Dingy Skippers had joined the Grizzlies and Green Hairstreaks - plus one new species for the year.
Curiously, I found all of the last of this trio in different spots to my last visit. Most were perched on dogwood bushes along the hedge line at the bottom...
...plus one other right along at the eastern end beyond Steers Field, in the hedge at the top of the slope.
This latter individual was a female, and appeared to be interested in laying on the rock rose, but I was unable to find any eggs. During one of the squabbles between males, I tried to get some "in flight" shots. I thought I'd failed, and nearly deleted this one - it was only when I enlarged it a bit that I discovered the open wing butterfly in the middle.
The upperside is really quite dark.
There were more Grizzlies around than on my last visit, spread all along the bottom of all parts of the site. With less of a breeze, they will no doubt spread a bit further upslope.
This will be true of the Dingies too. They outnumbered the Grizzlies by about five to one at least, and could be seen darting around whenever the sun was properly out.
In amongst them, looking distinctly more orange in flight, were a few Burnet Companion moths.
However, in addition to all these, the first Small Heaths were flying at their stronghold at the western end of the hillside. Taking into account their long season (April to October), they end up being perhaps the commonest species here. Though Chalkhill Blues will outnumber them on the day in late July, and perhaps Meadow Browns come close, they can number in their hundreds sometimes. Despite half a dozen to choose from, not one of them truly cooperated today.
Hopefully, Adonis Blues won't be long in appearing here now...
Dave