Cheers Goldie
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
I can laugh about it now, at the time I was deadly serious
Vernditch 15-04-2022
The weather was due to remain changeable – so much so in fact that the weather App was flip-flopping every hour between it being a grey rainy day and one of sunny intervals. In the end I just turned it off and we went out anyway. I had hoped to catch up with a Greenstreak and a maybe a Grizzlie having found both at Vernditch the previous year…but in the end it turned into more of a catch-up…
On the drive over a couple of there were a couple of Brimstones and a Comma flying along the verges and as we pulled into car park two more Brimstones were fluttering about at the edge of the car park. As the car drew to a standstill a Holly Blue took from an unseen spot in front of the car so I grabbed my gear and while the girls were pulling on wellies and loading up the rucsacs I followed it back along Hogger road until it settled on some mud. It was a bit precarious as despite lots of muddy woodland rides and other suitable habitat to choose from the Holly Blue had plumped for a muddy strip on the roadside so I had to time my shots so as not to become roadkill.
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I joined the girls and we set off proper up the hill/track where a female Brimstone flew in the dappled light in the distance and another Holly Blue was fluttering about low to the ground but at the same time covering a lot of ground very quickly. Further on a few more Brimstones played in the sun streaming through the ever thickening canopy and at one of the cross-tracks a Peacock flew by. All very nice but not an awful lot on the memory card. This continued during lunch as I watched a male Orange-tip and two male Brimstones interacting with each other in one of the hollows as I lazily munched and warmed myself in the sun. A female drifted by up high presumably flying at altitude meant that she wold be safe from the unwanted advances of the two males that were patrolling closer to the ground? There was nowt in the valleys either apart form a solitary Small Tort that was busy flying away down one of the adjacent paths. When I caught up with the girls I checked the Gorse fastidiously but despite my best efforts all I could come up with was a Peacock. It seemed that the butterflies were about but they were very camera shy. As we rounded another corner there was another Peacock which shot off at the end a female Brimstone which was actually sitting down on the deck – it was something of a shock after every other butterfly had played hardball so I almost forgot to get some shots…almost.
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Normally we’d complete the loop and walk back along the track that we’d come along but today L was feeling adventurous and so we went through a gate and along the edge of a field by a path that ran parallel to the Blandford Road. As we moved down a Peacock tried to play the ‘chase me’ game that they seem to love but I wasn’t in the mood as my memory card was so empty and so I did my best to ignore it and not get dragged in. About 2/3’s of the way along the field L found a track that led back into Vernditch woods and as we entered the breeze dropped, held back by the trees, and the despite the increasing shade the air felt slightly warmer. As we wound our way along the narrow tracks amid the early Bluebells and white and yellow Celandines and Anemones I spotted a more butterflies – the odd Orange-tip and many Brimstones - one of which actually let me get up close enough for some shots. Just before the car park there was a Specklie but that was it so we loaded up and made for home…
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Once back at home I dropped off all the gear except my camera and walked over to Five Rivers…trying somewhere new hadn’t produced the intended results and so I returned to the tried and tested. As I turned the corner at the start of the reserve I was almost bowled over by a warring pair of Specklies that we locked into a death spiral which wasn’t just travelling upwards but was also moving horizontally forward and backwards along the path. They didn’t care who or what got in their way so consumed with hatred as they were. At the edge of the Glades by the bench a Peacock hung about, a Green-veined White stopped momentarily, teasing me and two Small Whites patrolled, occasionally bumping into each other and squabbling. The Green-veined White looked noticeably smaller and square cut compared to the Smalls as it passed by. I pressed on into the Glades proper noting a brace of Specklies and then paused by the patch of Red Nettles willing an Orange-tip into existence. One did indeed appear flying swiftly by as part of a veritable feast of Whites…First came a Small White, then the aforementioned Orange-tip for starters. Next up was a pairing of Brimstones, female first lazily inspecting nectar sources and then much more hurriedly once the male appeared and started harassing her and also a brace of Small Whites and a single Green-veined White; the main course. For dessert I followed an Orange-tip around and about the clumps and patches of vegetation but it was a disappointing end to the meal as the OT didn’t pause once. All was not lost however as in my chasing I found two more Specklies, one of which sat nicely for me.
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I then set out for the Banks picking up yet another brace of Specklies and a single Comma on the way before I’d reached the start of the Banks at what was the original Comma Corner. As I strolled along I kept counting trying my best to stick to the narrow paths and not go haring off after some butterfly or other and tallying up as I went; Small White, Orange-tip, two Specklies, two Peacocks, a single Small White and an Orange-tip. It felt great to be seeing so many butterflies all active and all flying at once. I followed a Large White hopefully past the May bush that demarks the first and second half of the Banks but it was too quick for me, but on the other side there was a Comma and two Green-veined Whites waiting for me. I kept going and two Peacocks spiralled upwards and near the cut back Bramble there were two Small Torts, one on either side. At the end on the corner of the Banks there was a final Peacock and a Holly Blue skulking around up high.
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I returned along the Banks seeing a lot of the same things with the odd thing standing out; the Large White reappeared, there were several Green-veined Whites and a Peacock which was holding its wings in such a way as to suggest that it was ‘partially sighted’ lacking the eyes on the hind wing. There was plenty more action from the Whites with representatives of four species although nothing was stopping in the warm sunshine. Back towards the corner I did discover a different Comma and then a ambled back to the Glades ruminating on how different the effects of the sun are on butterflies and humans; they go loony toons, flying frenetically fast all over the place whereas I feel relaxed and lazy.
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The Glades soon has me waking up and becoming much more alert as the butterflies were bombing about all over. I racked up a Comma, Green-veined White and Small White within a few steps of entry and then I set to trying to follow a male Orange-tip. It flies into the disputed airspace of the two Specklies and both take off from their respective perches to see it off before falling on each other once the common enemy had been taken car of. Another Holly Blue Skulked around the tree tops and even came down a few times but rather than landing it would soon return to loftier heights, it’s jinking flight looking like it was being jerked upwards like a puppet on a string. Another foolhardy or Kamikaze Orange-tip flew into the disputed Specklie airspace but it confused its erstwhile attackers by dropping down onto a Dandelion. I then spent the next twenty minutes of so following the OT from flower to flower. It looked like it had reached the end of the working day, what with it being after 3, and so had packed up patrolling and was enjoying an afternoon tipple and so end of the day drinkies! I wonder if other whites showed this behaviour or indeed whether other OTs act in a similar fashion?
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The Specklies bade me farewell and then my final sighting of an extraordinary afternoon was of a Holly Blue flying amid some Ivy in the estate cut through. It was great to see so many butterflies for once!
Poor start at Vernditch
But Five Rivers saves that day
The Whites abounding
Have a goodun
Wurzel