Cheers Dave
They were cracking and despite taking hundreds of shots of them I always kept going back for more
Cheers Trevor
Yeah I noticed that extra little spot on the Wall, I'm sure there will be a name for it out there somewhere
There are a few more days to go - but I've got to type up my notes first
I'm trying for one a month
Cheers Goldie
I know what you mean about the skipper Goldie - it took four trips abroad before I got one
I was starting to think that they'd been in contact with my old nemesis the Green Hairstreak
Cheers Neil
They were definitely one of the highlight species from the trip
. I'm lucky that the girls are now of an age where they do their own thing so I can nip off for the odd hour and on the continent the slightest bit of rough ground or a lay-by seems to hold all manner of cracking species (over here it would be crisp packets and bags of dog poo
).
Cotley Hill 20-05-2023
It had reached that time of the year when the Warminster Hills call to me. I’d seen various reports on Face-the-Book from the most westerly of the three hills so I was hoping that their spread of emergence would have reached the last of the hills in the chain. My hopes were confirmed by Dave and so as Philzoid would be coming from further away I thought it best to arrive on site early and find out where things were. Despite the best machinations of various tractors, cyclists and people who had yet to discover 3rd gear I eventually arrived at a little after 9 and it was still cool and the dew was still sitting on the grass. I normally have a little look in the abandoned layby before heading up the hill; a bit like enjoying a fine appetizer, but on this morning it was still deeply bathed in shade and so I made my way directly up the hill. Once at the top I stepped off the main track and down into the little Hollow. Having come from the shade of the trees lining the path out into the full sun blazing down in the Hollow it took a few moments to ‘find my eyes’ again but I quickly started spotting butterflies. It started with three Dingies which would alternate between basking and battling. A Greenstreak flew out from one of the trees that are dotted along the fence line and it sat nicely for me. I’m always surprised at how quickly this species ages – but then Gorse and Hawthorn aren’t exactly the softest of plants!
As I backed away from the Greenstreaks and Dingies something larger hove into few. I waited and watched as it chose its perch place and then landed – it was what I’d come for, a glorious chequerboard of oranges and yellows amid a sea of green. It was my first (definite) Marshie of the year and so I set to photography, pausing every now and again to divert my gaze from through the viewfinder to what was actually in front of me so I could drink it all in. Once I’d quenched my metaphorical thirst I carried on with another Greenstreak on a different tree further on and a Grizzlie sitting on the path warming itself up.
Usually the Amphitheatre is awash with butterflies but it was all quiet, with only a Grizzlie at the base when I reached it. Perhaps it was still a little early and the butterflies would enter the arena later in the morning once they’d breakfasted and warmed up? I followed the track that ran along the fence line down to the corner and started scanning more intently as this section is generally good for Marshies and Walls. It’s also good for Small Heath and one possibly nipped by but I only got a quick glance at it out of the corner of my eye so I didn’t feel that I could tick it off the Tally at that time – it could have been a Common Heath which also common here despite it not being a Heath WINK. When I reached the Bowl cut into the side of the hill just up from the path I spotted another Dingy and Grizzlie. The path petered out here, the Nettles and Brambles strangling it down into an impenetrable mass of thorns and stings so I stop walking and just look about. A Greenstreak was sitting on a small bush in the fence line and was then viciously attacked by another two. In fact the three Greenstreaks seem to spend mots of their time annoying each other. One would sit on the small bush and then be assailed by one of the others. As the two of them flew off the third would join the fray and they would either head out over the field or up to the top of the Chestnut tree. A few moments later one would return and the whole thing would play out again. While I was enjoying this performance a male Orange-tip flew along the track I’d just walked down and flopped onto a Bramble so obviously I got a few shots of it.
As time was passing I thought it best to make my way back as I still needed to check out the other side of the hill before Philzoid arrived. The walk back was punctuated with little spells of butterfly activity generally with the same species. The possible Small Heath became a definite on the walk back along the bottom track, a possible Wall flashed by (it could have been a Fox Moth?) and waiting for me on the corner were three Small Heaths and a Greenstreak, down so low that I almost had to lie flat out to try for any shots of it. On the way back to the Hollow there were more Small Heath, Grizzlies, Dingies and another Marshie which didn’t play fair and kept flying up the steep side of the Down and tempting me up too. Small Heaths and Dingies were also now flying about in the Hollow as I walked back towards the place I’d started. At the far end where the paths branched a male Wall was holding territory. A second Wall flew in and the pair spiraled upwards locked in what I though was fierce competition. When they returned to the deck one landed back in a very similar place to where it had taken off and the other landed behind me. I focused on the nearest first which was a male and then once I’d gotten a few shots turned back for the other which was actually a female. Unfortunately it didn’t like having its picture taken and was offski fairly promptly.
While backtracking into the Hollow proper whilst looking for the female Wall a Brown Argus popped up. It looked pretty fresh but was struggling with one of its wings which it was hanging at an odd angle. I didn’t mind its shonky appearance though as it was my fourth first for the year of the morning! I had a further quick look around the Hollow but most of the action was at the start near the branch of the path with two each of Greenstreaks and Grizzlies and an errant Orange-tip patrolling through.
After this I headed back down the track and through the wood to the other side of the hill which runs parallel to the main road. As I left the coolness of the wood a Beautiful Demoiselle, a Specklie and a Holly Blue are all waiting for me at the exit so my wandering of the hill was somewhat curtailed as I tried for all of these. Once I was wandering the tiny trackways that criss-cross the hill I was surprised at how much quieter (and more overgrown?) this side was and I only found a Brown Argus. I was just thinking “Philzoid should be here soon?” when my phone rang and so I made my way back to the Hollow to meet him pleased with a successful recce.
Fingertips of sun
Stretch their way across the hill
Rousing a Marshie
Have a goodun
Wurzel
Goldie 
