Site visit - 12/04/2024 Essex Wildlife Trust Great Holland Pits
My first site visit of 2024 to one of the best places in Essex for butterflying. The Brimstones were active and thankfully I came across my first female of the year searching the Common Buckthorn
Rhamnus cathartica which were coming into leaf. Very lucky with the photographs, particularly because she was too preoccupied to care about the mobile shoved in her face.
One of her upperwings:
![2024.04.12 Brimstone f Great Holland Pits a.jpg (755.51 KiB) Viewed 486 times Brimstone f 12/04/2024 Great Holland Pits](./files/thumb_22825_d2509e69b8fabf3fb634d50b59146bba)
- Brimstone f 12/04/2024 Great Holland Pits
And then perfect timing as she was placing an egg on a fresh leaf:
![2024.04.12 Brimstone f Great Holland Pits b.jpg (2.31 MiB) Viewed 486 times Brimstone f 12/04/2024 Great Holland Pits](./files/thumb_22825_a0dd85061c4d27e558732c940bb66a85)
- Brimstone f 12/04/2024 Great Holland Pits
20 Brimstone in total with 7 females amongst them. Good numbers of Peacock [25] like everywhere in Essex it seems, and Speckled Wood, but no Small Tortoiseshell, Holly Blue, or Orange-tip - and I wasn't surprised the Green Hairstreak had not begun to emerge. I quickly popped to The Naze NR where I saw the only Small Tortoiseshell of the day. The other whites were in smaller numbers than mid-Essex.
The next day, 13/04/2024, I visited the Danbury Ridge Nature Reserves close to Chelmsford to see (and smell) the Bluebells at Blake's Wood - wonderful display. Despite an afternoon trip, the record UK temperature recorded in Chelmsford [21.8C] meant the woodland butterflies were still active and I came across my first Holly Blue of 2024 in Lingwood Common.
Yesterday, 14/04/2024, nature gave me the perfect birthday present when I went out in the morning in search of Orange-tip before they became too active and was not disappointed:
![2024.04.14 Orange-tip Meadgate Park a.jpg (2.32 MiB) Viewed 486 times Orange-tip m 14/04/2024 Meadgate Park](./files/thumb_22825_12e64026f2574806b64603bb9d3e6a1c)
- Orange-tip m 14/04/2024 Meadgate Park
![2024.04.14 Orange-tip Meadgate Park b.jpg (2.15 MiB) Viewed 486 times Orange-tip m 14/04/2024 Meadgate Park](./files/thumb_22825_3e34e0a3b66808bc8b1a7dd33921b356)
- Orange-tip m 14/04/2024 Meadgate Park
I would have been satisfied with these, but I came across him half-an-hour later when he was happy to have his portrait taken:
![2024.04.14 Orange-tip Meadgate Park c.jpg (1.84 MiB) Viewed 486 times Orange-tip m 14/04/2024 Meadgate Park](./files/thumb_22825_6f499756d83c90e9a6ea5830a715c2d5)
- Orange-tip m 14/04/2024 Meadgate Park
Later, on the way to the restaurant I came across my first Holly Blue on my local patch but my girlfriend wouldn't let me stop to catch a happy snap
A female Speckled Wood was hanging around - very beautiful - and yesterday I saw her post-cop.
![2024.04.13 Speckled Wood Meadgate Park.jpg (2.3 MiB) Viewed 486 times Speckled Wood f 13/04/2024 Meadgate Park](./files/thumb_22825_9f976e8dc8a8d714bc85248883af62a4)
- Speckled Wood f 13/04/2024 Meadgate Park
A really pleasing weekend's butterflying with my 11th species of the year [10 photos because of girlfriend
![Evil or Very Mad :evil:](./images/smilies/icon_evil.gif)
] and record temperatures - now wind and gales again
![Rolling Eyes :roll:](./images/smilies/icon_rolleyes.gif)