Cheers Trevor
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
Looks like the trip to Hill paid off
![Cool 8)](./images/smilies/icon_cool.gif)
They can't have been out for more than 5 minutes but the looks of them
Cheers Katrina
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
I started on Lime pickle, like you get in a curry house but then moved onto I Pataks Hot Mixed pickle -it has the spice and limes as well as other veg beefing it up
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
Glad I'm not the only one that can do a mean Click-step
Cheers Ernie
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
I remember seeing a spate of the in cop images a few years back and if I recall correctly someone told me that they were easy to see
![Shocked :shock:](./images/smilies/icon_eek.gif)
I could really do with Small Pearls in cop and then I'd have completed the Frits
Cheers Guy
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
I'd normally offer to swap the shot for a Chequered Blue but I might keep this one
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
I shall look out for the Ashoka pickle
Cheers Bugboy
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
There is nothing worse than getting home and every single one is slightly out of focus due to the breeze or having knocked the diopter wheel or even worse still the dreaded blade of phantom grass
Cheers Neil
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
Truth be told each season I've gone searching for my Greenstreaks I've hoped to to find a pair in cop - it's only taken 15 seasons and possibly 80 trips
![Shocked :shock:](./images/smilies/icon_eek.gif)
In fact the one time I wasn't hoping for it 'pop' there they were
Martin Down 21-04-2024
I’d seen report from a couple of sites, one further East and the other further West, that the Grizzlies were emerging and so to that end I decided that after lunch, with all the jobs jobbed, I head over to Martin Down an hope that as that was in the middle of the other two sites that the Grizzlies would be out there too…
I didn’t think that my slow puncture or the suspension would thank me for visiting Sillen’s Lane and so I pulled up instead in the Main Car Park off the A354. It was quite busy so I hoped that most of the visitors would be looking for butterflies as this is a big site and the Grizzle is a small butterfly and the more pairs of eyes the better. However most of the people that I encountered seemed to have a penchant for carrying miniature bin bags and calling out strange names so it seemed that I would have to rely on my eyes alone. I started off having a quick look around the large island of scrub from the car park. In the past I’ve encountered Greenstreaks, Grizzlies and even a Cloudy in this spot but all I could find today was a male Adder in the usual spot, basking at the side of the path.
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I then cut across the ‘bowl’ and climbed down into the Dyke. Hopefully in a few weeks there will be Marshies all along here but today it was barren and so I set off along the top path with the Dyke on my right and made for the Butts. Along the way I had a look in a couple of the little fields as the banks caught the sun and offered some respite from the breeze which was quite gusty at times. I still couldn’t find any butterflies but instead checked out a couple of the old iron sheets. One had a Slow Worm whilst the other had a couple of Adders, one of which seemed huge and would have had quite a reach on it should it have been in a cantankerous mood. Luckily I’d used a handy stick to lift the sheet up else I’d have been fair game for a quick nip if she’d of had the mind.
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The lack of butterflies continued all the way along the rest of the walk, and even the sheltered field behind the Butts was barren. Eventually I reached the Half-way point where a trio of butterfliers were checking out the narrow path. One I’d met before down at Portland and I’d seen the work of the other couple on Facebook. After a brief chat they decided to carry on and they left me with the brace of Greenstreaks who were holding territory along the edge of the path.
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With something of the butterfly variety on the memory card I pressed on reasoning that in the breeze the sheltered spots would pay a premium and so to that end I followed one of the diagonal tracks across the grassland to one end of the Tunnel track. Almost as soon as the double hedge began the butterflies started appearing. The first was a beautifully fresh Specklie which played around the entrance to the track it kind of reminded me of a kid running out with the waves only to run back in when the waves returned only it would dart out of the tunnel track, a gust of wind would hit it and it would come racing back in to the shelter. Further along I spotted another couple of enthusiasts who were peering into the hedge. When I reached the spot they’d been peering at I paused and had a quick look. A small, bright green triangle suddenly stood out against the more yellow hued foliage – the third Greenstreak for the day. While I clicked away the other enthusiasts joined me and they explained that they’d been focusing on Holly Blues so had missed the Greenstreak. Again one person I’d met before and the other’s photos I’d seen on Facebook.
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They headed off slightly further along the track and as they left I enjoyed a little purple patch with 2 male Orange-tips patrolling along the hedge, a Peacock dropping in and two male Holly Blues. The second flew along the hedge towards me and stopped quite close to even though I wasn’t whispering at it to do so! It started to open up and as I stepped in closer a female, slightly to my left and lower down on the hedge decided that she needed a bit more of a bask. The male quite literally almost fell off his perch and so I was witness to perhaps the shortest courtship; it lasted only about 30 seconds. The male then disappeared off the female having very effectively got her message across and she proceeded to continue with her sun bathing. I called the others back and so we were all able to get some shots of her looking her best.
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While we clicked away we talked and it appeared that a Grizzlie had been seen the day before and so while the others made their way back to the car I doubled back to have a look around the Gorse fields hopeful that the Grizzlie may still have been around. Despite plenty of searching I didn’t find it, in fact I didn’t see anything butterfly wise and so I decided that rather than looking for a needle in the haystack I’d head over to the corner of Greenstreak field where it would be a case of looking for a needle in a needle sized box labelled ‘Needle’ and containing one needle. I scanned across the lower foliage by the narrow track and sure enough there was a Greenstreak. It played a little hard to get to start with, sitting so that part of it was obscured and at one point deep within the thorns of the Gorse but eventually I won its trust and it came out into the open a little more.
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- Hiding...
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- I can still see you!
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- Now you're not even trying are you?
Pleased with my collection of shots I had a little poke around whilst munching on my snack; a Green-veined White and a Brimstone both did a recce and when I decided to make a move I looked back to watch a white butterfly detach itself from a leaf that is had been roosting on whilst the sun had been in. It was a female Orange-tip. I looked upwards hoping that there would be some more cloud bubbling up to settle her down but alas I was in the middle of a Blue Sky period. I watched as she fluttered towards me, seemingly investigating all the nectar sources around and about and then she alighted ever so briefly on a Purple Orchid. I fired off a few hopeful shots but she was quite distant.
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After this I did a time check and the verdict wasn’t good so I had to head for home. Of course I called in at the Half-way point where the Greenstreaks were both up high and didn’t stray down. I also found a few cats on the path which I think could be Marsh Frits but I need to check and also checked in with the Adders who seemed to be bunking up with a Slow Worm and then I drove home. Hopefully we’ll get a few more days like this weather wise and then things will really start taking off. Fingers crossed!
Pop to Martin Down
Going on a Grizzlie Hunt
But it’s a no show
Have a goodun
Wurzel