Hi all,
I'm not quite back into full Butterfly-photographing yet, but I did go up to Prestbury Hill (near Cheltenham) today (Sunday 17th April) – hopefully to see some Green Hairstreaks but also to check out if any Duke of Burgundys were about. There was plenty of Cowslips in the Bill Smylie reserve, but no sign of DoB’s. I did bump into one of the local transect recorders and he confirmed that they are later at Prestbury Hill than elsewhere in the county because of the height of the site, so I should try the last two weeks in May. Anyway, I did see plenty of Speckled Browns, some Peacocks, some Green-Veined Whites and a Brimstone but missed the Green Hairstreaks, though the spotter saw three – and by the time I had learned of the ‘right spot’ to visit the weather had clouded over a bit. Bird-wise it was very nice there though – plenty of Warblers, Chaffinches, a Linnet, several Pipits / Larks, several Buzzards, a Weasel (very quick), some Rabbits and a lizard. There’s supposed to be several Wheatears there but I didn’t fancy a longer walk over the How Hill way.
I returned home slightly worse for ware, but nipped out to try and get some good pics of the local Orange Tips (some improvement but not quite succeeding) and also photographed a caterpillar web which I presume are gregarious Lackey Moth larvae? Good news on the butterfly front in my patch in South Wales (near Cardiff) is that I have seen plenty of Speckled Woods, Small Tortoiseshells, Peacocks, Orange-Tips, Green Veined-Whites, Commas and a few Brimstones. And yesterday I saw a Holly Blue in my garden. I’m hoping that’s what’s been eating my Holly Bush (it’s certainly got a lot of holes in it after winter).
Michael
![IMG_8035 edit small.JPG (138.65 KiB) Viewed 388 times Peacock, South Wales](./files/thumb_10035_139f1f0ca028c541f225aeed0b330847)
- Peacock, South Wales
![IMG_8123 edit small.JPG (71.42 KiB) Viewed 388 times Orange Tip resting under cloudy weather](./files/thumb_10035_f837e01c0b812e88cbfabbf70ed668cb)
- Orange Tip resting under cloudy weather
![IMG_8379 edit small.JPG (117.95 KiB) Viewed 388 times Cowslips at Prestbury Hill](./files/thumb_10035_8c1db521b5b9922e16c6bc5bbdd6ba3d)
- Cowslips at Prestbury Hill
![IMG_8406 edit small.JPG (58.91 KiB) Viewed 388 times Pipit or Lark? Anyway, I got relatively close](./files/thumb_10035_7d5a9a1c6753b7c6d21b2c90c4262104)
- Pipit or Lark? Anyway, I got relatively close
![IMG_8416 edit small.JPG (102.32 KiB) Viewed 388 times Caterpillar Web (Lackeys?), South Wales](./files/thumb_10035_6c187240f20adfe0b0f57c04043c0aca)
- Caterpillar Web (Lackeys?), South Wales
![IMG_8424 edit small.JPG (76.34 KiB) Viewed 388 times Orange Tip on Cuckoo-Spit, S Wales](./files/thumb_10035_c4cb37873b3851c09806676c253fd009)
- Orange Tip on Cuckoo-Spit, S Wales
![IMG_8433 edit small.JPG (72.96 KiB) Viewed 388 times Green-Veined White on Cuckoo-Spit, S Wales](./files/thumb_10035_9cc12e9209bd2a38ed9f179a2e607112)
- Green-Veined White on Cuckoo-Spit, S Wales