Retrospective Diary part 2: MAY 2013
After this years cold and prolonged spring May proved to be rather hectic as the warmer weather arrived and everything seemed to emerge all at once. I admit that I couldn't really keep up with all the action and as a consequence I didn't manage to take as many photos this spring as I normally would have.
During the first week of May I managed to squeeze in a trip over to Hampshire to seek out the Duke of Burgundy at Noar Hill. The weather was absolutely perfect and the local people were very helpful and friendly. Some of us had travelled a considerable distance to get there and we were rewarded with pretty decent numbers of this cracking little butterfly.
The rest of the month was spent locally, but that was no bad thing, during one brief walk I managed to see 26 species! Possibly a new personal record for May.
Orange Tips and Green Hairstreaks are always high on my list in the spring time, there are some decent sites for Green Hairstreaks locally and most of the usual hotspots had decent numbers.
A few Hairstreaks were a little shy and decided to play a bit of peekaboo!
Despite Chasing the Orange tips around and realizing just how unfit I had become over the winter, I didn't manage to get a decent shot of an OT this year. This is about the best I could manage, I did enjoy running after them, they keep me in shape every spring
I saw quite a few Mother Shipton Moths this year, at a distance they fooled me into thinking they were Dingy Skippers.
If you read the first instalment of my "retrospective diary" you may recall the picture of the Small Tort laying eggs on Nettle.
I made a point of checking that spot as I passed by, sure enough after a short time the results of her labour were there happily munching away.
For years now I have awaited the spring arrival of the Holly Blue determined to get a decent photo of a fresh one. I've never managed to get a photograph of a Holly blue that I'm happy with, despite my best efforts I failed yet again! This is about the the best I could do, personally I find that even the notoriously difficult Wall Brown is easier to get a good photo of than these guys!
During late May I always try to get over to Abbots Wood for the Pearl Boardered Fritillary. In mid to late May we had some spells of cool and Cloudy weather that made macro photography a bit difficult. Numbers of PFB were definitely low at Abbots this year and they were mostly confined to one site. I did manage to get a couple of half decent shots, I really hope numbers improve there next year.
As well as The PBF I also saw my first fresh Peacocks of the year, there were also some Grizzled Skippers and Green Tiger Beetles at Abbots Wood.
And that's about it for May, it seemed to come and go in the blink of an eye but Spring had finally burst into life, and it was a big relief after that long cold winter.
B,saurus