Some Firsts!
I've seen a few new species for me this year over the last couple of days. A brief walk at Woolhampton Gravel Pits turned up several Green-veined White, along with the usual suspects of Orange-tip, Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock.
![6.0.jpg (379.19 KiB) Viewed 425 times Green-veined White (male)](./files/thumb_3_d0497c4064499f412d600405ef5b40bd)
- Green-veined White (male)
Given the recent sightings of Duke of Burgundy, one of my favourite butterflies, I decided to pay a visit to Noar Hill and came across my first Speckled Wood and Dingy Skipper of the year while there.
![6.1.jpg (378.03 KiB) Viewed 425 times Speckled Wood (female)](./files/thumb_3_79d4efc72ca5ca8c6e5ba64e42fc7573)
- Speckled Wood (female)
![6.2.jpg (448.29 KiB) Viewed 425 times Dingy Skipper (male)](./files/thumb_3_88f79b234529c4eb5616b4b778fa8dcc)
- Dingy Skipper (male)
The male Dukes seem to occupy the same territories year after year at this site, and it's rather strange to be able to walk to a particular pit or hollow and expect to find my quarry! But, lo and behold, a walk straight to the pits at the back of the reserve turned up 5 males. I was particularly interested (given recent discussion on the UKB forums) in studying the variability of the colouring on the male hindwing, and a spectrum of individuals is shown below.
![7.jpg (401.86 KiB) Viewed 425 times Duke of Burgundy (male)](./files/thumb_3_b3af97e5220b1f262de672a481a659e7)
- Duke of Burgundy (male)
![8.jpg (362.03 KiB) Viewed 425 times Duke of Burgundy (male)](./files/thumb_3_0270ea94ea93479d1bf66ae2a7bf46dc)
- Duke of Burgundy (male)
![9.jpg (375.2 KiB) Viewed 425 times Duke of Burgundy (male)](./files/thumb_3_9d002326e0956018a5ce835f60c7830f)
- Duke of Burgundy (male)
The highlight, however, was finding a fresh female which seemed to stay in one particular area, since I managed to relocate her almost an hour after first finding her. This particular Duchess is full of eggs and didn't fly very far at all.
![10.jpg (337.81 KiB) Viewed 425 times Duke of Burgundy (female)](./files/thumb_3_ec61d1b8a0d069cadb9d864657294823)
- Duke of Burgundy (female)
![11.jpg (281.84 KiB) Viewed 425 times Duke of Burgundy (female)](./files/thumb_3_f4e60735595cec5e0b2c597ebdbe6b72)
- Duke of Burgundy (female)
![13.jpg (245.28 KiB) Viewed 425 times Duke of Burgundy (female)](./files/thumb_3_0699ed77a9d0e443ce0964a7ed73001d)
- Duke of Burgundy (female)
What an amazing start to the season. I can't believe it's only mid-April!
Cheers,
- Pete