I did manage a few poor quality record shots though.During my afternoon search of the best P-b F spots I heard some unusual noise coming from the rather shaded understorey a little distance from where I was searching, something told me to check it out and I stood silently crouched as a natural drama was played out, a dark grey feral cat was prancing around a pretty big female Adder, flicking a paw out to knock the snake off balance, the tail being the chosen target, I could hear the snake hissing in anger as it tried to avoid the cats very quick paw-work and dancing footwork, I remained motionless fascinated to see what the outcome would be, the Adder however was slowly but surely moving towards some bramble and it used the thick ground shoots to try to climb up out of the tormenters way, by doing so the cat saw me and was away in a heartbeat. I was unable to get a photo of the drama owing to both the obstructing understorey branches and would have disturbed my view by any movement. The Adder remained motionless for several minutes before almost falling back to earth and slinking away, it climbed a thorn covered briar to about 3 feet or more, and I managed some difficult shots, I was amazed that the thick thorns didn't prevent the climb, t'was a fascinating thing to witness
Another very interesting discovery was Corizus hyoscyami a very locally distributed squash bug, it's only usually found on coastal sandy type sites in southern Britain, I'm trying to find out it's status in this part of the country, and feel it might just prove a significant record. Also watched a female spider Misumena vatia on bluebell waiting for a nectaring insect for it's afternoon meal, this species can change colour and mimic the colour of it's chosen plant, I've seen them yellow, white, green and shades in between, an incredible evolutionary ability that helps them to dine
Bill
"When in doubt...venture out" (Glad I did yesterday!!!),
) in the first meadow, along the left hand lane once you enter the common via the cattle grid.
. I was glad to arrive at the top of the Hill car park and meet Mark immediately after arriving (Immaculate timing by Mark who’d come up from Portsmouth) with his energetic but very well behaved springer spaniel “Flossie” (a nick name once bestowed on me Phil Osso 
. Then the sun poked through and almost immediately we spotted some Dukes, but they soon disappeared as the sun went in again after its all too brief appearance. We managed to trace one which turned out to be a Duchess and nearby was also a dingy skipper 
. Shortly afterwards I found my own “Duke” and Mark’s eagle eyes continued to find several more roosters as we made our way through hill and dale eventually on to Butser Hill itself (Phew 
).
) on a fantastic site 
.
Rant over, please don't think that this particular individual was just another Green Hairstreak oh no! this is the first of the species I've seen at the reserve, and is also the nearest to home I've ever recorded the species...I'm far more thrilled with that than I was meeting Ron 
