Arnside Knott

[jasonbirder]

I visited Arnside Knott last Wednesday – unfortunately due to work commitments not till later in the day…
Butterfly activity was very low apart from lots of Grayling – but I put this down to the heat and the fact that I’d probably missed most of the activity.
Hoping for a return visit this week for Scotch Argus and better pics of High Brown/Dark Green Fritillary…
Does anyone who knows the reserve have any pointers on the area’s to focus my efforts?
Cheers!

[Neil Hulme]

Try the area around SD454774, but you should see plenty of everything almost everywhere up there, assuming your timing and weather conditions are right. Bear in mind that if it's too hot and sunny the Scotch Argus will bury itself in grass clumps! Spells of cloudier/cooler weather will also slow down the hyperactive HBF and DGF. Have fun - it's a magical place and simply superb on a good day.
BWs, Neil

[jasonbirder]

That's exactly what I encountered on Wednesday...i was too late on a hot day so no Scotch Argus...(all sheltering) and HBFs and DGFs occasionally shooting past at 100mph!
I'll try to be onsite nice & early tomorrow
Cheers

[Mark Tutton]

I was there yesterday and saw about half a dozen very fresh Scotch Argus, mostly on the lower slope around SD45147721 two of which were very photogenic at about 10 o'clock before the sun came out and it really warmed up. After that they were very active and rarely posed for a nanosecond. The fritillaries were supercharged and would not stop for ID let alone a picture, it was very warm and sunny though.
Kind Regards
Mark

[Tony Moore]

Not sure about the GRs given, but if you go through the gate at the far end of the car park, after about 20 yds, you will find a (not obvious) diagonal track to the right down through the wood. 30yds on, the wood gives way to a large open area with Juniper and Ragwort. The bottom edge of this area ( about 500 yds down and to the left ), seems to be the best place for HBF. There is a small, very sheltered area in the bottom left hand corner and there were several fresh HBFs there last week.

Tony M.

[Neil Freeman]

I have been up at Arnside Knott the past couple of years in late July/early August and found loads of Scotch Argus all over. There were dozens if not hundreds last year around the grid ref given by Neil H above. I would think it is still early days for them and would expect numbers to build, perhaps quite dramatically, over the next week or so.

The DGFS and HBFs were both past their best by then but I found some reasonable condition females of both species in the clearing at SD449776 and also by the path to Heathwaite at SD451769.

Cheers,

Neil F.

[AJSteele]

There today couldn't nail a high brown on id only
the dark green though quite faded now but more likely due to the warmth also saw northern brown argus, grayling and scotch so everything seems to be about