Thanks for your kind comments Wurzel and Mike I hope this year throws up some thing really good for us to photograph
I've mentioned my high points of last year but I also had low points, my first was on visits I made to Gaits Barrow. Over a period of five months starting with April I went there at least a dozen times and I was disappointed in the amount of Butterflies I saw there in comparison with other years . I know a dozen doesn't seem a lot but as you know with Butterflies you get to know their flight times and try to coincide your visits with these times.
In 2013 a lot of coppicing was done at Gaits Barrow bushes, etc, the part where the Duke of Burgundy is situated looked quite bare, I thought at the time if this is going to help them in any way it's a good thing, last year to my surprise I saw very few Dukes and people remarked that the coppicing had been too rigorous the previous year , that was a real down for me I can only hope they've recovered this year.
I'm all for making the environment better for Butterflies but I'm of the opinion now that this can also hinder.
My next low was at East Blean Woods in Kent, coppicing had been done there in a previous year and this time I saw one Heath Fritillary, I was amazed, in early July? again some one said their caterpillar food plant had been over run by weeds etc. So instead of being greeted last year with dozens in the car park I saw one.
I know last year the Butterflies were earlier than usual but in EBW they usually fly late June to early August so I don't think that was an hinderance, I just hope when I visit Kent this year I'll see them all back to normal until then I'll stay rather doubtful about coppicing and what it entails. Goldie
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