After spending yesterday looking at continuous sunshine through the office window, I managed to take today off. A promising start, with a quick tour of the local patch, during which I saw my first Speckled Wood of the year, and managed to get close to a nice fresh Small White. The Commas, Peacocks and Small Tortoiseshells clearly weren't up yet.
![SpW2 100415.JPG (501.96 KiB) Viewed 474 times SpW2 100415.JPG](./files/thumb_9839_2e8825719f8a190c0ed10fc31523c43a)
![SpW1 100415.JPG (449.86 KiB) Viewed 474 times SpW1 100415.JPG](./files/thumb_9839_6b792856382d5ebe5877ae149d9df41d)
![SW1 100415.JPG (383.35 KiB) Viewed 474 times SW1 100415.JPG](./files/thumb_9839_3c588bd540b269d3b3db98ba92b9a84f)
I decided to drive down to Denbies, just to see if anything was about down there - Green Hairstreaks can't be far off, nor Grizzled Skippers. However, an annoying bank of cloud appeared and persisted, which meant that all I saw was a single Peacock. The forecast air pollution was very much in evidence - the view across to Leith Hill being almost non-existent, so hazy was it. The slopes are covered in violets at the moment, more than I've ever seen, and the grass is relatively short - allowing the ground to heat up and encourage all those blue butterfly caterpillars to get munching. It's worth noting that the car park at Denbies now boasts a very good coffee van which is going to be there on Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays from now until October.
I returned home, but went a circuitous route to avoid the M25 and its Friday madness. Of course, within 20 minutes, out came the sun again and Brimstones came with it, plus one or two Orange Tips. Never mind - early days yet. Back at home, I had an more extended amble around my local patch. Much more to see now - though mostly plentiful Peacocks, Commas and now good numbers of Small Tortoiseshells.
I was hoping to see some courtship behaviour, but the closest I got was this case of mistaken identity. The Tortoiseshell was really persistent though the Peacock was having none of it.
After the initial subject of his attention managed to escape, he quickly transferred his misguided amours to another Peacock. He must just like larger ladies... I also found a Tortoiseshell which appeared to be egg-laying, but the nettle bed was too close to the river to examine safely.
I had suspected that some of the whites I had been seeing might well be Green-veined, rather than Small, but all those close enough to check were not - until this one. Another new species for the year.
No Red Admirals seen today, and locally, only a couple of Orange Tips. Overall, though, not a bad day.
![River Colne + T5 100415 (2).JPG (456.11 KiB) Viewed 474 times View over the River Colne - nettle beds in the foreground, Terminal Five in the background](./files/thumb_9839_19f93e32bead1348e89f3ab405e51d63)
- View over the River Colne - nettle beds in the foreground, Terminal Five in the background
Dave