Another weekend and another chance to catch up on my butterfly sightings. Having the following weekend away on holiday meant I was banking for a very early Small Pearl showing at Bentley. Afterwards I'd be taking in Marsh Fritillary at Cotley with a view to hopefully picking up any of the Blue species (Brown Argus; Common; Small; Adonis but not Holly).
Saturday had been a day for other jobs so I had a limited amount of time for butterflying. A half hour or so along the canal was all I was able to get. The weather was warm and sunny and I was expecting Orange-tip to show up, but alas no
![Sad :(](./images/smilies/icon_sad.gif)
. Only the one female seen this year in a normally fruitlful area for this species
![Confused :?](./images/smilies/icon_confused.gif)
.
Nevertheless a good showing of Green-veined White and my first Red Admiral sighting this year made it worthwhile. In addition I was able to observe a pairing of Cauchas rumifitrella longhorn moths on the Garlic Mustard which lines large sections of the canal towpath.
Sundays forecast looked decidedly iffy but I stayed optimistic bargaining on the fact that cloudy with occasional sunny spells is often the best conditions for butterfly photography. My youngest came with me again though there wasn't the added attraction of her meeting Wurzel's daughter K as he couldn't make it
![Sad :(](./images/smilies/icon_sad.gif)
.
We arrived at Bentley later than usual under cloudy conditions and almost immediately spotted a Pearl quartering the ground seemingly unperturbed by the coolness. A Brimstone on the other hand was grounded waiting for the sun to return.
The Pearls were more lively than I expected given the weather, although there were good spells of warmth when the sun broke through. Unfortunately every orange/brown butterfly that I checked was euphrosyne and not selene ...... which I suppose was expected
![Neutral :|](./images/smilies/icon_neutral.gif)
. Still the day was to prove very fruitful. Firstly I encountered definitely two, perhaps three woodland Duke of Burgundy's
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
And then for me a real surprise a Narrow-bordered Bee Hawk-moth which was something I've never seen before
![Shocked :shock:](./images/smilies/icon_eek.gif)
. The information board states "you might be lucky to see a Broad-bordered Bee Hawk-moth" ... well this was better
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
. The moth was feeding on Bugle and never kept still so I struggled to get a decent sharp image. And then I took my eye off it for a split second and it was gone.
![J IMG_5578 Ancylis uncella, Bridge Roller, EC, Bentley Wood.jpg (200.8 KiB) Viewed 1252 times Ancylis uncella, another 'lifer'](./files/thumb_10062_61af95c92b902bf7d4c12fc055478df8)
- Ancylis uncella, another 'lifer'
Moving on from Bentley taking in a pub lunch in Winterslow and getting lost en route to Cotley we made it with only a hour and a half available to explore. By this time the weather had become cloudier and cooler and the 'masses of Marshies' did not materialise, well not the adults anyway. We discovered plenty of wandering larvae
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
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A few fresh examples were about and one of them was seemed willing to warm itself up on my daughter's finger.
Shortly afterwards I spotted Brown Argus and Grizzled Skipper.
Knowing time was short I focussed the remaining time on looking for a Wall Brown. On previous years at Cotley I'd found them but this is a species that often eludes me. When I do get it its more often than not one or two butterflies max for the season (the exception being High and Over with Badger Bob ...but back then I was using a cheap compact
![Wink :wink:](./images/smilies/icon_wink.gif)
). The only area I'd seen them was on the South facing steep slope basking on exposed chalk soil around rabbit hole scrapes. When I got to that area a cool wind was blowing along the channel created by the slope and a line of trees at the foot of the slope. Absolutely nothing could be found there
![Neutral :|](./images/smilies/icon_neutral.gif)
. I made my way down and came across a mating pair of Brown Argus in a sheltered area
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
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After that I was just about to give up muttering to myself "you win some you lose some" when there it was, a Wall Brown on a chalk soil scrape as I'd anticipated
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
. Moving closer with each shot I was able to get this record shot before it spooked and the wind caught it and took it away.
Overjoyed with my sightings it then dawned on me that I had to get moving for home
![Sad :(](./images/smilies/icon_sad.gif)
. However one last surprise awaited. Another butterflier I'd met had spent some time observing Stonechats and on my way out he showed me the location of a nest with chicks
![Cool 8)](./images/smilies/icon_cool.gif)
. Another first to round off another great day
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
.
Phil