Thanks, Goldie, the Painted Lady certainly is becoming widespread now
MH Down 2nd August
My sister was staying with us for a few days and wanted to take a trip to MH Down, so off we went, our first trip out for a while. I had looked at the forecast before we went, which promised light cloud in the afternoon, but we arrived in full sunshine and 25 degree temps with a fair breeze.
Upon entering the site the first butterfly we encountered was, not surprisingly, a Painted Lady, which proved difficult to approach and was very lively.
There were quite a few across the site.
Walking along the footpath we found a group of Brimstones, both male and female, busy nectaring in preparation for hibernation. Being so preoccupied they allowed a close approach.
I was lining up for a shot of a female nectaring on a Scabious flower, when another settled on the same flowerhead.
There were plenty of Chalkhill Blues around, both male and female, but they were very lively in the hot conditions. There were also a few very fresh second brood Common Blues and Brown Argus.
![P1040110Resize.JPG (1.62 MiB) Viewed 2472 times Chalkhill Blue Male.](./files/thumb_11970_bdf58e6af27f8717cfe9972431ce03a9)
- Chalkhill Blue Male.
![P1040130Resize.JPG (1 MiB) Viewed 2472 times Chalkhill Blue Female.](./files/thumb_11970_9cde594ffc45b58ec5c4c18133b4aa1d)
- Chalkhill Blue Female.
![P1040072Resize.JPG (1.17 MiB) Viewed 2472 times Common Blue male.](./files/thumb_11970_d96670ef3f69f3317ce47072d4492f86)
- Common Blue male.
![P1040074Resize.JPG (1.2 MiB) Viewed 2472 times Common Blue male.](./files/thumb_11970_6d6a63fcd9a0ee370d76e9875413af25)
- Common Blue male.
And a couple of Small Blues, including this female ovipositing on Kidney Vetch.
We saw a few fresh Peacocks and a single Red Admiral, which appeared to have had a hard life. No Small Torts were seen.
This Meadow Brown was posing nicely with it’s wings open.
We also found two Clouded Yellows, our first of the year, nectaring on Knapweed flowers. As usual they didn’t spend long on each flowerhead and were very touchy, so it was a case of trying to second-guess which would be the next one they landed on.
It was a nice afternoon out at a lovely site that we’ve not visited for some time.