27th May, a date with a Duke & Duchess
I wasn’t planning on going out on the Sunday, the forecast the previous day was all about thunder and lightning, but waking up it would seem that the risk had dissipated somewhat so I decided to hop on a train up into the Chilton's to say goodbye to the Dukes for another year.
Arriving at Tring just before noon, it was very warm and muggy but a few butterflies were willing to pose, including my first few snaps of a Large White for the year, I was beginning to think the year would pass without any settling for me. He didn’t want share his flower with the Brimstone though.
Elsewhere most things were in solar powered hyper drive but surprisingly, an Orange-tip settled long enough for a few snaps, there were three or four males patrolling here today.
In the meadows of Aldbury Nowers Nature Reserve again very little settled but I did manage to pin down a Brown Argus and a couple of Common Blues. Dingy Skippers, Small Heath and Small Coppers were less helpful though.
Further on more activity was found with various Whites, a female Brimstone searching for Buckthorn and a female Orange-tip played hide and seek as she fed on some Herb Robert.
The walk to Ivinghoe was a rather warm and sweaty one, there is little cover, but I was kept entertained by the endless butterfly activity. Common Blues and Brown Argus vied for dominance, closely followed by Small Heath and Dingy Skippers with the odd Green Hairstreak and Grizzly thrown in for good measure. Very little sat still though.
The first thing that caught my eye at the Beacon was a rather fresh looking Grizzlie, quickly followed by a slightly less fresh Duke.
There were no more Dukes behind the car park, just a few Dingy’s and Burnet Companions doing fair imitations.
Moving onto the first gully I found a handful of males still lurking in various states of disrepair, hoping for a late emerging female, and a moff lifer in the form of a Wood Tiger
, a very handsome devil.
It was rather cloudy at this stage of the afternoon, but still warm so everything was basking with wings wide open, making them all easy targets.
Moving onto the next Duke hotspot I had plenty more encounters with Blues and Skippers but the one butterfly that demanded my attention was a rather pale, sandy coloured Small heath with some particularly well-developed hindwing ocelli that were quite obvious some distance away.
A nice female Common Blue also sat still for more than a few seconds too.
The Dukes here didn’t disappoint either, with plenty more willing subjects to aim my camera at.
Returning to the gully under brighter conditions gave me a bit of underside action and I came within seconds of adding in-cop Dukes to my photographic collection. The male disengaged and flew off, no doubt in search of his next conquest, before I could even raise my camera leaving me with a near pristine Duchess at my disposal.
I watched a few more aged Duchesses ran the gauntlet of this gully before I left, each being harassed by the males as they passed through the territories
.
I was hoping it would have cooled a little for the return but no, very little was going to sit still. I got lucky with a mint Common Blue, doing a passing impersonation of an Adonis and a well posed Small Heath!
To illustrate the heat these Rooks aren’t calling, they’re panting to cool down
.
Several Corn Buntings were calling and with some careful stalking I was chuffed to get a few decent shots of one
.
Back at Aldbury Nowers, still with a ‘fresh glow’ about me, the Blues and Argus’s had all gone to roost, leaving me with just a Lizard for company. He kept a very close eye on me as I took his picture sitting on a stile.
Although the Blues had all gone to bed (it was 6pm now), as if to illustrate just how warm it still was, more than one male Orange-tip was still in full on patrol mode and in overcast conditions too
.
A last minute decision turned out rather well, even more so when I found out there had been a thunderstorm or two back home
. Had I stayed local which was the other option I would have got drenched!
Looking forward to the next installment 
. I'm going to presume he's moved up high out of my reach and not contemplate any other outcome 
Also love the shot of the Dingy 'preparing for take off'! 