Larkhill 10-09-2015
My morning stop off on the way to work wasn’t as productive as usual. Perhaps the end of the season is approaching? For my 5 minutes of hard work all I could muster as a single Common Blue.
At break time I was on Duty and the weather had cheered up, the sun had burnt the mist away and the temperature was rising so I took my camera with me while I checked there were no pupils off site. At the Buddleia a small collection of butterflies distracted me in my vigil for smokers and skivers. A Large and Small White had a brief tussle and disturbed a Small Tort that looked fabulous in its fresh livery. At the end of duty as I entered my lab a Small White fluttered by to round off a successful break time.
I don’t normally stop on Thursday as I at work late for meetings. However tonight I did as the day had been such a glorious one. And so it continued into the evening. At the Golden Rod there were three blues, 2 females one of which looked fresh as a daisy and a male further back and just out of range. There was also a Meadow Brown hanging on in there.
Down the path at least 3 Small Heaths were on the path and as I knelt down to try for a shot of a Small White a dark brown butterfly flew up from the Hawthorn, did a circuit around me and then landed in an adjacent bush – a Larkhill Specklie which is something of a rarity and it looked fresh too.
As I walked back to the car there was a growing thunderous beating and various Helicopters passed over.
Larkhill 11-09-2015
AM
A very quick stop off at Larkhill and I headed off straight down the Eastbound path. One of the things that I’ve learnt from working this site is that at this time of year, when the morning sun is low yet still bright, is that there isn’t really any point looking for butterflies until the return journey. Then the sun catches their closed wings and instead of blending in they positively glow from the beige grass. I reached the usual place, about 20-30m along, and started scanning about. A few steps back to the car and there was one with a second just behind it.
I headed onto work ready to face the day. Only I didn’t get very far as an accident blocked the only road through to Pewsey. It meant a detour via first Shipton and then past my Duke site. I was sorely tempted to pull in, turn the phone off and make a day of it...
PM
I did get to work as quickly as possible and as a reward I treated myself to a quick stop on the way home. As the weather reports keep delighting in telling us that the ‘summer’ weather will end shortly I thought that I should make the most of it. The Eastbound path and the patch of Golden Rod was totally barren so I chanced a walk up the Northbound path which had the advantage of being out of the wind.
Up by the bramble patch a butterfly flew from the path. I thought that it looked too dark for a Meadow Brown so I followed it with my eyes and after a quiet stalk I relocated it when it landed. Another Larkhill Specklie. This species is quite a rarity for this site so to see two on two consecutive days is something of a purple patch. It shortly got even better when a second one went up from the grass.
Time up I headed home and a weekend of marking, wood sorting and ceiling painting awaited me...
Have a goodun
Wurzel