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Hi! Wurzel, that's just what I thought when I first saw it

Well we set off this morning for the Lakes and got stuck in a Traffic jam on the M61 which went down to one lane to get onto the M6, Murder!!! Before that we saw the fire on Winter Hill which some one had started deliberately, He's since been arrested but the smoke can been seen from the Lake District ,( also from our Bungalow !!)
We'd decided to go back to Foulshaw Moss just in case the Heaths were still there/ they weren't, I did get a shot of a Dragon fly though just one.
We went a cross the road then to Latterbarrow, guess what, MB"s, SK"s, a few whites all of which didn't stop
We had lunch and set off to Arnside Knott, If I tell you I saw SK"s and MB's again,( you won't be surprised) I think every thing was hiding in the bush's out of the Sun We were just about to leave and go to the Car Park when this DGF flew up from the Ferns
and landed in front of me, Guess what, your right! off it flew before I got a shot
That was our day, must say though the weather was good, too hot, but how often do we see the Sun so much, we still enjoyed it but I hope we see more next week at Ferymn Woods Goldie

That's often the way with DGFs but hang on in there as once you've seen one they become progressively easier to capture on film

Have a goodun

Wurzel

That sounds a frustrating day Goldie! The heat seems to have supercharged all the butterflies
We can smell the smoke from the fires even here in Sale, I guess the wind must have been in the right direction. Some of our Conservation Volunteers were supposed to be working at Stalybridge on Wednesday but had to give up on account of the smoke.

Hi! Wurzel, no such luck about going back We're off to Kent first thing this coming Sat, calling at Ferymn first, staying over night, then onto Kent, you win some, then lose some, that's Butterflying If I see the Emperor, a WA, or a SWF,and a PHS,(wishful thinking ) I'll be happy, Goldie

Hi! Janet, We can see the smoke from our Bungalow but we've been lucky so far because we've not been in it's path but yesterday was really bad, two fires came together causing panic for the woods at Rivington, because of house's and farms on that side of the Moor and the wind yesterday was quite strong, which didn't help, I think the Army or helping out today. We could do with that Storm moving up a-bit I never thought I'd say that! It's a worry for the wild life Goldie

We stayed at home today and went into the Garden doing odd jobs until it got too hot, sitting down enjoying the weather and having our lunch we saw, ( has we did two days ago a Meadow Brown ) it flew into our Bushes and not wanting to distrub it we left it alone, it wasn't long before another two arrived, one disappeared but the other one climbed onto a very worn Rose, because of this I took a photo quickly of it, I'm not too sure this one is a MB it seems a-bit ragged , but the others definitely were .
Not long after this a Comma arrived, then a Small Tort, lots of Whites, a Small Skipper,
we realised this was unusual, Meadow Brown's especially have never been in our garden before.
We soon realised they must have come from Winter Hill which some one has set on fire, I don't think the Whites have but I'm not sure.
It's a real mess up on the Moors at present and the Butterflies and other wild life are suffering because of it, I'm hoping the MB will be alright in the Garden but it's not really an environment that fits them but it's better than being burnt.
Rivington Pike and Woods are not far a way and we can see the smoke from the fire in the distance, the Army are there now i think helping, so hope fully it won't get into the Woods are the Village of Belmont.
Maybe the crumpled Butterfly I posted earlier had also come from there. Goldie

Great H.Comma Goldie Fingers crossed they can get the fire under control What sort of muppet would start a fire on purpose just for the sake of it

Have a goodun

Wurzel

I don't know Wurzel, I think now they've got him I'd put him on the hill batting out the fire, instead he'll probably just get a fine and guess what!! the Police Helicopter saw two men actually starting another fire with matches ten miles a way from that one Goldie

I'm counting down now for our trip South on Saturday , hope fully Fermyn first. but just had to add this lovely Small Tort from today in the Garden because it looks so fresh.( I took the shots at 7pm. ) Goldie

Great Small Tort Goldie Good luck for your trip down South

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thanks Wurzel, with all the shots of Fermyn I've seen so far I could be lucky Goldie

Lovely Small Tort Goldie - I haven't seen many of them yet. Good luck with the PEs at Fermyn! I'm off to Brockholes tomorrow for the WLH

It is horrendous those fires. But nature gets its way eventually. Some years ago some crazy person purposefully set fire to Thursley Heath a few miles from where I live. It ripped though the reserve - you could see the smoke miles away. It appeared devastated. But slowly, year by year, the heath regenerated and then the animals started to come back. Now, only a few years later you would never know it had happened. Indeed there were some specialists that required the fire to happen, for example the Pine Fire Fungus!

Thanks Janet,they were in the Garden again today hiding from the Sun, then flying back on the flowers .

That's great ernie, hope fully things will get back to normal here but the fires are still raging on the moors here , it's strange though this always seems to happen here when the weather is hot, I think the heat affects strange people
Last year at Heysham nr Morcambe some one set fire to the nature reserve there, they'd just introduced Large Heath back to the reserve and were devastated but this year the Large Heath were back to every ones surprise Goldie

Lovely Small Tort Goldie, wishing you luck with your trip.

Hi Goldie - trying to catch up on a few diaries as this heat has caused so much extra work with the animals . Anyway, just don't believe Wurzel when he tells you DGF get easier after the first one - they don't!!!! I've been trying to get a decent shot for years!!! Some lovely photos recently and I'm wishing you both all the best for your trip to Fermyn and Kent - looking forward to seeing your shots

Thanks Andrew and Pauline, we're looking forward to the trip but trying to work out how we can work watching the the Football match into the Journey.

I just put a few more shots in, loads of Whites in the Garden, second shot is a Small Tort on my stone seat sheltering from the Sun,
Third shot one on my water Barrel which I decided to paint ages ago to jazz things up a bit, Goldie

Those Tortoiseshells get into some funny places, Goldie.

Hope you are making the most of the warm weather.

Great stuff Goldie That Small Tort is a bit rubbish at hiding, it doesn't look anything like a nose

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Hi Goldie - I missed you up at Arnside by a day! I was there on 1st and 2nd July and my goodness it was hot. The butterflies were really difficult to approach they were zooming around so much.

I like your Tortoiseshell poses - not always an easy butterfly to get close to especially when it's very sunny.

Dave

Hi!, David,Wurzel and Dave, Many thanks for your posts, we've been so busy since we arrived in Kent, we thought we'd try to get out each day while the weather stays good, today though, we feel like catching our breath, so calling it a rest day although we'll pay East Blean Woods another visit tonight to see if I can get the PHS with open wings

We stayed over night on Saturday after visiting Fermyn Woods and got B&B before setting off for Kent on the Sunday. Sunday was spent later watching my Grandson play cricket. So Monday we set off to look in BW ,I'll just put a few shots in because I've been really lucky since arriving here, unfortunately I missed the Emperor's ,in Fermyn Woods, it was such a hot day they didn't come down from the tree's, I did get the SWF though so had to be happy with that at the time

What I found in East Blean Woods on Tuesday though really cheered me up, Wurzel, I actually found some Heath Frits I also found a WA in both EBW and the Woods near my Daughter's, which is still Blean, on the Monday, also I found a PHS

Yesterday, Wednesday, after a very cloudy start we went to Temple Ewell, I was so pleased to see the Marbled Whites and Chalkhill's , so we spent some time there before catching our breath for back to the house Goldie