Thanks
Wurzel, he gave me plenty of time to get every conceivable angle
Thanks
Janet, There's still plenty to go yet, I'm a month behind now.... Wurzel is snapping on my heals
Thanks
David. Yes there's been relatively few HIM reports this year compared to previous, even Neil had to resort to Chiddingfold for his fix of groundings this year from the looks of things! This is the third year in a row that the Hairstreaks at Bookham have been bountiful and they seem to go on for ages, I had a reasonably fresh one just three days ago there!
13th July
I’d left adding the Large Blue to the years tally a little late this year (I’m normally at Daneway late June or Early July) but one thing or another had meant I’d not managed to see them yet and with July running away already I wondered whether I’d be too late. Under my own steam Saturday is the only day of the week I can get there (train fares being scandalous during the week and the bus service to Sapperton doesn’t run on a Sunday) and since I work alternate weekends as well, my opportunities are very limited! Anyway the 13th looked like my last chance to get lucky this year, the forecast seemed good and Daneway is late site for them so fingers crossed there’d still be enough on the wing to make the trip worthwhile.
After getting the train to Stroud and then the bus to Sapperton it’s just a short 15 minute stroll along the Wysis Way which pops out at the bottom of the Daneway Inn. The footpath in this part of the world roughly follows the River Frome and is quite a pleasant walk.
- A short stretch of the river (barely a trickle to be honest) was canalised at some point and decorated rather extravagantly!
Despite the prospect of Large Blues mere minutes away I still couldn’t resist stopping to record some of the many butterflies here.
Daneway Bank was almost empty of people, I imagine a fortnight previous it would have been crawling with enthusiasts, but within a couple of minutes of walking through the gate a Large Blue flew past me. I managed to keep eyes on it until it settled, unsurprisingly past it’s best but a good sign that I wasn’t too late, it’s unlikely I’d stumbled across the last individual of the year!
Being later than usual many of the other butterflies that I’m used to seeing fresh out the box here, Skippers, Browns etc, were also past their best but this beauty stopped me in my tracks
.
I also had a go looking for some eggs but all I found was this cute lady looking back at me
.
I bumped into a chap who had been surveying for Large Blue eggs who confirmed there were still plenty on the wing, mostly at the far end of the site and it was here that another gave me the run-around. It looked quite fresh from what I could see but it never settled within range of my camera. Another one did though, quite often. A few shots taken then I’d lose it as it flew behind a bush or up the slope faster than my legs could follow it, a few minutes later and it would turn up again. four times I re-found it, instantly recognisable from the reduced forewing spotting.
Before taking a well-earned break for lunch at the Inn I managed another one who was most definitely living out her twilight years!
An hour later I back on the slope, finding the prize of the day
. The hazy sun that caused her to open up really made her glow. At one point she opened her wings flat and quivered them, I thought perhaps this was an attempt to attract the attention of a passing male. Being late in the season it’s fair to surmise that males were now a bit thin on the ground, so perhaps she hadn’t yet mated.
This presumption was put to bed when I followed her to some Marjoram and watched her lay.
One last slow meander around the site threw up just one more aged Blue and a few other fresh butterflies that were worthy of my time and a grasshopper sitting rather proudly atop an Orchid.
Well worth the visit in the end
- Daneway Banks as viewed from the Wysis Way