HI Everyone,
The old railway cutting, in Hailsham, continues to amaze. Giving me today, the biggest surprise
of my Butterflying career to date. I took my camera with me on what was primarily a trip to the
supermarket, but all thoughts of shopping were quickly dispelled when i spotted my first Gatekeeper
of the year. This was joined by another small brown Butterfly, which after a short skirmish, landed
close to the ground in front of me . A WHITE LETTER HAIRSTREAK !. Only my second ever sighting
of one, and that was in Brighton.
Panic set in !, as it started ' walking ' on the foliage,only milliseconds to get the camera ready,
several duff shots later it flew a few yards and landed in an almost perfect position for a decent shot.
Now the mystery. I am not aware of any Elm trees nearby, indeed there are now rare in the area.
I hope it was a wild specimen and not a release of a captive bred one.
Shocks and surprises don't get any better than this!
TREVOR.