Thanks
Wurzel, 3pm is when a silent alarm goes off in my head when chasing Orange-tips, when I know I can stop being just a spectator to their antics.
Thanks
David, Orange-tips make everything better!
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April 2022
Saturday 16th. A sunny bank holiday, in the UK…
![Shocked :shock:](./images/smilies/icon_eek.gif)
Well one thing was for sure, my local patches were going to be rammed with dog walkers, sun worshippers, picnickers etc so getting out of the city was a must! Targets for the weekend were the spring Skippers and Green Hairstreaks which had started to appear on various sites. The train down to Shoreham-by-sea was pleasantly quiet and by half nine I was at Mill Hill. Now the Blackthorn had mostly gone over, the remaining hibernators had to switch to a different blossom for breakfast, several Peacock were on and around this Apple today.
Down on the slope I managed to catch glimpses of individuals of both Skippers but quickly lost sight of them and for a while a Yellowhammer was the only thing to get it’s picture taken.
On a second circuit of the lower I disturbed another (or the same) Grizzled Skipper who this time didn’t zip off out of sight.
Nothing else showed up so it being still quite early I decided to take a wander along some other country paths in the area I’ve not explored before. Along the lane leading north from Mill Hill I found my first female Green-veined White of the year. With cars rapidly closing in I just had time for some grab shots from my long lens, she was a lovely dusky lady though.
Whites, Brimstones, Peacocks and a few speckled Wood were found along the lanes I explored but only the Specklies settled in the rapidly warming conditions. Off in the distance I could hear a Raven croaking along with the continuous sound of Skylarks. Slightly closer to me a Rook was busy looking for food, probably for a nest full of chicks.
There followed a long, round route back to Mill Hill via Southwick Hills. Not many butterflies were found at Southwick Hills but along the lanes heading back to Mill Hill Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell were plentiful, in varying states of disrepair. I couldn’t resist a male Linnet showing off his rosy chest either.
I finally returned to Mill Hill just after 3 to find the Dingy Skippers had woken up. Rather active in the mid afternoon sun and there seemed to be quite a few as well with two separate trios dog fighting in opposite corners of the slope making an absolute minimum of 6 but in all likelihood double that would be a reasonable guesstimate. By contrast the Grizzled Skippers were few and far between, I found just two.
Whilst searching along the bottom slope a Large White, my first of the year, nonchalantly fluttered past and disappeared over the hedge. A smaller white thing also fluttered swiftly past. As I watched it, hoping it would land so I could Identify it, a Chiffchaff (or possibly a Willow Warbler) darted out, plucked out of the air and perched on a bit of Hawthorn. It then promptly dropped it and flew back into the hedge. The reason became obvious when I found the unharmed moth. It was a female Muslin Moth, a member of the Tiger Moth subfamily, all of which are distasteful
Ps. hopefully you can see the images, the website seems to have a minor infestation of Gremlins at the moment, I'm sure Pete's on the case
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)