Re: Neil Freeman
Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2022 8:03 am
Friday 19th August.
A typical Friday morning these days in that I popped round to see my mom and whilst there had a short 30 minute or so wander round the local park by her house.
There had been a new wave of Speckled Woods emerge since the last time I was here and I counted a conservative 18 during my circuit, most of which were in much better condition than those I had seen on my last visit.
One of them looked a bit different in flight and when it settled I saw that it had a pale forewing, probably caused by the pigments not developing properly in the pupa.
The only other butterflies seen were a few Green-veined Whites and a single faded female Gatekeeper.
Later in the afternoon I had a wander down to my local spot by Wagon Lane. Here there were a few more whites flying with around a dozen seen, mostly Small and Green-veined but with a couple of Large whites too.
About half a dozen Speckled Wood were seen along with 3 Red Admirals, all of which were too flighty to get close to.
A Small Copper was a bit more accommodating when a cloud covered the sun for a while. A comparison of previous photos shows this to be one of those that I saw here on my last visit here 10 days ago.
A couple of tired and faded Gatekeepers completed the tally here this afternoon.
With no late season specialities around here there is a real winding down feel now, almost autumnal with lots of early leaf fall due to the dry conditions. We did have quite a bit of rain earlier in the week but that won’t put the leaves back on the trees and the past couple of days have been dry again albeit windy and with a lot of cloud building up during the day but clearing overnight leading to some cooler mornings.
Bye for now,
Neil.
A typical Friday morning these days in that I popped round to see my mom and whilst there had a short 30 minute or so wander round the local park by her house.
There had been a new wave of Speckled Woods emerge since the last time I was here and I counted a conservative 18 during my circuit, most of which were in much better condition than those I had seen on my last visit.
One of them looked a bit different in flight and when it settled I saw that it had a pale forewing, probably caused by the pigments not developing properly in the pupa.
The only other butterflies seen were a few Green-veined Whites and a single faded female Gatekeeper.
Later in the afternoon I had a wander down to my local spot by Wagon Lane. Here there were a few more whites flying with around a dozen seen, mostly Small and Green-veined but with a couple of Large whites too.
About half a dozen Speckled Wood were seen along with 3 Red Admirals, all of which were too flighty to get close to.
A Small Copper was a bit more accommodating when a cloud covered the sun for a while. A comparison of previous photos shows this to be one of those that I saw here on my last visit here 10 days ago.
A couple of tired and faded Gatekeepers completed the tally here this afternoon.
With no late season specialities around here there is a real winding down feel now, almost autumnal with lots of early leaf fall due to the dry conditions. We did have quite a bit of rain earlier in the week but that won’t put the leaves back on the trees and the past couple of days have been dry again albeit windy and with a lot of cloud building up during the day but clearing overnight leading to some cooler mornings.
Bye for now,
Neil.