Aston Rowant NNR, 8 August 2011
To say today was a struggle is a bit of an understatement. I had one target, the beautiful and localised Silver-spotted Skipper. Weather conditions looked good. The sun was shining, there was intermittent cloud cover and the temperature was just right ... but the wind was just too much! It never stopped blowing. The Skipper’s naturally rapid flight is hard enough to follow on a still day but with the added impact of strong wind they were nigh on impossible to follow.
Finding the Skipper settled wasn’t too difficult but being able to find one in a photo worthy position was another thing. For those who know the butterfly, they do spend a fair bit of time basking and resting on the ground and images in this position are not too hard to come by, although they are generally not very appealing, at least to my eye. Occasionally, when resting on the ground, they would actually climb onto my finger when it was presented slowly in front of them. I received what felt like a strong feeling of trust … a nice moment.
However, perseverance did pay off in the end with several shots I was happy with.
For those who haven’t visited Aston Rowant NNR before I recommend a visit but be aware. The ground is very steep and can be difficult underfoot in places. It is also quite noisy with the continual drone of the M40 motorway in the background, though after a while this fades into the general environment. The sheep that graze the site, presumably as part of the overall habitat management plan, leave a trail of what only sheep can leave behind! Being an entomologist and photographer who likes to get down and personal, I soon found this out to my detriment … I was covered in a fairly short period of time!
My thanks to Lee Hurrell for directions to the site.
Species seen included:
Silver-spotted Skipper
Chalkhill Blue
Common Blue
Brown Argus
Small Copper
Red Admiral
Gatekeeper
Meadow Brown
Speckled Wood
![SSS1.JPG (104.47 KiB) Viewed 1454 times Silver-spotted Skipper (male), Aston Rowant (8 August 2011)](./files/thumb_11330_06acec602224c47d1985acad07aebe23)
- Silver-spotted Skipper (male), Aston Rowant (8 August 2011)
![P1030467.JPG (186.55 KiB) Viewed 1454 times Silver-spotted Skipper (male), Aston Rowant (8 August 2011)](./files/thumb_11330_5e761f0468cd688ed8675ca0759320a9)
- Silver-spotted Skipper (male), Aston Rowant (8 August 2011)
![P1030513.JPG (123.6 KiB) Viewed 1454 times Silver-spotted Skipper (male), Aston Rowant (8 August 2011)](./files/thumb_11330_665513f1bec0f38677a8b9c82e597591)
- Silver-spotted Skipper (male), Aston Rowant (8 August 2011)
![Aston Rowant NNR (8 August 2011)2.JPG (321.44 KiB) Viewed 1454 times Aston Rowant National Nature Reserve (8 August 2011)](./files/thumb_11330_9d067aa562642ecd784a71587b73ca37)
- Aston Rowant National Nature Reserve (8 August 2011)