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The grey gloom did not start to break up until about 3.30 this afternoon.
There was still time to risk a visit to see the brawling Walls of High and Over.
Along the hedge it was warm so the males were hyper. Of the six or so seen
only one settled for several shots, but he was a fresh specimen with twin
forewing eye spots. Pity I didn't notice the grass blade in the way at the time.

Trevor.

Today's grey sky started to break up about 1pm, so I chose Park Corner Heath as a destination.
The Pearls were performing well, and included a couple more fresh males.
It was a female that stole the show, as she chose some very photogenic locations on the three
occasions of prolonged cloud. She looked pretty plump so I would imagine she was full of eggs.
Finally a very dark rain laden cloud sent me prematurely back to the car. Driving along the A22
I could see a very heavy, distant shower in progress, Someone got a soak.

Trevor.

Some lovely shots of that very obliging female, Trevor. The mix of sunshine and cloud sounds as if it was perfect - glad you missed the shower though! No sun here today until just now - a tad late in the day...

Cheers,

Dave

I was there the other day Trevor, i had at least two egg laying females. Walking along the A22 from East Hoathly is a bit hairy!

Cracking Pearls Trevor I managed to find a few at Bentley at the weekend so fingers crossed for this coming one Also news just in...Marsh Frit out at Battlesbury (that's two hills along from Cotley) so in a week they should be out at Cotley too

Have a goodun

Wurzel

You are doing well with the Pearls. The first one has a particularly blue eye.

Love the Walls, Trevor, but those Pearls on bluebells are top notch. Beautiful contrast of colour.

Yes, I agree with David, the Pearls on the bluebells are wonderful photos Trevor. Such amazing and striking colours.

Many thanks folks. A fault with my lap top last week meant that
it had to go back to the manufacturer.
But it's back now, and I haven't been idle !

Trevor.

On Thursday 5th May I drove the 10.5 miles to Horseshoe Plantation for Green Hairstreaks.
I arrived a little after 8.30, a little early for GH, so I went for a wander and within 5mins
had Small Copper, Dingy Skipper and a male Wall in the bag. Later some cloud calmed down
my first female GVW of the year, a very fresh male Common Blue and a female Wall which
chose to bask in a tree!. Only a couple of GH came down from a medium size Hawthorn tree
to bask on bramble leaves. More could be seen in the tree. My final butterfly was a male Brimstone.

Good to be back.
Trevor.

Lovely set of shots Trevor The Greenstreaks are having a cracking year at Martin Down - they seemed to be on almost every Gorse on my last visit The Marshies are building nicely

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Cheers Wurzel. Strangely I had never found a Green Hairstreak on Gorse until Friday.
All the books tell you they love Gorse and I have searched many times without success.

On Friday 6th May I visited Park Corner Heath in the late afternoon.
Remarkably I found a female PBF egg laying, then two more in close proximity.
Standing in one spot I could see all three going about their business just by turning my head.
Hopefully they were laying the foundations for a great season at PCH in 2023.

Trevor.

Lovely feast of colour in your last few updates, Trevor.

As for Green Hairstreaks, even on the Gower where they use gorse as an lhp, they generally prefer to rest on the leaves of saplings. I only occasionally see them on the gorse flowers; they are more usually nectaring from the bluebells.

Some great pearl shots recently Trevor, and excellent to get an egg laying green hairstreak. Good to hear you’re positive about PCH - fingers crossed.

Thanks David & Ben. Glad you liked the PBF, and for spotting what that GH was up to Ben!.

On Saturday 7th May I popped up to Kithurst Hill on my way to Chichester.
Even at 8.30 the Duke of Burgundy was up and about, along with some Dingy Skippers.
At that hour most Dukes were found basking and not easily disturbed, which made my job easy.

My next post ( after this one ) is in two parts, and the second part is downright bizarre, see what you think.

Trevor.

On a visit to High and Over on 11th May I completely misjudged the direction of the strong breeze.
Instead of blowing over the hedge in the meadow it was blowing along it, no Walls braving that!.
But I remembered that there are a couple of sheltered seats where Wall Browns often hold territory.
Seat one is situated where the two paths from the car park converge, and here two males were
frequently squabbling and often disappeared over the tree tops.
Then one of the males reappeared with a fresh female and dumped her behind the seat and flew off.
Fortunately the female remained on the ground long enough for a couple of shots.

I was not prepared for the action after I reached seat two.

Part two, seat two.

As I approached the second seat I spooked a male Wall which promptly flew off.
I waited for quite a while, and was starting to think that perhaps he would not return.
Then suddenly a pair of Walls landed on the concrete slabs at the base of the seat.
Initially I thought I was witnessing a mating pair, but it was clear that the male was
the wrong way round and for some reason was tangled up with the female with his
wings entangled with hers. The pair flapped around on the slabs for a good 15 secs.
before clumsily flying off. Amazingly the female did not show signs of rejecting
the male nor did they mate.
Without doubt the most bizarre experience I have witnessed so far.

This was the same location of a previous male/female confrontation I managed to photograph.

Trevor.

That really is a most peculiar incident, Trevor, and you've managed to document it beautifully too. What on earth caused them to get so tangled up I wonder?

Time for a visit to High & Over, I think, now that my foot seems to be able put up with a bit of butterfly trekking again.

Cheers,

Dave

Morning Trevor. It's certainly a case of the male trying to seduce the female with his scent scales, which have a slight whiff of chocolate believe it or not!! The male will try to circle around the female flapping like mad sending his scent scales over her, so I guess in the course of all this he got tangled up with her and got more than he bargained for. It's not just human females that like chocolate!!