The Small Pearls seem to thrive further north, Wurzel, as well as along spots like the Cornish coast. They just don't seem happy in central southern and eastern England. It was great to see them, and I was about to see a few more too. Fresh Marbled Whites are rather special too - becoming commoner and more widespread I think, but certainly underapprecated.
On 3rd July, I drove over from Yorkshire to stay with friends just over the border in Cumbria - not a stones throw from Smardale Gill, but too early for the local speciaity there. That afternoon we walked locally, but the weather was grey and damp and all I spotted were numbers of what I have subsequently identified as Chimney Sweeper moths. It was dark and so were they, so there were no photos worth posting.
After a very convivial evening, on
Sunday 4th July I had to drive back south, but no journey down the M6 from these parts can miss out a detour to Arnside Knott. The weather forecast was for heavy showers with thunder, and a bright interval if you were particularly lucky. I had regaled my friends with stories of Arnside sitting in its own microclimate and enjoying a pool of sunshine when all around was wet, but as I approached I had the feeling I might well be about to be hoist with my own petard - there was a large cloud apparently in just the wrong place. However, it was not raining as I drove through Arnside itself, though clearly it had been. Then as I drove gingerly up the bumpy track to the car park at the Knott, the sun began to appear. For the next two and a half hours, the rain stayed away and it was largely sunny and a great deal warmer than it had been further north.
The time spent at this amazing place, with its all-round views and splendid selection of butterflies, was without doubt a highpoint of the year (possibly
the highpoint). Where to start? Initially not trusting the weather, I set off straight up to the top and immediately disturbed a number of Graylings from the scree slopes and nectaring on thyme. They emerge early here, as they do on the Great Orme in North Wales, and are similarly smaller than the ones I see in Surrey. I have heard there may be a link between the populations.
After the Graylings, I reached one of the areas where I have previously seen Northern Brown Argus, and on cue a handful of the species appeared. They are not as strikingly different from the standard Brown Argus as the Scottish populations are, but are clearly distinct.
In the same area I became aware of a number of small orange butterflies flitting between bramble flowers. I had harboured hopes for a "Three Fritillary Day", and this was the first box ticked - Small Pearls. They were more worn than their Yorkshire relations, but one female was in pretty good condition.
There were lots of skippers around here as well, and all were (as expected) Small - the march north of the Essex Skipper hasn't reached these parts yet.
As I walked along the paths on the slopes approaching the trig point, more orange butterflies appeared - but these were bigger than the SPBF. Both Dark Greens and High Browns fly here together, emerging at near enough the same time just to make things even trickier. I suspected I was seeing both species, but they initially proved very difficult to get close enough to for me to be able to identify them definitively. However, luck soon continued in my favour...And the results are worthy of a separate post.
Dave
Dave
You have captured the texture of the wings perfectly,
The Large Heath was quite a good find too 
Lovely Marbled Whites - they're another one of those species that if they were rare people would be raving about endlessly 
!