Arnside Knott (Part 1)
I have recently returned from a couple of wonderful days (23rd & 24th July) on Arnside Knott. Like many others before me, I fell in love with this butterfly Mecca during my first visit to the site. In fact, over the course of a couple of days, I spent just short of 24 hours on the hill, totally entranced by the panoramic views and changes in light from early morning to dusk; the butterflies weren't bad either! Many thanks to Vince for the information he provided before I set off.
Early Morning On Arnside Knott
Over the two days it was a pleasure to share the experience with a number of other UKBers, including GOLDENORFE, LCPete and friend, PhiliB, Rosalyn and (Mr & Mrs) hosebirder. One word of caution for those intending to visit soon.... tics! I’m no wuss when it comes to these things; I had the disease in 2007 and have had to remove numerous tics after the majority of outings on the West Sussex Downs (an infection ‘black spot’) over many years - but Hannah and I spent over an hour removing 30+ on my return home. Admittedly most of these were very small, but that’s the most I’ve ever played host to at one sitting. I had flicked about two dozen off my skin throughout the day. To add to this, I had ditched my insect repellant after getting an allergic reaction, so became a sitting duck for the mozzies on the last evening. Hannah reckoned she could count over 50 bites, some of which turned quite nasty. After two days taking Piriton and using antihistamine cream things are a little better... but please go better prepared than I did! Wading through the ferns is probably the best way to attract these critters.
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Early Afternoon On Arnside Knott
Now back to the butterflies. Over the two days the following species put in an appearance: Scotch Argus, High Brown Fritillary, Dark Green Fritillary, Grayling, Northern Brown Argus, Purple Hairstreak, Painted Lady, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma, Peacock, Gatekeeper, Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown, Small Heath, Brimstone, Green-veined White, Large White, Large Skipper, Small Skipper. Twenty species this far North is good going. Some of the female HBF, DGF and Grayling were still quite fresh – but insufficiently so for fussy photographers such as myself.
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Scotch Argus is a species I haven’t seen for 20 years, since my days living in exile in Aberdeen.... and it was good to see them again. The weather during my stay was glorious; far too good to suit this species. Sunday dawned clear and sunny and it wasn’t long before the temperature rose sufficiently to suppress Scotch Argus activity. Many buried themselves deep in the longer grass or scrub to prevent their chocolate-brown bodies from over-heating. This colouration allows Scotch Argus and Mountain Ringlet to absorb heat very quickly, and operate in typically duller, cooler conditions; but it also counts against them in temperatures sufficiently high to send me back down into Arnside for an ice-cream.
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My first day on the hill, Saturday, had started overcast and cooler, so turned out to be far the better for photography, despite becoming sunny and warm after midday. Mid evening was the best time, as the previously fidgety males finally started to sunbathe on ferns or seek nectar from bramble, clover, ragwort and the beautiful, fiery orange-coloured fox-and-cubs (
Hieracium aurantiacum). On Sunday evening the photographic opportunities were much rarer, as most of the butterflies never re-emerged from their refuges. The previous day it had been easy to count 30-40 Scotch Argus, but they now appeared to be in significantly lower numbers.
By the time I came off The Knott on Saturday night I was already judging the trip a success, but I could never have predicted the large slice of Lady Luck which was waiting for me the following morning.
Mid Evening on Arnside Knott