Thank you, Kev - yes, June is always a full sort of month, and there's a fair bit to come. Fresh Large Skippers are one of the highlights.
I was lucky with that Black Hairstreak and its persistence, Wurzel. Bugboy tells me it was still there the following morning too. The Meadow Brown on the orchid was lucky too - butterflies mostly avoid them, moving away in disgust when they find they are the wrong type of pink/purple flower. I watched the DGF do this as they searched for the knapweed and thistle.
Cheers, Trevor - still room for improvement with those Small Heath shots, but I'm getting nearer...
I had selected
Friday 10th June as the day to make the trek up to Norfolk for the Swallowtails. As in recent years, I had decided to stay the night in Norwich to give myself two cracks of the whip (in case of iffy weather) and an early start on day two. I didn't set off quite as early as I had hoped, but was at Strumpshaw by lunchtime. It turned out that Bugboy was also there, having arrived by train somewhat earlier.
My initial circumnavigation of the Fen produced large numbers of Small Tortoiseshells and a few Red Admirals, but only a distant flying Swallowtail.
I made my way out of the reserve across the railway to the area beyond the late Doctor's garden, and then to the sheltered (and very overgrown now) glade where I had found an almost tame butterfly a few years back. Initially there were two Swallowtails contesting the territory, but eventually one prevailed and cruised up and down in the sunshine, pausing every so often if the sun went in. Unfortunately, most of its favoured perches were above head height, but nevertheless provided some photo opportunities.
Later in the afternoon, two or three other butterflies made their way to the now traditional Sweet Williams in the Doctor's garden itself, where they attracted many admirers.
Though this somewhat artificial environment does provide opportunities to see these splendid butterflies up close, as others have said the more natural surroundings of the countryside makes for a far better setting.
There was more: on my earlier walk round the reserve, I had wandered down a bit of boardwalk into the fen, and at a slight righthand bend a small sprig of milk parsley overhung the path very low down. I examined this in the hope of perhaps finding a caterpillar - and was rewarded with exactly that - plus a bonus of a very-nearly hatched egg.
After meeting up with Bugboy, I sought a second opinion - which confirmed this was indeed a first instar Swallowtail caterpillar and a mature egg of the same species. Looking close by, we found another egg - one much more recently laid and still yellow in colour.
A very successful day, and another opportunity for more the following morning.
Dave