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Re: Wurzel
Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2022 8:19 pm
by millerd
Those pale Dukes are terrific, Wurzel. I've seen the odd lighter ones, but those beat them hollow.
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
That female Wall is none too shabby either, and getting a good shot against the bright white of the chalk is a tricky business too.
Cheers,
Dave
Re: Wurzel
Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2022 5:28 am
by trevor
A
![Mr. Green :mrgreen:](./images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif)
from me for that female Wall, probably the finest specimen since Shipton B.
Trevor.
Re: Wurzel
Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2022 3:32 pm
by Pauline
I have to agree with the others Wurzel - that's a smashing Wall Brown, a species I may well miss out on this season
![Mr. Green :mrgreen:](./images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif)
Re: Wurzel
Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2022 9:04 pm
by kevling
The nice thing about your diary is that we are still enjoying Dukes in late June. Cracking shots, especially the ab
Kind Regards
Kev
Re: Wurzel
Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2022 7:25 pm
by Wurzel
Re: Wurzel
Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2022 9:32 am
by Goldie M
Lovely Marsh shots Wurzel,
![Mr. Green :mrgreen:](./images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif)
wish we had some nearer to here
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
Goldie
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
Re: Wurzel
Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2022 7:45 pm
by Wurzel
Cheers Goldie
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
I feel the same about the Heaths
![Mr. Green :mrgreen:](./images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif)
The way things are going with the 'Mystery Butterfly Dumper' you could well have some over there soon!
Sidbury Hill 14-05-2022
The Marshies were starting to fly and so when Dave suggested a meet up my thoughts initially went to The Hill. However recently I’ve found myself preferring the quiet of my Duke site which holds all of the same species as The Hill as well as being more reliable for Walls and Dukes and slightly easier on the knees and ankles. So it was agreed and I sent Dave off a hastily drawn map (possibly a little too hasty as I sent Dave along the bottom track eek!
![Embarassed :oops:](./images/smilies/icon_redface.gif)
) of how to get to the site and where to park and then I waited for the day to arrive, fingers crossed for favourably weather…
On the day the sun shone for most of the time with only the odd small cloud passing over and dulling things down momentarily and so we set off. It was still earlyish and the butterflies were just starting to wake up but in the little walk to and around the triangle we’d picked up two each of Dingy Skipper, Brown Argus and Small Heath as well as a nicely marked Grizzlie. After this we lopped back around to towards the main track but took the smaller, parallel and more vegetated track. As we wandered and chatted we were treated to the wonderful sight of a plethora of butterflies all busily interacting and making for a dizzying spectacle. Again there was a Brown Argus seeing off anything that had the temerity to come within a metre of it. A Small Copper went up and slightly further on a second showed itself whilst all around Dingies, Grizzlies and Small Heath got in each other’s way and even a Greenstreak got in on the fray. All of this from the start of the path and so it continued all the way along and round. It was almost too much and I didn’t know where to pint my lens first.
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We then set to working up the middle field making our way to the corner that the Dukes seem to prefer. The little path across the field about half way up its length came into its own as along its length I counted 8 Dingies and a brown Argus but the stars of the show were the brace of Dukes. The site certainly looked to be living up to its’ name as in the corner there was a third Duke as well as more Dingies and a few Greenstreaks. We completed three parts of the square when walking back towards the main track but stopped frequently as something or other presented itself to us and in this short stretch of path we racked up a Brown Argus, two Small Blues, three Common Blues a few Greenstreaks and a Grizzlie or two. But the star of the show waited for us on the corner, unusually sitting up at about chest height in a sapling – it was a fresh Duchess.
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We were only on the main track for a few steps and then we branched off to have a mooch around the gently sloping thin turfed area. Just like elsewhere there seemed to be butterflies everywhere and Brown Argus were particularly noticeable here – mainly because of the good growth of Rock Rose – and in a very short space of time I’d counted 6 which along with the two brilliantly fresh Small Coppers and Common Blue contrasted nicely with the more cryptically marked Dingies. With the temperature creeping up I was conscious that the Walls might get a little too flighty and so we pressed on up the stony, steep main track towards the crossroads. When we got there at least three Walls played hard to get, especially as they had an annoying habit of spooking each other. They were great to watch, nigh on impossible to photograph and so we carried on into the rings where hopefully the combination of the breeze and shade might make it slightly cooler and so they might be more compliant.
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The Rings proved to be as productive as ever eventually after a slow start with only a Wall and the ubiquitous Dingy showing. As the grass grew shorter and we started curving round the number and variety started to pick up. So much so that noting things down became increasingly difficult and meant that I was missing out on stuff. There were certain highlights that stuck in my memory…both Dave and I clinging to the steep inner side of the ring while attempting to photograph a Wall, watching a Small Blue having a pop at a Wall, the sight of something orangey that wasn’t a Wall but turned out to be a fresh Marshie and a Greenstreak looking a little lost at the very top of the hill when most of the literature suggests they like to hang around at the bottom of the slopes. The species list comprised of Common Blue, Dingies, Grizzlie, Greenstreak, Small Copper, Small Blue, Brown Argus, Small Heath, our first Marshie and at least 5 Walls. We continued on and climbed briefly out of the Rings and then back down as we worked along the Northmost part. After watching and adding a Green-veined White we eventually turned back as the wood was encroaching on the ring and the grass was short and lacking any wildflowers and the was a deep, rumbling lowing which was possibly the Highland Bull. There was much shouting and on our way back into the Rings where the Walls had been we could see why as there was the rest of the herd blocking our way back down. The shouting was the farmer who was trying to get them to head down for what looked like a salt lick or a feed with no luck, they provided us with a masterclass in ignoring.
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Have a goodun
Wurzel
Re: Wurzel
Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2022 8:20 pm
by Goldie M
Love the green Hair Streaks Wurzel , especially the very dark green shot
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
Goldie
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
Re: Wurzel
Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2022 5:30 am
by trevor
Great, fresh, Marshie shots earlier. I think they were a little early this year,
and I was a bit late for them. A
![Mr. Green :mrgreen:](./images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif)
for your GH on a stone, stunning shade of green.
Silly season is reaching peak,
Trevor.
Re: Wurzel
Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2022 7:01 pm
by Wurzel
Re: Wurzel
Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2022 9:36 pm
by millerd
That was indeed a really good day out, Wurzel, with a terrific array of butterflies. Every way we went another selection popped up and provided great opportunities. The stars I remember were the Green Hairstreaks, Marshies, and that posing Duke later on - plus all those Small Blues on the muddy puddle. I think I muttered darkly too often about the Walls to add them to the list...
Full marks to the M.o.D. for leaving these areas unspoiled - and many thanks to you for the guided tour!
Cheers,
Dave
Re: Wurzel
Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2022 6:52 pm
by Wurzel
Cheers Dave
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
Somehow I took a massive 1063 shots that day, the highest total for a long while since there was so much to see
Vernditch 21-05-2022
I had made surreptitious plans to go to Fovant to check in and see how the Dukes were building but the best laid plans and all that…so instead we pulled into the car park at Vernditch. I didn’t mind too much as it might have meant that I could pick up a lost Marshie or maybe an Adonis? As we started up the hill the sun beamed down delightfully lighting the ever more verdant rides and there was the occasional moment when we’d be bathed in dappled light as the tallest of the trees bowed over the path to form an arch. Specklies were the order of the day with one right at the start of the track setting us off on the correct path. The second was by the fork in the tracks and it informed us that we needed to take the right fork. Further on a couple directed onwards at the crossroads and finally there was a Specklie by the gate into Kitts Grave enquiring if we’d had a good trip and wishing us luck on our further travels.
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The woodland track was now shaded and the only traces of Bluebells and Ransoms were there bulbous green seed heads of the former and a faint whisper of garlic on the air. Birds called all around in a riotous cacophony which seemed to die to a whisper as we stepped once more into the sun as we left the wood behind and made our way along the path bordered by tall Brambles. This peace was only brief as the track was again swallowed up by woodland, the occasional break in the canopy and opportunity to both warm up and spy out any butterflies. The ubiquitous Specklies continued to dominate my tally with another couple at the edges of the first break in the trees but it was with frustration and elation in equal measure that I noted down the next species – my first Painted Lady of 2022 (joy!) which shot towards me and then disappeared up and over the trees (ahhhh!). At the next, slightly larger break a Grizzlie also played hard to get adding to my slight feeling of regret that I wasn’t on a hill somewhere surrounded by Dukes.
At the corner the girls wanted to try the new route back but then changed their minds and so we turned right and walked along the track that runs parallel to the Blandford Road. Of course a Specklie was on the corner and a Brimstone dashed past and on the Bank I watched a Greenstreak have a brief run-in with a Dingy before setting off purposefully towards the line of Bramble where I lost it from view. Further along the path another Painted Lady flew up and down, quartering the track, it went down for just long enough to confirm that the peach blur was indeed the very same species but as I carefully stalked in for a shot an aged Peacock put it up, sniggering like one of the Old Gits (Paul Whitehouse rather than Harry Enfield I think?) and so we carried on turning the next corner.
I realised that now my best chance of any butterflies lay before me and so I peeled my eyes even more than usual and scanned everything. The Gorse and Hawthorn had a distinct lack of any Greenstreaks or Holly Blues but a Brimstone flew in the distance leading me onwards. When the path opened up into the small field where I’ve previously found DGFs a female Common Blue fluttered about weakly whilst her prospective mate was acting much more frenetically slightly deeper into the field. For once the weather Gods smiled on me and a passing cloud drifted under the sun momentarily chilling the male out so I could reach in and grab a few shots. Once back on the path an aged Peacock played a game of chase with us and it put up a tiny butterfly. Judging by the size the only thing it could be was a Small Blue and after a few dizzying moments of watching it as it jinked about all over the place pulling its full repertoire of evasive manoeuvres I was able to get a few shots to confirm.
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Things had definitely picked up but I was still smarting slightly from the brief encounters with the Painted Ladies. More out of habit than judgement I ambled down the slope into the Valleys. At the first a Common Blue showed appreciable accelerative skills and then at the second I spied a larger, peach coloured butterfly – a Painted Lady. I didn’t dare hope that it would rest but the scattering of cloud that was building meant that there were periods of shade which calmed it somewhat. I got to within distance and it flew but not far. I made another approach and again it flew but this time it landed even closer and then in an effort to charge itself up it opened it wings wide. Click, click was the only noise I heard for how long I don’t recall; I was in another place where all I could see was the butterfly before me, drinking it in, my initial frustrations ebbing away. Eventually I zoomed out and carried on with the walk, a little self-satisfied glow putting a spring in my step. Painted Lady isn’t exactly a rarity but you can never really tell from one year to the next how many (or even if) you’ll see and you can’t go to a particular site looking for them so to find one whilst just out for a family walk was a massive bonus.
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After that I added a few more things to the tally – a Grizzlie displaced a Dingy from the edge of the final valley, a Small Heath flew by the entrance to the Wood and of course there were Specklies a plenty showing us the way back to the car park. It’s great when things turn out unexpectedly for the better!
Specklies and the Blues
Main event; Painted Ladies
Nice tick on the list
Have a goodun
Wurzel
Re: Wurzel
Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2022 7:12 pm
by Wurzel
Seems I missed the deadline for July...
July 2022
Better late than never...
Have a goodun
Wurzel
Re: Wurzel
Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2022 7:19 pm
by Wurzel
Whitesheet 22-05-2022
I arrived on site a fair bit later this year and as I crossed the car park crossed my fingers and hoped that the butterflies wouldn’t be too turbo charged having warmed up significantly as then getting underside shots would be next to impossible…
I risked a look up from watching my feet as I negotiated the steep and uneven track down the side of the Down and there was my first butterfly of the day – a Glannie. Brilliant, job done but now I needed to try and get a better set of photos. To this end I hung around the first bit of slope hoping that it was a male and so that it would come back to maintain its ‘territory’. As I wandered about and watched a Small White went by and a Painted Lady flew past at supersonic speed almost as if I was watching a film being fast forwarded. This initial Painted Lady was swiftly followed (not literally) by a second and this one paused for a brief refuel. The next butterflies on the tally were a brace of Greenstreaks which messed about at the top of the hedge while I was watering it. Needless to say I didn’t capture any shots of the two Greenies as I was somewhat indisposed…or should that be ‘exposed’?
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I then set off to travail the hill following the tiny trackways created as the turf slowly succumbs to gravity and creeps down the hill. I guess this is why the Glannies have done well here, the slips and falls of the ground leave exposed areas in the chalk which new species can colonise including the larval food plant and there seemed to be plenty of Plantain about. Along the ways I spotted a Common Blue, Dingy Skippers and a few Small Heaths which tried to pitifully convince me that they were really Glannies. When the real deal showed up I could almost see the look of embarrassment on their faces. The Glannies did make a fine sight as they glided skillfully along the paths and tracks and then floated down to another prominent perching spot several ‘terraces’ below. They were also quite adept a illusion as I’d be watching one intently as it dropped but when I approached the perching place it would have disappeared only to fly up from out of nowhere when I got a little closer. Common sense got the better of my valour eventually as not wanting to risk breaking my neck I retired to the bottom of the hill and walked to field at the base of the hill where it curves round.
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As I started my way along the foot of the hill Adonis blues and the odd Brown Argus started appearing as the slope started to level out. I also spotted another couple of Glannies flying low by the hedge. A slightly darker Glannie turned out to actually be a Marshie when I got close enough to peer down the view finder at it. This kinda sums up how the fortunes of this species have changed over the last couple of years. When I first started I drove all the way to Hod Hill and if one was seen at Martin Down it had to be kept ‘hush, hush’. Now when one turns up after the initial flush of them at the start of their flight they only get a brief mention WINK. A Painted Lady also flew past and as it came in from the neighbouring field and shot up the side of the Down I guessed that it was a different individual from the two previously seen. Finally in this little bit before turning the corner a Small Copper popped up.
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As I rounded the corner and walked down the little rise with the field before me I entered into the Glannie Hotspot as there were at least 5 or 6 all flying about. It seemed that they all had a penchant for the same sort of resting/basking spot as I’d watch one as it would start to descend as if to land and then it would put up another that had already been resting/basking. I spent the next hour just wandering backwards and forwards, wending my way through the larger clumps of grass along the animal tracks which served as paths. The butterflies were quite skittish at times but I soon worked out how close I could get before I needed to really focus on slow, smooth movements, creeping in camera poised already clicking away and so I was able to get my fill. Among the Glannies there were also Small Heath, Dingies, Common Blues, Brown Argus and a single Small Blue. The Brambles in the hedge at the initial corner housed a few Greenstreaks which contrasted nicely with the Glannies what with them being smaller, sedentary and green.
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I then bumped into Hugo Brooke from the local branch and we had a chat after which I got back to scanning the field for Glannies. I got onto plenty soon enough and noticed that as the day was wearing on they were showing a tendency to close up more. On previous visits I’d found them in the early morning when they’d be sitting with wings firmly closed before gradually opening up like petals of a flower when greeting the morning sun. Now as they approached the opposite time of the day they were doing the opposite. Perhaps they were getting too warm as the sun was high in the sky and so they offered up the more reflective and white under wings which absorbed heat less effectively? Or perhaps they were just knackered from racing about all morning? Who knows? I didn’t mind though as I though that closed wings shots would have been at a premium so I more than willing for them to carry on displaying this behavior. They also seemed to have dispersed slightly and my sightings were coming in waves of twos with increasing periods between sightings which were filled by Greenstreaks at the hedge, finding another Marshie which again was partially successful in avoiding my lens and also adding a Brimstone and Speckled Wood to the days tally. The little corner which was so popular with the Greenstreaks was also proving good for Glannies and it was here that I could go if I wanted a guaranteed shot of one.
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Blazing over chalk
With their mystery origins
The Wiltshire Glanvilles
Have a goodun
Wurzel
Re: Wurzel
Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2022 7:54 am
by jenks
Hi Wurzel,
Loved your report and photos of the Glannies on Whitesheet Hill. I must mark that as a place to visit next year. Your comment that " Greenstreaks messed about at the top of the hedge while I was watering it" stunned me. You watered the top of the hedge ? Have you adopted the persona of the jolly green giant ?
I have 3 days in the New Forest from Sunday so hopefully should get some good stuff there.
Jenks.
Re: Wurzel
Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2022 6:19 pm
by Wayne_Tucker
Top shots of the Glanvilles Rich, good work out for the ankles at Whitesheet
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
Re: Wurzel
Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2022 6:29 pm
by Wurzel
Cheers Jenks
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
I you need the inside track or directions just give me a shout
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
"You watered the top of the hedge ? Have you adopted the persona of the jolly green giant ?" Ho, Ho,Ho!
Cheers Wayne
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
And the calves, mine were burning on the drive home
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
Speaking of which...
Whitesheet 22-05-2022 Part 2
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I was conscious that I wanted to have a bit more of a look around this year and so I forced myself away from the Hotspot and made my way back along the bottom track to where I’d started earlier. As I walked or rather stumbled along the baked rock-hard path a Glannie flew with me and a few greenstreaks played with a Green-veined White on one of the low but wide growing Bramble bushes. When I reached the part of the Down that I’d started at I kept walking, along the edge of a small bowl like depression and into the filed on the other side. As I walked a Glannie flew along parallel but slightly higher up the rolling field. A couple of Whites flew ahead of me in the distance and a Painted Lady shot past so quickly that I was just left with the impression of a peach coloured dart flying before my eyes. A slower moving, more tangerine butterfly resolved into a plucky male Orange-tip and the clumps of Bramble, like most others here, held a brace of Greenstreaks. A few Small Heath flitted about on the walk back and then I made for the next part that I needed to explore…
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I climbed up the steep bank and then turned right following up a much longer but more gently sloping track right to the top of the Hill and continued on as it wove round and along the ridge at the top. There are many old ‘pits’ here and at times I felt like a tightrope walker as I passed between them. I passed a Red Admiral on my way to the top of the ridge and the track arched around to the left, curving on its way to the very top yet ahead of me was a steep and tall wall of chalk and in the vegetation at the bottom of this arete a few Small Blue and Dingies flew occasionally landing precipitously on the exposed chalk of the ‘wall’. I stuck to the path and when I reached the top I spotted a Wall and after trying to follow it’s nigh impossible flights of fancy realised that part of the problem was that there were in fact two So I’d momentarily lose sight before picking up the second much further away or in a totally unexpected spot. Once I realised there were two getting shots became ever so slightly easier (if that is actually possible when it comes to Walls?) and I walked back down the hill to the car park hoping that I’d got something passable image wise.
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I then hit the high road and made for home but as I still had some time and also to avoid the dreaded stretch of the A303 I took the back roads via Shaftesbury which just happened to pass Fovant Badges…
After a pleasant bit of rally driving, cutting and slicing my way cross country I pulled into the lay-by and with the engine plinking as it cooled I hopped over the stile and strode purposefully into the Bowl. Almost immediately I found a Duke, and then another and another and another. It was brilliant, the Bowl could only be 5 or 6 metres across which meant there was a density of roughly 1 Duke per metre2! With about a minute of my time gone getting into the Bowl and marveling at the petty fiefdoms I then set to the photography. I don’t think I’ve enjoyed photographing a subject as much as this before they were a delight; throwing cheeky poses, looking cute one minute and then acting like an incandescent ball of rage the next. Occasionally they would leave the confines of the bottom of the bowl and fly a little way up the steep wall at the back and cling onto the tall grass stems that tumbled down over the sides of the tiny rills of the hill.
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My Duke time was interrupted and I was momentarily distracted by a Wall which dropped in and sampled few of the nectar sources before having a bit of a breather on a Bramble bush. The usually cryptic underwing looked mighty out of place against the deep green background but this did set off the chaos like pattern. Chuffed I got back to my Dukes and clicked away and clicked away without a care in the world. So absorbed was I that I felt like I’d been here for hours and so I pulled myself away with my memory card burgeoning and made it back to the car and home. The last bit of the journey I completed in record time and when I actually looked at the time later, whilst checking through the oodles of shots, I worked out that I’d only been at Fovant for about 17 minutes; so many Duke in so little time and in such little space – an awesome end to an awesome afternoon!
Blazing over chalk
With their mystery origins
The Wiltshire Glanvilles
Have a goodun
Wurzel
Re: Wurzel
Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2022 7:56 pm
by Wurzel
Work 27-05-2022
Having been in work since 7:10 and what with the extended morning due to a long GCSE Exam when lunchtime came it felt like it should have been the end of the day. But no I still had two lessons to go on this, the last day of this term. So I forewent my lunch until the start of lesson 5 and grabbing my camera I went away off the fields.
The Pits was still empty – it shouldn’t be long until it’s filled with Marbled Whites and other Browns along with the golden Skippers but for now it is just part of the field that I have to get through to get where I’m going. As I broke through the trees on the corner the Specklie went up from an unseen perch and disappeared away over the hedge so I carried on. Some of the locals don’t seem to understand that the school field is actually private property instead treating it like their own personal dog park and so on top of having to avoid several piles of fresh dog mess I also had to shoo one aggressive mutt back to its owner. Growling and chuntering it slowly stalked back to its incompetent owners occasionally giving me backward glares. About half way along I happened to look down to my right in a small section of previously cleared ground which now abounds with grasses, nettles and Bugle and there sitting atop a spring of the aforementioned flower was an ominous dark triangle. As I leaned in closer I could see that it was a near immaculate Small Tort, a definite second/summer brood. After a few shots I left it to sort itself out and started back along the hedge only to have to shoo away the same, and now even more aggressive, dog from earlier. Once again the owners seemed oblivious to snarls, growls and darting forward teeth barred.
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Once the dog had finally been put back on its leash (it would have been muzzled too if I’d had my way) I pressed on to the end of the field. When I reached the corner and scanned across the vegetation an orange and brown butterfly took off. I caught a glimpse of a brown diagonal strip across the fore wings and for a fraction of a second I thought I’d seen a very early Hedge Brown/Gatekeeper. Then I started running through what I was seeing a little more closely; it was too early for Hedgies, it was too large, it was too orange, it was flying with little hops and glides, it buzzed me and then it fell into place - it was a Wall! I couldn’t believe it I’d never have expected to find one here, it must have got lost and ended up here form on of the surrounding Downs. To think this was a species that before I’d wonder how I’d get to see one, hoping to find one to tick it off as I didn’t know any assured sites for it and here was one on a 20 minute walk during my lunch break on a school field, brilliant. I clicked away as it sat on the path looking at me and orientating itself to catch the sun.
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On the return journey I was mighty chuffed at my brief encounter and there was also an absence of dog so I travelled much more quickly than on the way out. I did pause to relocate the Small Tort which was tentatively opening up, possibly for one of the first times and nearer to the corner a Small Heath popped up and settled a few times posing for some unobstructed shots but my thoughts were still on the First for the Site sighting of the Wall.
A Wall Brown at work
Not sure what it’s doing here
Wall on the list, yay!
Have a goodun
Wurzel
Re: Wurzel
Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2022 11:00 am
by trevor
Good to read of a Wall at your work.
From what I have seen in recent years Wall Browns are pretty widespread in Wilts.
A great find, given the location.
Trevor.
Re: Wurzel
Posted: Fri Jul 15, 2022 6:35 pm
by Wurzel