Alcombe Common
Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2009 3:14 pm
Thanks to Simon C's epic hike earlier this week Eccles, Xmilehigh and I set off Fri morning to Minehead to hopefully retrace some of his steps and find the Heath Fritillary.
We went down by car (satnav enabled) and found the site quite easily however parking posed a problem. Left with quite a hike to the top of the Common we left the car on a nearby housing estate. Both Eccles (the tic collector) and Xmilehigh were again armed with ped satnavs - the wonders of modern technology.
After a dodgy start and the need to climb a very steep hill we found a small colony of about 20+ HF feeding on brambles. Plenty of evidence of mating and new emergence, and quite a marked difference in the size of some of them, wingspans varying from about 25mm to 45mm. I took more than 70 pics and some are not bad.
A great day out - thanks to the guys, nice to meet you both at long last.
Mike
We went down by car (satnav enabled) and found the site quite easily however parking posed a problem. Left with quite a hike to the top of the Common we left the car on a nearby housing estate. Both Eccles (the tic collector) and Xmilehigh were again armed with ped satnavs - the wonders of modern technology.
After a dodgy start and the need to climb a very steep hill we found a small colony of about 20+ HF feeding on brambles. Plenty of evidence of mating and new emergence, and quite a marked difference in the size of some of them, wingspans varying from about 25mm to 45mm. I took more than 70 pics and some are not bad.
A great day out - thanks to the guys, nice to meet you both at long last.
Mike