Martin Down 12-04-2024
It felt like the time was right, Greenstreaks had been seen at nearby Battlesbury and some other sites further afield so I made for Martin Down in the hope that they’d be flying here too. Reasoning that Greenstreak Field would be my best bet for finding an early Greenstreak I turned off the main road and drove down into Martin before turning right up Sillen’s Lane. At the end of last season the surface had been levelled here and there but I reckoned that there may be some new pot holes that had been formed over the very wet winter. What I hadn’t expected was to be driving up a stream to get to the car park! Luckily someone had put a traffic cone in the deepest submerged pot hole so I came through relatively unscathed and I hoped that on the return journey things would be a bit easier as the water would have had a chance to drain away.
The wet theme continued once I was out of the car and walking along the hedge. The recently dug drainage gulley was filled to the brim and various sections of the track were quagmires (giggity) so I picked my way carefully on towards the Tunnel track cross-eyed from trying to watch the hedge and where my feet were at the same time. As I made slow progress I was accompanied for some of the way by a Peacock that was doing that odd thing that butterflies do; it would take off, fly a head of me and then settle down on the path only to be surprised once again when I rumbled up to it. The Tunnel tracks look slightly more habitable after their drastic haircut last year and so I started scanning ever more hopefully as I made my way down and then back up the track. My hope became false though with only a Holly Blue flying too high for my lens and a brace of Specklies at either end of the track. Slightly dejectedly I rounded the corner and made my way to the corner of Greenstreak field which usually produces the goods but despite waiting around and examining the Gorse bush and its surrounding scrub in minute detail the hotspot and the Hollow Hotspot only housed a single Brimstone.
From here I decided to walk up to the top following the Dyke. I occasionally paused my ascent; stopping here and there along the way to nip down into the Dyke because I’d seen something, to run up the other side as there was something on the opposite bank or because there was a promising looking spot at the bottom. First an Adder turned up and then a Small White took up some of my time. Normally I wouldn’t bother too much beyond a record shot but as this was only the second definite one that I’d seen and also the first that played nicely enough for a photo I tarried longer than usual with it. The next pause came about due to another Adder, coiled up and basking half way down the bank. I must have trodden a bit too heavily on my approach because as I got into range it slithered off…only to reveal another, slightly large one beneath it! Then I arrested my climb for a Green-veined White which was almost as twitchy as the first one I’d encountered. As well as being annoyingly flighty it also chose the steepest, tallest part of the Dyke to land at the top of.
There were also a few Brimstones flying along the way up which made me consider my next step once I’d reached the top hence I pressed on right to the very top and then briefly down the other side following a Brimstone at first but then when I started back up I spotted a Comma which I’d previously walked straight past. Once at the top there was really only one way to go and so I retraced my steps back down, periodically peering into the depths of the Dyke. The highlights of the return trip were a female Brimstone and a large brown and tan Adder, whose size suggested that it was a female? As I reached to lower slope a brace of Brimstones bombed past and shortly I was back in the Greenstreak field staring at the hedge once more and trying to pick out an emerald triangle with no success.
As Greenstreak field was still not living up to its name I mooched across the main track and started along the line of vegetation up towards the island of scrub in the middle of the down and from there to the little clearing on the inside. On the way two Specklies and a GVW both showed up with only one of the Specklies stopping for a photo. Once I’d fought my way into the clearing I was rewarded with…a single Specklie which was a poor reward for the time and effort put in and the cuts and scratches I received in getting in there in the first place. I was starting to feel a little tired and so I clawed and ducked my way back out and then down the hill and then up the hill and then back down to the start/end of the Tunnel tracks. I walked the length and the butterflies were more of the same as seen before in the following order; Peacock, Specklie and then 2 male and 2 female Brimstones.
The wet theme continued once I was out of the car and walking along the hedge. The recently dug drainage gulley was filled to the brim and various sections of the track were quagmires (giggity) so I picked my way carefully on towards the Tunnel track cross-eyed from trying to watch the hedge and where my feet were at the same time. As I made slow progress I was accompanied for some of the way by a Peacock that was doing that odd thing that butterflies do; it would take off, fly a head of me and then settle down on the path only to be surprised once again when I rumbled up to it. The Tunnel tracks look slightly more habitable after their drastic haircut last year and so I started scanning ever more hopefully as I made my way down and then back up the track. My hope became false though with only a Holly Blue flying too high for my lens and a brace of Specklies at either end of the track. Slightly dejectedly I rounded the corner and made my way to the corner of Greenstreak field which usually produces the goods but despite waiting around and examining the Gorse bush and its surrounding scrub in minute detail the hotspot and the Hollow Hotspot only housed a single Brimstone.
From here I decided to walk up to the top following the Dyke. I occasionally paused my ascent; stopping here and there along the way to nip down into the Dyke because I’d seen something, to run up the other side as there was something on the opposite bank or because there was a promising looking spot at the bottom. First an Adder turned up and then a Small White took up some of my time. Normally I wouldn’t bother too much beyond a record shot but as this was only the second definite one that I’d seen and also the first that played nicely enough for a photo I tarried longer than usual with it. The next pause came about due to another Adder, coiled up and basking half way down the bank. I must have trodden a bit too heavily on my approach because as I got into range it slithered off…only to reveal another, slightly large one beneath it! Then I arrested my climb for a Green-veined White which was almost as twitchy as the first one I’d encountered. As well as being annoyingly flighty it also chose the steepest, tallest part of the Dyke to land at the top of.
There were also a few Brimstones flying along the way up which made me consider my next step once I’d reached the top hence I pressed on right to the very top and then briefly down the other side following a Brimstone at first but then when I started back up I spotted a Comma which I’d previously walked straight past. Once at the top there was really only one way to go and so I retraced my steps back down, periodically peering into the depths of the Dyke. The highlights of the return trip were a female Brimstone and a large brown and tan Adder, whose size suggested that it was a female? As I reached to lower slope a brace of Brimstones bombed past and shortly I was back in the Greenstreak field staring at the hedge once more and trying to pick out an emerald triangle with no success.
As Greenstreak field was still not living up to its name I mooched across the main track and started along the line of vegetation up towards the island of scrub in the middle of the down and from there to the little clearing on the inside. On the way two Specklies and a GVW both showed up with only one of the Specklies stopping for a photo. Once I’d fought my way into the clearing I was rewarded with…a single Specklie which was a poor reward for the time and effort put in and the cuts and scratches I received in getting in there in the first place. I was starting to feel a little tired and so I clawed and ducked my way back out and then down the hill and then up the hill and then back down to the start/end of the Tunnel tracks. I walked the length and the butterflies were more of the same as seen before in the following order; Peacock, Specklie and then 2 male and 2 female Brimstones.
Walk to the shops 09-04-2024
This was actually supposed to be a quick walk to Waitrose to pick up a free coffee and a few other bits and bobs but I took my camera and went the long way round (via Five Rivers) primarily to see if I could catch up with the Green-veined White. As it was only a short visit I restricted myself to only wandering the Glades and the first section of the Banks. The sun shone infrequently and so my wanderings would be punctuated with pauses at particular places whilst I awaited the sun to break through the cloud. When it did everywhere was bathed in a golden glow, the green of the grass seemed to ‘pop’ as fashionistas would say and the temperature went from chilly to pleasant almost in the blink of an eye such was the increasing strength of the spring sun. At Specklie Intersection the resident Specklie sat and awaited the return of the sun and as is usual Peacocks abounded but all were very flightly.
All in all pretty quiet and I was considering giving it a break and heading back to Waitrose, the real reason for the outing, and consigning this to the ‘sort it maybe later’ file or even the bin. However as I came out into one of the more open sections of the Glades a white fluttered by. To my eyes the Green-veined White always seems more square cut, more angular in silhouette so I was fairly convinced that this UFW was one. I watched and waited and after plenty of false stops it eventually landed and so blossom. This made for an attractive background but unfortunately it had chosen its perch poorly for photography as it had landed at about shoulder height on one of the outermost branches at the very edge of the clearing and in the full force of the wind which was gusting stronger from across the other side of the river straight through the clearing. It shook about all over the place, not just nipping in and out of focus but disappearing in and out of the viewfinder. Gingerly so as not to disturb it (I don’t know why I thought that as it was already sitting on the equivalent of a bucking bronco!) I reached out and walked my hand up the branch until eventually I was holding the sprig of blossom steady and then I clicked away one handed. Having reversed the process and stepped back I watched it feeding away and then it took to the air.
Normally that would be that but I couldn’t really be sure that I’d gotten the shots and so I watched it and when it went down again, this time lower down in the vegetation in a much more sheltered spot I set to stalking it so that I could get some more/back-up images. It bumbled about a few times, not flying very far between groundings seemingly sampling the developing smorgasbord of nectar that Five Rivers had to offer. After a while it sat on a leaf for a bit, possibly letting its dinner go down, and when it took off it seemed to fly with a different gait; more powerful, more direct, less falling with style and more making headway. So I watched it disappear off into the wilds of Five Rivers whilst I went to the wilds of Waitrose…
Green-veined White succumbs
From a little shopping trip
Better behaved too
All in all pretty quiet and I was considering giving it a break and heading back to Waitrose, the real reason for the outing, and consigning this to the ‘sort it maybe later’ file or even the bin. However as I came out into one of the more open sections of the Glades a white fluttered by. To my eyes the Green-veined White always seems more square cut, more angular in silhouette so I was fairly convinced that this UFW was one. I watched and waited and after plenty of false stops it eventually landed and so blossom. This made for an attractive background but unfortunately it had chosen its perch poorly for photography as it had landed at about shoulder height on one of the outermost branches at the very edge of the clearing and in the full force of the wind which was gusting stronger from across the other side of the river straight through the clearing. It shook about all over the place, not just nipping in and out of focus but disappearing in and out of the viewfinder. Gingerly so as not to disturb it (I don’t know why I thought that as it was already sitting on the equivalent of a bucking bronco!) I reached out and walked my hand up the branch until eventually I was holding the sprig of blossom steady and then I clicked away one handed. Having reversed the process and stepped back I watched it feeding away and then it took to the air.
Normally that would be that but I couldn’t really be sure that I’d gotten the shots and so I watched it and when it went down again, this time lower down in the vegetation in a much more sheltered spot I set to stalking it so that I could get some more/back-up images. It bumbled about a few times, not flying very far between groundings seemingly sampling the developing smorgasbord of nectar that Five Rivers had to offer. After a while it sat on a leaf for a bit, possibly letting its dinner go down, and when it took off it seemed to fly with a different gait; more powerful, more direct, less falling with style and more making headway. So I watched it disappear off into the wilds of Five Rivers whilst I went to the wilds of Waitrose…
Green-veined White succumbs
From a little shopping trip
Better behaved too
Out and about again…08-04-2024 (Middle Street)
As usual I started off down the back path, where the Nettles were starting to reach to just below the knee in some spots, and also as usual there were a couple of Peacocks to greet me, three in fact. With something in the bag I moved round to the little field at the Hotspot. A brace of Brimstones drifted across the lush growth whilst a Peacock and a Small Tort both put in an appearance. I decided to try and have a look into the old pond but it proved impenetrable and so I walked back round the wall of briar and started to wander back along the path when a silvery-blue blob drifted down from the top of the tree. At first I had it down as just a feather dislodge from a Woodpigeon as it exploded off when I first arrived but its descent seemed more jinky so I moved towards it. When I was a couple of metres away I could suddenly see that it was in fact a Holly Blue down low enough that instead of having to stand on tip-toes and peer at it I was able to kneel down and get level to them. I then clicked away even trying for a few back-lit shots from the other side. My second ‘first photographed’ for the year.
Pleased I set off along the Bank Path checking out the Dips…Dip 1 had 2 Brimstones at the far side and a sole Peacock. Dip 2 and 3 were both quiet and the at the half way a Brimstone passed by and a Small Tort basked on the spot of the recently cleared bramble. I was starting to run out of steam so I decided to do a final run to the end and back before heading for home. I found however that my tiredness swiftly departed at the sight of two Small Torts down on the deck and within 30cm of each other. I hoped that they may have started courting but instead the closer individual orientated itself on the edge of a low growing nettle leaf and curved its abdomen round. After a few shots of this ovipositing Small Tort I did a slow and wide walk round to get to the second which was sitting and holding its wings in such a way as to look like a low tent. AT the end of this sheltered little spot I spotted a third Small Tort. I know that this was definitely a different one as it had the lowest wing to body ratio that I’ve encountered! How it would be able to fly I still can’t fathom but eventually when a break in the cloud appeared off it went, albeit somewhat clumsily. After a final Peacock at the hot spot I started back along the back path pausing for a female Brimstone on the way and then that as they say was that. Isn’t it great when the forecasters get it wrong in such a way?
A duo of trips
Green-veined and a Holly Blue
A duo of ‘firsts’
Pleased I set off along the Bank Path checking out the Dips…Dip 1 had 2 Brimstones at the far side and a sole Peacock. Dip 2 and 3 were both quiet and the at the half way a Brimstone passed by and a Small Tort basked on the spot of the recently cleared bramble. I was starting to run out of steam so I decided to do a final run to the end and back before heading for home. I found however that my tiredness swiftly departed at the sight of two Small Torts down on the deck and within 30cm of each other. I hoped that they may have started courting but instead the closer individual orientated itself on the edge of a low growing nettle leaf and curved its abdomen round. After a few shots of this ovipositing Small Tort I did a slow and wide walk round to get to the second which was sitting and holding its wings in such a way as to look like a low tent. AT the end of this sheltered little spot I spotted a third Small Tort. I know that this was definitely a different one as it had the lowest wing to body ratio that I’ve encountered! How it would be able to fly I still can’t fathom but eventually when a break in the cloud appeared off it went, albeit somewhat clumsily. After a final Peacock at the hot spot I started back along the back path pausing for a female Brimstone on the way and then that as they say was that. Isn’t it great when the forecasters get it wrong in such a way?
A duo of trips
Green-veined and a Holly Blue
A duo of ‘firsts’
Out and about again….08-04-2024
A quick walk on the previous day hadn’t produced any butterflies but a Grass Snake at Middle Street was a definite bonus. However today the weather was forecast to be reasonable first thing and up to lunch with a drastic deterioration come midday and so I grabbed my camera and made my way over to Five Rivers.
As I strolled through the Glades not much was showing so a let myself drift along the paths and up and round to the bank on the football pitch side of the Copse. I scanned across the dead wood and chippings hoping that they would provide a good bed for basking on and amid the greys and dull browns of the decaying pieces of wood a tiny tiger shone out; a Small Tort. Once I’d had a go at getting a few shots I carried on around the Copse and back round and down towards Specklie Intersection which sure enough housed a Specklie. Looking up I spotted a few more breaks in the cloud and so instead of taking off along the Banks I made my way back to the Glades hoping that the butterflies there had gotten out of bed. It seems that they had for as I drew near to a tree at the edge near the car park I spotted a blue flash…my first Holly Blue of the year. Unfortunately it was up way too high for my lens so I had to console myself with watching and then trying for shots of the Specklie or Peacock on the other side of the tree. Still a first for the year was a good find even if I couldn’t get a shot.
I wandered back towards Specklie Intersection and as I rounded the corner a fast moving blur caught my eye. I couldn’t believe it but it was a Hummingbird Hawk Moth working its way at hyper speed from one nectar source to another. I made a few attempts at getting some shots before it moved on, disturbing the resident Specklie as it did so. After this exotic interlude I pressed on along the Banks finding more usual fare in the form of a Peacock. However just on from this something square cut and white took off. I managed to follow it even though it was very flighty and would only sit still for a few seconds at a time and so I was able to identify it as my first Green-veined White of the season. It proved really tricky to get anything decent shot wise as it was even more jittery than hair trigger Peacocks so I had to be happy with a sighting and ‘proof of sighting’ shots. When I continued along the Banks between the half-way point and the end I managed to add a passing Brimstone and a Small Tort to the days list but the forecast started to ring true with increasing levels of cloud billowing over the valley.
On the walk back a Peacock blasted through the Glades but that was it and then I had a quick spot of lunch once I got back home. As I munched the light streamed through the window and I did my usual weather check of stepping out into the courtyard and looking up followed by looking out f the bathroom window over in the direction of Middle Street. The sun had remained and the forecast rain hadn’t materialized – the kind of error I don’t mind the Forecasters making – and so I grabbed my things and set off to Middle Street…
As I strolled through the Glades not much was showing so a let myself drift along the paths and up and round to the bank on the football pitch side of the Copse. I scanned across the dead wood and chippings hoping that they would provide a good bed for basking on and amid the greys and dull browns of the decaying pieces of wood a tiny tiger shone out; a Small Tort. Once I’d had a go at getting a few shots I carried on around the Copse and back round and down towards Specklie Intersection which sure enough housed a Specklie. Looking up I spotted a few more breaks in the cloud and so instead of taking off along the Banks I made my way back to the Glades hoping that the butterflies there had gotten out of bed. It seems that they had for as I drew near to a tree at the edge near the car park I spotted a blue flash…my first Holly Blue of the year. Unfortunately it was up way too high for my lens so I had to console myself with watching and then trying for shots of the Specklie or Peacock on the other side of the tree. Still a first for the year was a good find even if I couldn’t get a shot.
I wandered back towards Specklie Intersection and as I rounded the corner a fast moving blur caught my eye. I couldn’t believe it but it was a Hummingbird Hawk Moth working its way at hyper speed from one nectar source to another. I made a few attempts at getting some shots before it moved on, disturbing the resident Specklie as it did so. After this exotic interlude I pressed on along the Banks finding more usual fare in the form of a Peacock. However just on from this something square cut and white took off. I managed to follow it even though it was very flighty and would only sit still for a few seconds at a time and so I was able to identify it as my first Green-veined White of the season. It proved really tricky to get anything decent shot wise as it was even more jittery than hair trigger Peacocks so I had to be happy with a sighting and ‘proof of sighting’ shots. When I continued along the Banks between the half-way point and the end I managed to add a passing Brimstone and a Small Tort to the days list but the forecast started to ring true with increasing levels of cloud billowing over the valley.
On the walk back a Peacock blasted through the Glades but that was it and then I had a quick spot of lunch once I got back home. As I munched the light streamed through the window and I did my usual weather check of stepping out into the courtyard and looking up followed by looking out f the bathroom window over in the direction of Middle Street. The sun had remained and the forecast rain hadn’t materialized – the kind of error I don’t mind the Forecasters making – and so I grabbed my things and set off to Middle Street…
Work 02-04-2024
It was the day after the Bank Holiday and so officially the start of the Easter break. This of course meant that I was in work offering a Revision session and further of course this meant that weather wise it was shaping up to be the best day of the week. So it came to pass that as I sat or stood in the dark cave that is my lab outside the sun shone brightly and everything else was filled with the joys of spring. With increasing trepidation I would occasionally glance out of the window to check the weather in preparation for a lunchtime foray. I noted that as the day progressed the sun was spending longer and longer behind the clouds and as lunch time drew near my feeling of pessimistic frustration only increased.
However cometh the hour cometh the sun and whilst the pupils all headed ‘down the Best One’ I walked, slightly shell shocked into what was an increasingly sunny vista. When I got to half way point a Brimstone shot past which I took to be a good omen. Sadly it wasn’t as all the usual nooks, crannies, scallops, clumps of flowers or basking spots could produce was a whole heap of nothing. Slightly downtrodden I started the walk back. I mean here was a break in the weather, here was the spring sun shining down and warming my back nicely, here was the bountiful blossom, nectar of the gods but there were no butterflies! As I was thinking this a Small Tortoiseshell hopped from one garden to another but it didn’t come any closer than to allow a very heavily cropped image from the furthest distance my lens can cope with. Some salve but only the slightest amount.
Despondently I moped back towards work but in my funk my feet carried me straight on up the path rather than turning and walking along through the estate. I came out in the school car park before I realized where I was and then something happened that took this post from the realms of ‘bin’ to ‘deemed worthy of a write-up’. As I stared into the distance something caught my eye and unfortunately it took me so long to register that it disappeared from view over the fence into a neighbouring garden. I realized that it was a White and so I walked over to the scrap of round it had been fluttering about before it had done a Houdini and mooched about a bit. Luckily enough if returned and while it supped I clicked away both happy and surprised. Happy to have found something ‘new for the year’ on this disappointing day and surprised that rather than being the expected Small White, it was actually a small Large White.
Needless to say the afternoon passed by much more quickly and I didn’t even mind the heavy, squalling showers that rocked up later in the day. I was surprised yet again how one butterfly can make all the difference.
It’s spring time, no I’m still stuck here working,
Try to get out, but the weather goes bad,
So, taking a chance, I grab my camera and go out,
Get a nice surprise, a Large White
However cometh the hour cometh the sun and whilst the pupils all headed ‘down the Best One’ I walked, slightly shell shocked into what was an increasingly sunny vista. When I got to half way point a Brimstone shot past which I took to be a good omen. Sadly it wasn’t as all the usual nooks, crannies, scallops, clumps of flowers or basking spots could produce was a whole heap of nothing. Slightly downtrodden I started the walk back. I mean here was a break in the weather, here was the spring sun shining down and warming my back nicely, here was the bountiful blossom, nectar of the gods but there were no butterflies! As I was thinking this a Small Tortoiseshell hopped from one garden to another but it didn’t come any closer than to allow a very heavily cropped image from the furthest distance my lens can cope with. Some salve but only the slightest amount.
Despondently I moped back towards work but in my funk my feet carried me straight on up the path rather than turning and walking along through the estate. I came out in the school car park before I realized where I was and then something happened that took this post from the realms of ‘bin’ to ‘deemed worthy of a write-up’. As I stared into the distance something caught my eye and unfortunately it took me so long to register that it disappeared from view over the fence into a neighbouring garden. I realized that it was a White and so I walked over to the scrap of round it had been fluttering about before it had done a Houdini and mooched about a bit. Luckily enough if returned and while it supped I clicked away both happy and surprised. Happy to have found something ‘new for the year’ on this disappointing day and surprised that rather than being the expected Small White, it was actually a small Large White.
Needless to say the afternoon passed by much more quickly and I didn’t even mind the heavy, squalling showers that rocked up later in the day. I was surprised yet again how one butterfly can make all the difference.
It’s spring time, no I’m still stuck here working,
Try to get out, but the weather goes bad,
So, taking a chance, I grab my camera and go out,
Get a nice surprise, a Large White
Five Rivers 01-04-2024
The weather report for the two days previously had been wrong on both days, first wrong in a good way with a warm and sun-drenched Saturday and then wrong in a bad way as it was much colder and duller, almost a No-Sunday as it were. So today instead of checking the forecast I waited for it to warm up slightly, grabbed my shopping list and walked over to Waitrose…by way of Five Rivers.
I strolled along through the Glades and when I reached Specklie Intersection instead of starting to follow the trail I’d been blazing since the start of the season I kept instead to the lower path that follows the river. I followed it on as it rounded the corner at the end of the Banks and walked right up to the end where the reserve ends abruptly in footpath and then a small housing estate. On my left the area had been cleared a few years back and it looked promising so I slowed my gait and paid more attention to it as there was a slight break in the cloud cover and so it was illuminated as if under a spotlight. After only the briefest of scans it produced the goods with a Small Tort fluttering about amidst the sprouting shrubs and wild flower spikes.
With an eye on the sky I reasoned that there would be some further breaks so I started back climbing up the bank to reach the end corner where the Banks ended (but from this direction started). Just before I needed to wade into the longer grass at the mid-section I somehow spotted a Comma hugging the hedge. I again glanced upwards to judge the state of play in terms of the lighting and I could see the coming slither of brightness so I manoeuvred myself in readiness after getting a few closed wing shots. When the sun came the butterfly opened up and I was there ready. When the sun went back in again I didn’t need to worry about spooking it as it seemed locked into place so I got a few closed wing shots too. I set off, once again trying to keep to the footsteps that I’d made on numerous previous visits and when I reached the break in the line of trees that runs at ninety degrees to the main hedge and stepped through I spotted a Specklie and spooked a Peacock. Which to watch/follow? I went with the Specklie as it was the newer addition to the year list but also because I’d had enough of being messed about by flighty, twitchy Peacocks.
Once I’d finished traversing the Banks I had a quick check of Comma Corner which turned into a slightly longer look as I had to wait for the sun to remerge. When it did sure enough a butterfly turned up, not the expected Comma but a Peacock. After the run around that this one gave me and their general attitude this year there is no way I’m changing the name of this spot of the reserve. After a quick once over the neighbouring bank I decided that it was time to head off and get the shopping done and so I wandered back though the Glades when a/another Specklie passed by. It arrested my motion for a while but then I got back on course only for one final interruption in the form of a Peacock which was sitting in the spot so favoured by the Red Admirals in the autumn. It had closed up and was down on the deck and if it hadn’t have given a quick flash to a retreating Hoverfly then I would have passed it by and been none the wiser to its presence. As it was I stopped to marvel at the inky blackness of the underside looking to all intents and purposes as a triangular lump of coal. With that final image resting nicely in my short-term memory I made for Waitrose and that all important free coffee!
Butterflies today?
Don’t trust the weather forecasts
Took a chance and went
I strolled along through the Glades and when I reached Specklie Intersection instead of starting to follow the trail I’d been blazing since the start of the season I kept instead to the lower path that follows the river. I followed it on as it rounded the corner at the end of the Banks and walked right up to the end where the reserve ends abruptly in footpath and then a small housing estate. On my left the area had been cleared a few years back and it looked promising so I slowed my gait and paid more attention to it as there was a slight break in the cloud cover and so it was illuminated as if under a spotlight. After only the briefest of scans it produced the goods with a Small Tort fluttering about amidst the sprouting shrubs and wild flower spikes.
With an eye on the sky I reasoned that there would be some further breaks so I started back climbing up the bank to reach the end corner where the Banks ended (but from this direction started). Just before I needed to wade into the longer grass at the mid-section I somehow spotted a Comma hugging the hedge. I again glanced upwards to judge the state of play in terms of the lighting and I could see the coming slither of brightness so I manoeuvred myself in readiness after getting a few closed wing shots. When the sun came the butterfly opened up and I was there ready. When the sun went back in again I didn’t need to worry about spooking it as it seemed locked into place so I got a few closed wing shots too. I set off, once again trying to keep to the footsteps that I’d made on numerous previous visits and when I reached the break in the line of trees that runs at ninety degrees to the main hedge and stepped through I spotted a Specklie and spooked a Peacock. Which to watch/follow? I went with the Specklie as it was the newer addition to the year list but also because I’d had enough of being messed about by flighty, twitchy Peacocks.
Once I’d finished traversing the Banks I had a quick check of Comma Corner which turned into a slightly longer look as I had to wait for the sun to remerge. When it did sure enough a butterfly turned up, not the expected Comma but a Peacock. After the run around that this one gave me and their general attitude this year there is no way I’m changing the name of this spot of the reserve. After a quick once over the neighbouring bank I decided that it was time to head off and get the shopping done and so I wandered back though the Glades when a/another Specklie passed by. It arrested my motion for a while but then I got back on course only for one final interruption in the form of a Peacock which was sitting in the spot so favoured by the Red Admirals in the autumn. It had closed up and was down on the deck and if it hadn’t have given a quick flash to a retreating Hoverfly then I would have passed it by and been none the wiser to its presence. As it was I stopped to marvel at the inky blackness of the underside looking to all intents and purposes as a triangular lump of coal. With that final image resting nicely in my short-term memory I made for Waitrose and that all important free coffee!
Butterflies today?
Don’t trust the weather forecasts
Took a chance and went