Gatekeeper |
Nineteen
members led by Adrian set forth in good sunny conditions on what was primarily
a butterfly walk. It soon became clear that Small Skipper, Ringlet and
Gatekeeper (right) were going
to dominate our list but there were also Large Skippers to be found on the
grassy edges of the track. One of the Gatekeepers was an aberrant pale form.
Keeled Skimmer |
Detouring
from this a shady ride gradually gave way to more open land with little patches
of heather and clumps of bramble, still in flower. A small colony of
Marbled White was admired and also one or two Common Blue.
Disappointingly
only three Silver-washed Fritillaries were seen and even more disappointingly
no White Admirals. However, 12 species of butterfly were achieved in the
morning along with Six-spot Burnett and Silver Y moths (above). Few
birds, but a Treecreeper using a bat box as a nest site was
entertaining.
Keeled Skimmer
dragonfly was noted and, among other wildflowers, Lesser Water-plantain and
Lesser Spearwort (below)
Lesser Water-plantain and Lesser Spearwort |