You make plans. You think to yourself 'You know what, self, I really want to go there and see that. But it'll have to be next year, now...' When you have one of those job things, you find the correlation of right weather and day you can go coming within a constrained time frame to be.. problematic. But hey, you keep thinking 'next year'.
This post is about one of those happy correlations.
You see, I finally got around to doing it. Mission: Flutterbies.
So, a sunny day with light winds forecast [it sort of happened] and I was filled with purpose. Even the horrific excuses for driving you get these days* only annoyed me.
My first stop was - as you may have guessed - Cerne Abbas, where I found I was not the only one seeking a little brown and orange butterfly. Butterfly types are not unlike birders, only perhaps a bit more laid back [mostly], and always helpful with a little gen. I already knew they'd been seen the day before, though only a few, and soon I knew where exactly to look.
Turned out it was wakey-wakey day, as there were loads of them!!
I speak of this glory;
Duke Of Burgundy
Wow. Just wow. Imagine a frit that actually sits and poses!! We need more metalmarks, methinks. Perhaps this global warming thing may have the odd good point. [Seek silver. Always.]
Ok, cue the porn;
Dukes are lekking butterflies
So once you find the right spot
You just have to wait
See the effect of the Sun coming out between those last two? :)
Not just Dukes on this wonderful site, either. Speaking of, some scenery;
The Giant's Bottom [ahem]
Cowslips like a starry sky
13spp. of butterflies present, of which I got eyes on 12, and photos of;
Grizzled Skipper
Dingy Skipper
Green Hairstreak
Small Copper
Brown Argus
Red Admiral
Orange Tip
Yes, that one's pretty bad, but it's still easily the best Orange Tip shot I've ever taken; they never seem to stop except in sunshine and invariably burn out..
I have a lot more pictures, but space and the patience of readers requires I move on to my next stop; the dreaded Weymouth Relief Road of Dooooooom!
Wonderfully used as insect habitat. :D
Seas of Vetch
Looking up another slope
Prime target were things blue. Notably the Adonis. After admiring pretty pictures others had taken [and pointing them towards the Dukes at Cerne] I duly got bins on a lovely example. Bins down, camera up, start hunting. Never mind the blazing sun - which you can see - and the howling gale, which you have to imagine. Bit of a wind tunnel, alas.
But bright blue butterflies stand out and I hit a few. Also littler dark butterflies.
Observe;
Gotch- hold on a minute
This one's more obvious;
Common Blue!
In my defence, even looking on the back of camera in the shade, they looked ok. That top one is pretty tricksy, isn't it? And there were definitely Adonis on site; three sets of other peoples' pictures and a great binocular view of a classic specimen.
So it's just bad luck and an annoying design issue with the camera. [That's my story and I'm sticking to it]. [[To be fair, as flaws go, it's far less vexing than the autofocus default setting..]]
Other IDs were much easier;
Brown Argus
Observe the underside of the forewing; no markings closer than halfway = definite BA [vs female CB]
Small Blue
This one really hard to mistake..!
One of well over 40 present!
Dingy Skipper
Holly Blue
This last along the Ridgeway - I wandered along a while looking for a certain burial site;
Looking over a small field towards Fraggle Rock
They've even got an info board [a bit inaccurate, but nm].
[If anyone's still wondering, think unlucky vikings..]
Finally, onwards again to a favourite site;
The Fun Way Up
Yup, Maiden Castle.
:)
I spent an hour and a half watching the skies in the vain hope of a Red Kite, whilst being serenaded by Skylarks and these little chaps;
Corn Buntings on offer
"I do not sound like keys!"
Also;
Yellowhammer
It would be remiss, in this very butterfly-oriented post, not to end with another one. And it did pose so nicely [eventually]
Peacock
So, 17 spp. of butterflies [plus some invisible Marsh Frits at CA.. :( ], which isn't bad.
I suspect we shall revisit this here day. I have far too many pictures that deserve sharing.**
Be Seeing You...
[[*You may think I'm being over the top, but when you have more than 20 vehicles trailing behind you due to your sustaining 35 in a 60, it might actually be the correct thing to do to pull over and let them go?? Yes, enjoy the view, but show a little use of the mirrors, maybe? This happened four times, btw.]]
[[**Well, at least by the standards I've set in the past.. Ahem]]
No comments:
Post a Comment