Hunter And Hunted

It was all very primal.

There I was, hunting for butterflies, while hungry hungry Horseflies were hunting for me...


Ooh, tense.


Before I failed in Plimoth, I tried to find White-letter Hairstreaks at my pet spot* on the east side of Dartmoor. The weather was reasonable, with warm if not hot sunshine and not too much wind, so I thought I had a good shout. I'd usually at least seen some in past years. Not this time.

Oh well, close by were woods often filled with White Admirals and Silver-washed Fritillaries, so off we went, keeping a careful eye out for silent visitors.

Well, I managed to see quite a few, more SWF by a factor of two and a bit, but they were far too energetic to get much, so these will have to do;

White Admiral

This was well up in the canopy; thus the usefulness of a nice big zoom!

Look at that blue!

Only one settled in view. Once. Sort of in view.

Silver-washed Fritillary

The only SWF shot I got. Literally.

Right, enough of the big speedy ones, as there were other worthy sights to see. Observe, regardez;

Painted lady

Ubiquitous this year

Comma

Not the most irritating sp. - for once!

Gatekeeper

Ringlet

Loads of these out! Lovely to watch if a bit frustrating,

Laying female

I was sitting about, having lunch and staking out some sunny Blackberry flowers, when she turned up and got on with it, ignoring me and my attempts at photography :)

Actual upper side!

And then I saw this poseur..

Also;

Beautiful Demoiselle

female

Nothing poses like a Dem

Beautiful Demoiselle

male

As for my hunters? The ladies who lunch were present in some numbers, and 11 times it came to fisticuffs. I try my best to avoid such matters, using repellent, wearing light baggy clothes [they can bite through pretty much anything short of actual plate, but not through fresh air!], and so on, but sometimes they won't give up. Or they go for the face [I love that].

What happened? Mostly they took a swat and went after easier prey. Otherwise,

Biting Clegg

Remorse..? Well, this one landed on my nose [!!], got swatted away, came back and went for the groin.. Thwack.

No bites this year. Yet.

Horrific humidity and horrid horseflies aside, it was lovely, ambling through the woods and getting so close to pictures again and again. Oh wait, I said 'lovely' didn't I?

It was. If you were very zen.

I'm still trying.



Be Seeing You...



[[*Technically my second, as my first was felled years ago.. :( ]]