Cheers Dave
It was a cracking day, one of their rare times when the weather report being wrong worked in our favour
Long may the Hill continue
Cheers Bugboy
It would be nice if they remain a common feature on the site, fingers crossed
Cheers Old Wolf
There are a few sites in Hampshire that might be nearer and I seem to recall there was Chambers Wood as well??
Next season give em a shout and we can see what we can organise
Cheers Trevor
Yep they seem to have moved to pastures new this year but still on the Hill
Perhaps they'll move back next year - it all depends on the grazing regime
Cheers Philzoid
They were much darker than those I saw at Noar Hill and my Duke site
I've been meaning to email but you keep sending me cracking shots of Emperors
so I feel like I can't reply util I've got some 'answering shots'
Duke Site 23-05-2019
A couple of days previously I’d chipped off a quarter of a molar – one of the fringe ‘benefits’ of a healthy diet! It meant a couple of days of trying not to chew on one side of my mouth and now it had been drilled and filled and I couldn’t talk properly as half my face was numb. If I set off back to work by the time I got back I’d have to turn around and come back home again so instead I found myself dribbling and drooling around my Duke Site (a bit of a hint there
).
As I strolled from the car I noted the odd Grizzlie and occasional Common Blue in among the Adonis Blues which made up the majority of the butterflies I was seeing. I carried on criss-crossing the sparsely vegetated slope adding Small heath and a few more Grizzlies to break the ‘monotony’ of Adonis until I reached the area of longer tussocks. I was hoping to find some Small Blues here and I wasn’t disappointed with a total of 5 and a Greenstreak to keep me busy.
After this I started up the gradual slope of the main trackway accompanied along the way by Brown Argus and Grizzlies and Dingies galore. They would buzz around attractively at the edge of the track attempting to lure me off the path like miniature sirens. I turned right at the top and as I plodded on a Marshie and Common Blue added a bit of colour to the almost uniform beige of the track and green of the grass. A large odd looking butterfly caught my eye as it was so obvious and slightly out of place on a Bramble leaf. As I approached it resolved itself first into an odd looking large Grizzlie and then into a pair in cop.
Heartened by this but still ‘face dead’ so I couldn’t smile about it, I carried on up the track and then down to the far corner where the Dukes used to dwell. There were more of the same and then in the far corner a Duke! Brilliant! So my Duke Site can now recall its former name, but I still couldn’t smile.
The walk up the Valley and into the base of the rings was reasonably quiet. It felt like Dingies, Grizzlies, Brown Argus and Greenstreaks were the butterflies of the moment as it was these that I mostly saw and no notebook is filled with BA, DS,GS,GH etc. Once in the rings though I started adding more MFs and SHs as both Marshie and Small Heath started appearing more. By the time I’d walked half way round the ring to the North side of the Hillfort I’d found at least 5 more Marshies which isn’t too bad. At the far end of my adventure in the ring I stumbled across a pair of Small Coppers before my attention was diverted by a much larger, faster butterfly – a cracking Wall.
On the walk back I’d stop every now and again for a Small Copper, Greenstreak or a Marshie. A pair of Walls flashed past, not stopping and it was these that led me down the stony track rather than back down the Valley when I finally ventured forth from the rings. There was a little crossroads (or rather crosstracks) just beyond the entrance to the rings nd I watched on the corner A Wall would fly along the edge of the main track, checking out the start of the little paths that branched off and into the wood before carrying on past me, turning round and then recovering its tracks. I watched it do this several times and so positioned myself on the edge of one of the larger ‘branches’ ready. It seemed to work as the Wall landed just long enough for a few shots.
It was all going so well – the Wall kept covering the same ground, completing the same circuit – until a second Wall appeared. They spiralled upwards locked in battle and one shot off and down the hill. The other started quartering the same area but now flew straight across the cross-tracks before turning about and starting a new circuit. This meant a change of position was necessary but there was no ‘hiding place’ and so I could only settle for distant shots when it finally landed.
I was starting to feel my face again by now and there were twinges and throbs starting up so promising myself that I’d return here I made my way back down the hill, past the valley and onwards to the car. A Wall met me half way down, Brown Argus and Common Blues tried to distract me from my course, one pair of blues even starting to copulate as I walked by but seeking Paracetemol I strode home regardless.
Have a goodun
Wurzel
...if only I was able to retire early - I would next week 
. That makes 5 sites that I now know of where you can see them 
