I was chuffed with the Brimstone shot as it led me on a merry dance for a bit and then settled as if to apologise for its' previous poor behaviour 
Have a goodun and stay safe
Wurzel
Wurzel
Re: Wurzel
Cheers Goldie I was chuffed with the Brimstone shot as it led me on a merry dance for a bit and then settled as if to apologise for its' previous poor behaviour
Have a goodun and stay safe
Wurzel
I was chuffed with the Brimstone shot as it led me on a merry dance for a bit and then settled as if to apologise for its' previous poor behaviour Have a goodun and stay safe
Wurzel
Re: Wurzel
Five Rivers 28-03-2020
Having visited Middle Street yesterday today I made the walk to Five Rivers – more as a recce to see if there was a safe way to walk there (busy roads to cross, pinch points on the path to get through quickly etc) and also to work out whether I could get there, have a look around and get back within enough time to make up for break, lunch and or any of the usual spare time I’d be able to utilise at work. The walk there was pretty quick only taking about 15 minutes and there were a few pinch points but I came up with various work-rounds for them so in future I may be able to shave a minute or two off the walking time.
Once on site as it were I made straight for Comma Corner – in a week or two I’ll need to check the River side path and the Glades for Whites and Specklies but at the moment the main action will be at Comma Corner and the Banks. As soon as I reached the foot of the little slope leading up to CC I saw that it was again living up to its name as I could see a couple of orangey blurs detaching themselves from different points on the Bramble, slamming together and spiralling upwards into the blue. After about 30 seconds of conflict they split up and went back to roughly the same places from which they’d left. Cautiously I approached the large Bramble and saw that there was a lovely looking Comma at the nearside foot of the bush whilst further in a behind a thin veil of thorns were three more Commas. As I took many, many shots a Peacock made its presence felt by almost scything the top of my head off and once it had obviously got my attention went down on the deck almost with a smug “look at me” appearance.
Leaving the Commas still jostling for what they deemed the best perch I followed a different Peacock (the original was still in prime posing position) down form the top of the first Bank through a gap in the hedge to the Lower Banks from where I wandered along eyes peeled when reaching any likely looking roosting/basking perches. All was quiet – it seems that Middle Street is now the place for Small Torts perhaps because the Banks have become a little too overgrown – I’ve noticed that the Small Torts at the start of the season like little patches of dried grass with low nettle growth and here the grass is easily higher than my boots. I did spy a Small Tort however at the end of the Lower Banks up in the middle branches of a small tree so perhaps the Small Torts have already been at their peak? I got onto the Small Tort as there was also a Comma up high in a neighbouring tree.
I carried on round as I was making good time and I wanted to see if a complete circuit was possible in the allotted time. All was quiet around the back part of the reserve and so I cut through the middle spying a Peacock looking gorgeous on the white blossom of one of the trees in the central copse. As I watched the breeze caught the tree shaking old petals off like a snowfall in miniature which looked beautiful but also dislodged the Peacock. I followed round and into the hollow centre of the copse and it landed on a less salubrious looking compost heap. I went for the shot anyway only to discover that my battery had gone flat. By the time the spare was in and I was ready the Peacock had gone. I carried on muttering and grumbling like Muttley and there was no Red Admiral along the bottom river path to console me either. Luckily the lovely looking Comma was still hanging around at Comma Corner to offer me the consolation I required and a great boost before I made my wat homewards. It’s always good to leave on a high.
Have a goodun and stay safe
Wurzel
Having visited Middle Street yesterday today I made the walk to Five Rivers – more as a recce to see if there was a safe way to walk there (busy roads to cross, pinch points on the path to get through quickly etc) and also to work out whether I could get there, have a look around and get back within enough time to make up for break, lunch and or any of the usual spare time I’d be able to utilise at work. The walk there was pretty quick only taking about 15 minutes and there were a few pinch points but I came up with various work-rounds for them so in future I may be able to shave a minute or two off the walking time.
Once on site as it were I made straight for Comma Corner – in a week or two I’ll need to check the River side path and the Glades for Whites and Specklies but at the moment the main action will be at Comma Corner and the Banks. As soon as I reached the foot of the little slope leading up to CC I saw that it was again living up to its name as I could see a couple of orangey blurs detaching themselves from different points on the Bramble, slamming together and spiralling upwards into the blue. After about 30 seconds of conflict they split up and went back to roughly the same places from which they’d left. Cautiously I approached the large Bramble and saw that there was a lovely looking Comma at the nearside foot of the bush whilst further in a behind a thin veil of thorns were three more Commas. As I took many, many shots a Peacock made its presence felt by almost scything the top of my head off and once it had obviously got my attention went down on the deck almost with a smug “look at me” appearance.
Wurzel
Re: Wurzel
It seems ages since I saw the Comma and Peacock Wurzel, at least we can venture forth now Hope fully !!!!! Goldie
Hope fully !!!!! Goldie Re: Wurzel
Cheers Goldie It will be nice driving out and not having the worry about getting stopped even though you were allowed to drive to exercise 
They briefly flirted and raised my hopes about travelling to France before they dashed them again 
Still so long as we stay healthy that's the main thing When you get out there, there might still be the odd Peacock around 
Middle Street 31-03-2020
So we continue into the strange circumstances of Lockdown and it’s all a bit confusing really with contradictory guidance – “You must stay at home and not go out” but you can go out “to buy essential supplies, or exercise, or go to work if you’re an essential/key worker (if you look at the list this is pretty much everyone)”. The hardest thing for me to fathom is that I still go to work a couple of times a week and then I have to work from home – something I’m pretty adept at doing but there is only so much paper work, covering work to set and mark and then what? Still I cracked on with it all day and come the afternoon at 3ish I suddenly realised that a. it was clocking off time and b. whilst I’d been working solidly I’d also been sitting and had walked nowhere near the usual 12000 steps of a typical working day. So I grabbed my camera, gloves and facemask and set off for Middle Street.
On the way there was nothing to report as it was one of those afternoons when the sun is occasionally smothered in a blank of thick cloud. Looking over the Meadows towards Middle Street from the Town Path I could see that I there was an imminent break in the cloud that if I timed it right I should be able to take advantage of. So I upped the pace, urging on my protesting calves and knees and managed to be several paces onto the reserve when the sun broke out. As if waiting and watching for this break just as I had a Small Tort flew up to greet me. On I went round to the Hotspot where I found a further two Torts of the Small variety.
My luck faltered slightly when I reached Dip 1 as the clouds which had been toying with the idea of holding the sun hostage rolled in with a vengeance. The previous cloud had been fluffy and light letting light filter through but this was a mean looking big old bugger, as it bulldozed its way across the sky the lights went out (almost). I’d manged to locate two Small Torts whilst it was completing its manoeuvres but once it was in place that was it as the temperature had dropped along with the light intensity. As I walked along the bank I spied out two more Small Torts hurrying across the field, fleeing the cool and looking for somewhere to sit out the dark cloud.
At the end I turned around and having not seen any other butterflies took to checking the state of play regards the cloud. As I’d wandered the length of the site it had shifted moving towards the centre of Harnham and and as it crept ever Eastwards behind it the sun came out and with it two Small Torts – where they’d been on my walk towards the end I can’t fathom but the minute the golden rays touched the soil suddenly they were there. Cheered by the butterflies and the increasing warmth I made the return leg of my ‘Transect’. On the other side of the Banked path opposite Dip 3 a Small White hove into view working its way towards me. Rather than chase after it I stood stock still near a few Dandelions to see if it would land near me. Closer and closer it came and I fought the urge to step towards it. Then when it was a matter of metres away from me it settled so within a few steps I was within range and so I tried for a few shots. It then stopped near to me a couple times more after which it must have re-fueled sufficiently as it tore off along the Banked path and disappeared across the river.
Back in Dip 1 I relocated a pair of Small Torts so I’m guessing that they the same two that I’d already counted only they hadn’t moved possibly as they hadn’t warmed up fully after the torpor inducing cloud cover. On to the Hotspot and the two Small Torts had become one (a la Spice Girls). Well there might have been two but the second was nowhere to be seen – hiding/roosting out of sight? Still with the Small White (my second of the year) etched into my minds’ eye I made for home pleased with my haul.
Have a goodun
Wurzel
It will be nice driving out and not having the worry about getting stopped even though you were allowed to drive to exercise They briefly flirted and raised my hopes about travelling to France before they dashed them again Still so long as we stay healthy that's the main thing When you get out there, there might still be the odd Peacock around Middle Street 31-03-2020
So we continue into the strange circumstances of Lockdown and it’s all a bit confusing really with contradictory guidance – “You must stay at home and not go out” but you can go out “to buy essential supplies, or exercise, or go to work if you’re an essential/key worker (if you look at the list this is pretty much everyone)”. The hardest thing for me to fathom is that I still go to work a couple of times a week and then I have to work from home – something I’m pretty adept at doing but there is only so much paper work, covering work to set and mark and then what? Still I cracked on with it all day and come the afternoon at 3ish I suddenly realised that a. it was clocking off time and b. whilst I’d been working solidly I’d also been sitting and had walked nowhere near the usual 12000 steps of a typical working day. So I grabbed my camera, gloves and facemask and set off for Middle Street.
On the way there was nothing to report as it was one of those afternoons when the sun is occasionally smothered in a blank of thick cloud. Looking over the Meadows towards Middle Street from the Town Path I could see that I there was an imminent break in the cloud that if I timed it right I should be able to take advantage of. So I upped the pace, urging on my protesting calves and knees and managed to be several paces onto the reserve when the sun broke out. As if waiting and watching for this break just as I had a Small Tort flew up to greet me. On I went round to the Hotspot where I found a further two Torts of the Small variety.
Wurzel
Re: Wurzel
Some spiffing looking butterflies there, they're all very tired and lackluster now. Now you can drive further afield I can expect some reports from 'the hill' in the coming weeks/months
Some addictions are good for the soul!
Re: Wurzel
Hi! Wurzel, some lovely shots of the Small Torts and you managed a Small White with open wings, I've had a struggle taking shots of them when they've arrived briefly in the Garden, they've shot off again Quickly just lately. Goldie
Goldie Re: Wurzel
Cheers Bugboy Fingers crossed but the way things are going in other countries I think the 'Easing' may be short lived
Cheers Goldie The whites can be tricky little blighters especially in the spring, the summer brood seem a bit more chilled out and more likely to pose
Daily Exercise – Five Rivers 02-04-2020
The weather report suggested that the day was going to be one of those write-off days. In fact I was kinda looking forward to it as each day of Lockdown when the weather isn’t great means less FOMO . However as I zig-zagged across the Waitrose car park in the queue the sun peeked out from the clouds and offered a little warmth. Once the weekly shop was done I was safely ensconced at home (with clothes in the washing machine and the bath water running out) I looked out the window and there was still sunshine and blue skies. I checked the BBC weather app which was adamant that it was grey cloud and would be for the rest of the day. I looked out of the window again and there was still blue sky…So for my exercise I headed over to Five Rivers.
It was the wrong call. I could tell that as I cut along the path behind the Waitrose garage because the cloud covered the sun for a minute and a Brimstone flew towards me, past me and carried on heading towards Middle Street! Oh well I plugged on. Through the ‘glades’ nothing – no Specklie no OT or indeed any other white. Comma Corner was distinctly lacking in punctuation and as I strolled the Banks there was a slight chill in the air as the sun had been swallowed and a dearth of butterflies…
And then as if turned on a sixpence the weather switched, the cloud disappeared, the sky became blue and the temperature rocketed to the point where I didn’t need a coat. I scanned the sky I reckoned that this turn in the weather could last about 5-10 minutes and then I scanned the Banks. A Peacock went up brought out of stand-by by the suns rays and as it flew sluggishly it spooked a Small Tortoiseshell which even from a distance seemed noticeably knackered. I plumbed for the Peacock and so watched as it settled, stalked, took a few shots and backed off. Behind me the Small Tort took off from its hiding place in the grass and so I repeated the process.
After this the cloud swallowed the sun again but this time it meant business and it didn’t come back out all afternoon.
Have a goodun
Wurzel
Fingers crossed but the way things are going in other countries I think the 'Easing' may be short lived Cheers Goldie
The whites can be tricky little blighters especially in the spring, the summer brood seem a bit more chilled out and more likely to pose Daily Exercise – Five Rivers 02-04-2020
The weather report suggested that the day was going to be one of those write-off days. In fact I was kinda looking forward to it as each day of Lockdown when the weather isn’t great means less FOMO
. However as I zig-zagged across the Waitrose car park in the queue the sun peeked out from the clouds and offered a little warmth. Once the weekly shop was done I was safely ensconced at home (with clothes in the washing machine and the bath water running out) I looked out the window and there was still sunshine and blue skies. I checked the BBC weather app which was adamant that it was grey cloud and would be for the rest of the day. I looked out of the window again and there was still blue sky…So for my exercise I headed over to Five Rivers.It was the wrong call. I could tell that as I cut along the path behind the Waitrose garage because the cloud covered the sun for a minute and a Brimstone flew towards me, past me and carried on heading towards Middle Street! Oh well I plugged on. Through the ‘glades’ nothing – no Specklie no OT or indeed any other white. Comma Corner was distinctly lacking in punctuation and as I strolled the Banks there was a slight chill in the air as the sun had been swallowed and a dearth of butterflies…
And then as if turned on a sixpence the weather switched, the cloud disappeared, the sky became blue and the temperature rocketed to the point where I didn’t need a coat. I scanned the sky I reckoned that this turn in the weather could last about 5-10 minutes and then I scanned the Banks. A Peacock went up brought out of stand-by by the suns rays and as it flew sluggishly it spooked a Small Tortoiseshell which even from a distance seemed noticeably knackered. I plumbed for the Peacock and so watched as it settled, stalked, took a few shots and backed off. Behind me the Small Tort took off from its hiding place in the grass and so I repeated the process.
Have a goodun
Wurzel
Re: Wurzel
Good grief, Wurzel, how on earth did that Tortoiseshell stay in one piece and actually fly? Quite a comparison with the Peacock - which do seem to be an extremely robust species when you think about it. 
Dave
Dave
Re: Wurzel
I thought the same as Dave about that last Small Tort., good to see the others though.
I note that Marsh Frits. seem to be appearing all over Wilts. at the moment, look forward
to your images of them later on. I saw one in a meadow very near Devizes last year.
Say safe, and enjoy day long exercise.
Trevor.
I note that Marsh Frits. seem to be appearing all over Wilts. at the moment, look forward
to your images of them later on. I saw one in a meadow very near Devizes last year.
Say safe, and enjoy day long exercise.
Trevor.
Re: Wurzel
Cheers Dave I don't know but that's not the worst one I've seen there was a few years back that I nick named Stumpy It could just be round my way but the Small Torts are often out in numbers here first - when the plants haven't quite established themselves so the Small Torts always seem to be basking on stony, stick strewn, rough ground so perhaps that's why they get so messed up?
Cheers Trevor The Marshies are on the march indeed - they've got into the 100's at a couple of sites but the count from Cotley is still modest though not many people go though the trees and round the corner
Have a goodun and stay safe
Wurzel
I don't know but that's not the worst one I've seen there was a few years back that I nick named Stumpy It could just be round my way but the Small Torts are often out in numbers here first - when the plants haven't quite established themselves so the Small Torts always seem to be basking on stony, stick strewn, rough ground so perhaps that's why they get so messed up? Cheers Trevor
The Marshies are on the march indeed - they've got into the 100's at a couple of sites but the count from Cotley is still modest though not many people go though the trees and round the corner Have a goodun and stay safe
Wurzel
Re: Wurzel
Middle Street 04-04-2020
The day dawned with beautiful sunshine and so to give my wife a break from the Home-schooling I took the girls out and over the Town Path to Middle Street to try and catch some Minnows. It was only when I was half way there that I realised that today was a Saturday – I’d lost track of the days already and we’d only been in Lockdown for less than a fortnight! On the way over four Brimstones flashed by at various points, their lemon yellow shining out in the sunshine against the blue sky. The single Peacock that we saw by contrast looked more like a diurnal Bat as we could only see the underside of the wings as if bombed by overhead.
As we approached the entrance I looked over into the neighbouring garden and there was another Peacock and as we hugged the fence once on site I could see another two Peacocks in their back garden. The girls raced on ahead of me eager to get their jam jars tied up and their net in down at their preferred pontoon so I walked along the now dried up quagmire path (giggety) to the hotspot. Once there I had a mooch around but it was quite quiet with only a Peacock in one of the gardens and a male Brimstone which was soon joined briefly by a female Brimstone. From here I walk round to check that the girls hadn’t fallen in, chucked each other in or tried to drown one another. None of things had happened and so I left them Minnow-ing and the set off along the river path towards the Dips with a Small Tort flying overhead and then to the opposite bank. As I was taking the river side path I actually started in Dip 3 and on the rough triangular patch of ground that slopes gently up to the banked path I spent some time with a Peacock and Small Tort.
I carried on after a fashion checking out the far end of the site before returning to check on the girls. In the longer grasses here is a tatty Peacock and a Small White hanging from the Bramble like the remnant of a plucked piece of bunting. It looked peaceful and docile enough but when I was still a good way away it took to the air and escaped over the fence into the neighbouring garden. On the walk back I checked out Dip 3 again and now there were two nice looking Peacocks.
I caught up with the girls and then set out again working my round the ‘lake’. A Peacock was the first butterfly that I saw swiftly followed by a Brimstone and then I spy a smaller white. As it flies I notice it has a tangerine/cream look about it and it exhibits patrolling behaviour – the sure sign of spring – my first Orange-tip of the 2020. As is always the way for me it seems it leads me on a chase round the Lake eventually disappearing over a fence in the far corner of the Hotspot – oh well in the absence of a photo I’ll take the memory of the wonderfully bright orange against the icy cool white. Once I’d completed my lap of the Lake a pair of Peacocks, one on the pontoon and anther on the beach of the lake had cheered me back to my usual disposition.
So a quick check of the Minnows, a fair few and a Caddis fly larva, and I went back to check the dips again. As I got to the large bramble patch another or possibly the same Orange-tip flew by. This one didn’t take me by surprise so I fired off some distant record shots before I followed and when he went for some nectar I was ready – some very quick steps in and a few shots fired off before he was any the wiser.
Chuffed but quite hot and sweaty from the chasing (no-one should dare ask a butterflier that’s been pursuing an OT if this could constitute your daily exercise!) I spent some time down in Dip 1. A Small White was hovering about over the Bramble at the far end and threatening to land although it never did and there were a brace apiece of Small Tort and Peacock to keep me in photos for a while. But I couldn’t help thinking back to the OT so it was with some reluctance that my next check-in with the girls became my final on as we returned the Minnows back to the River, double checked the jam jars were empty and wove our way back home.
Whilst we were waiting to cross the weir path which is too narrow for Social Distancing I saw a couple of butterflies spiralling on the slipway on the other side of millpond and once we’d safely navigated the narrow path a quick check confirmed them as Small Torts. First Orange-tip – Spring has definitely sprung!
Have a goodun and stay safe
Wurzel
The day dawned with beautiful sunshine and so to give my wife a break from the Home-schooling I took the girls out and over the Town Path to Middle Street to try and catch some Minnows. It was only when I was half way there that I realised that today was a Saturday – I’d lost track of the days already and we’d only been in Lockdown for less than a fortnight! On the way over four Brimstones flashed by at various points, their lemon yellow shining out in the sunshine against the blue sky. The single Peacock that we saw by contrast looked more like a diurnal Bat as we could only see the underside of the wings as if bombed by overhead.
As we approached the entrance I looked over into the neighbouring garden and there was another Peacock and as we hugged the fence once on site I could see another two Peacocks in their back garden. The girls raced on ahead of me eager to get their jam jars tied up and their net in down at their preferred pontoon so I walked along the now dried up quagmire path (giggety) to the hotspot. Once there I had a mooch around but it was quite quiet with only a Peacock in one of the gardens and a male Brimstone which was soon joined briefly by a female Brimstone. From here I walk round to check that the girls hadn’t fallen in, chucked each other in or tried to drown one another. None of things had happened and so I left them Minnow-ing and the set off along the river path towards the Dips with a Small Tort flying overhead and then to the opposite bank. As I was taking the river side path I actually started in Dip 3 and on the rough triangular patch of ground that slopes gently up to the banked path I spent some time with a Peacock and Small Tort.
- Tatty P
- The difference a little flash can make
Wurzel
Last edited by Wurzel on Mon Jun 01, 2020 1:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
-
Neil Freeman
- Posts: 4588
- Joined: Fri Jul 23, 2010 6:25 pm
- Location: Solihull, West Midlands
Re: Wurzel
Going by some of the behaviour I have witnessed here this week, you could be right Wurzel. There are some real idiots out there.
Always a special moment. It already seems a long time ago to me here, what a strange year this is.
Cheers,
Neil.
Re: Wurzel
Cheers Neil That's the thing with being tardy with your PD - I've got the benefits of Marshies and Small Pearls whilst reliving my OTs again That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it
The Muppets seem to be quite restrained in my neck of the woods Neil - though to be fair I've spent most of today walking deep in a wood Hopefully their restraint will last
Have a goodun and stay safe
Wurzel
That's the thing with being tardy with your PD - I've got the benefits of Marshies and Small Pearls whilst reliving my OTs again That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it The Muppets seem to be quite restrained in my neck of the woods Neil - though to be fair I've spent most of today walking deep in a wood
Hopefully their restraint will last Have a goodun and stay safe
Wurzel
Re: Wurzel
Some of those Peacocks look as fresh as the day they hatched all those months ago. Amazing creatures.
Cheers,
Dave
Cheers,
Dave
Re: Wurzel
Although your most recent post was only from last month,
species wise it seems ages ago. I have not seen an OT or Peacock for quite a while.
I was talking to Dave Cook the other day ( who discovered the Black Hairstreaks at Ditchling )
and he thinks they could be early this year. It will be great if they flaunt themselves for the
camera, as they have in the previous couple of years.
Stay well,
Trevor.
species wise it seems ages ago. I have not seen an OT or Peacock for quite a while.
I was talking to Dave Cook the other day ( who discovered the Black Hairstreaks at Ditchling )
and he thinks they could be early this year. It will be great if they flaunt themselves for the
camera, as they have in the previous couple of years.
Stay well,
Trevor.
Re: Wurzel
Cheers Dave I reckon it's cos they're wusses Dave, always perching and showing off and never getting down in the rough stuff like Small Torts
Cheers Trevor Keep me posted on the Blackstreaks - if anything that is an Essential journey
Have a goodun and stay safe
Wurzel
I reckon it's cos they're wusses Dave, always perching and showing off and never getting down in the rough stuff like Small Torts Cheers Trevor
Keep me posted on the Blackstreaks - if anything that is an Essential journey Have a goodun and stay safe
Wurzel
Re: Wurzel
Garston Wood 05-04-2020
With Lock Down continuing and the weather set to bring many more people out for exercise we decided to drive a short way to complete our exercise for today and so we drove the back way to Garston Wood as it would actually be easier to Social Distance there than anywhere in Salisbury. As we drove past Lizzie Gardens which I would have had to have crossed to get to Middle Street there were already plenty of people strolling about so it looked like we’d made the right decision. When we got to Garston there were several cars in the car park but most importantly no people so we pulled in, parked and set off before that changed. To allay any possible criticism now; we only saw two older couples and one small family over the course of the next hour and when it came to Social Distancing there wasn’t a problem as we stepped three or four metres off the path, said our ‘mornings’ and then when they’d gone past carried on our way. It was crazy to think that if I’d taken my exercise in Salisbury I’d have probably encountered twice the number of people within the first 10 minutes after leaving the house 
. Anyway…
We started off taking the lower path to the other side of the wood and in among the sea of green and pungent aroma of lots of wild Garlic Anemones and Celendines and also the odd Bluebell poked out. Occasionally they would be very briefly visited by a passing Brimstone. The wood was alive with bird songs and calls so much so in fact that you had to strain to pick out the various species but there were a few Blackcaps, Marsh Tits and Nuthatch adding to the cacophony that I’ve been hearing around Salisbury recently.
Garston has, or rather used to have, an enclosure for butterflies where they were hoping Pearl Bordered Frits would recolonise. Alas they never did and now the gates have gone too but this is now one of the best parts of the Wood for the butterflies. As I stepped through the gate frame I spied a pair of Brimstone locked in a courtship flight though it didn’t come to fruition and by the time I’d stalked close enough the female was gone. There were good numbers here flying up and down on either side of the straight path and so we paused for a while for a quick snack. I managed to get onto a couple of female Brimstones and took great delight in watching the antics of two Peacocks which were constantly sparring up and down the path. One would land and start basking and then its rival would appear and off they would both go before the usurper would land a little way ahead of us and the process would continue. It was exhausting to watch and at one point both came down onto the deck briefly for a breather before each felt the others present and then away they went again.
We then followed the path round through what used to be the ‘Exotic Plantation’ but in the last decade has been cleared and opened up. It now looks like it would be perfect for those Pearls . All the way along the path there were Peacocks that would come down on the deck or down on a log at the side of the path. I thought that there could be just two which where following the same pattern as the other pair earlier but then as I moved in closer to one for a few shots I saw that there was another with wings tightly closed which it was hassling. A third flew in and settled briefly before the whole dance started again though now I knew that there were three at least.
All too soon we were back at the car park which again was lacking any humans so we could safely de-boot, load up and wagons roll home with all of us feeling infinitely better for having just gone somewhere different and experienced just the tiniest slice of ‘normality’.
Have a goodun
Wurzel
With Lock Down continuing and the weather set to bring many more people out for exercise we decided to drive a short way to complete our exercise for today and so we drove the back way to Garston Wood as it would actually be easier to Social Distance there than anywhere in Salisbury. As we drove past Lizzie Gardens which I would have had to have crossed to get to Middle Street there were already plenty of people strolling about so it looked like we’d made the right decision. When we got to Garston there were several cars in the car park but most importantly no people so we pulled in, parked and set off before that changed. To allay any possible criticism now; we only saw two older couples and one small family over the course of the next hour and when it came to Social Distancing there wasn’t a problem as we stepped three or four metres off the path, said our ‘mornings’ and then when they’d gone past carried on our way. It was crazy to think that if I’d taken my exercise in Salisbury I’d have probably encountered twice the number of people within the first 10 minutes after leaving the house
. Anyway…We started off taking the lower path to the other side of the wood and in among the sea of green and pungent aroma of lots of wild Garlic Anemones and Celendines and also the odd Bluebell poked out. Occasionally they would be very briefly visited by a passing Brimstone. The wood was alive with bird songs and calls so much so in fact that you had to strain to pick out the various species but there were a few Blackcaps, Marsh Tits and Nuthatch adding to the cacophony that I’ve been hearing around Salisbury recently.
Garston has, or rather used to have, an enclosure for butterflies where they were hoping Pearl Bordered Frits would recolonise. Alas they never did and now the gates have gone too but this is now one of the best parts of the Wood for the butterflies. As I stepped through the gate frame I spied a pair of Brimstone locked in a courtship flight though it didn’t come to fruition and by the time I’d stalked close enough the female was gone. There were good numbers here flying up and down on either side of the straight path and so we paused for a while for a quick snack. I managed to get onto a couple of female Brimstones and took great delight in watching the antics of two Peacocks which were constantly sparring up and down the path. One would land and start basking and then its rival would appear and off they would both go before the usurper would land a little way ahead of us and the process would continue. It was exhausting to watch and at one point both came down onto the deck briefly for a breather before each felt the others present and then away they went again.
. All the way along the path there were Peacocks that would come down on the deck or down on a log at the side of the path. I thought that there could be just two which where following the same pattern as the other pair earlier but then as I moved in closer to one for a few shots I saw that there was another with wings tightly closed which it was hassling. A third flew in and settled briefly before the whole dance started again though now I knew that there were three at least.
Have a goodun
Wurzel
Last edited by Wurzel on Mon Jun 01, 2020 1:30 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Re: Wurzel
Hi! Wurzel, love your Brimstone shots on the Bluebell much better than mine, my Brimstone landed slap bang into the Bowles Mauve I'm not grumbling it was my first . Goldie
much better than mine, my Brimstone landed slap bang into the Bowles Mauve I'm not grumbling it was my first . Goldie Re: Wurzel
Cheers Goldie I got lucky in that a couple of the Brimstones seemed to really develop a taste for the Bluebell nectar and were so intent on hovering it up that I was able to get up really close and personal
Have a goodun and stay safe
Wurzel
I got lucky in that a couple of the Brimstones seemed to really develop a taste for the Bluebell nectar and were so intent on hovering it up that I was able to get up really close and personal Have a goodun and stay safe
Wurzel
Re: Wurzel
Brimstones on Bluebells - a real evocation of Spring. They do seem to have a particular fondness for them, though it requires a little extra effort to get the proboscis down that long tube of a flower...
Cheers,
Dave
Cheers,
Dave