Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

...In my mind Small Torts are the toughest of the Vanessids...

They are indeed Wurzel. I often see them flying in conditions that keeps other species tucked up out of the way. A good job really with as without them I would have really struggled to see much around here on many days so far this year.

Cheers,

Neil.

[Wurzel]

Cheers Neil They were definitely the stalwarts during the early part of the season

Middle Street 08-04-2021

I took a chance on the weather as according to the apps it was supposed to be 10-11 degrees but cloudy whereas when I looked out of my window there were large patches of blue sky. So I grabbed my camera and headed over to Middle Street. Once on site the cloud was still overhead ad covering the sun but I could see that in a short while the cloud would shift and I’d be bathed in glorious sunshine for a time. I had a quick walk round to the Hotspot and saw a few Bumble Bees start to take off as the temperatures had started to increase which meant that the butterflies wouldn’t be far behind so I hot tailed it over to Dip 1 in readiness.

As I wandered round all was very quiet butterfly wise although the local birds were making up for it, a G.S. Woody drummed, a Green Woody ‘yaffled’, from the reeds came the occasional percussive blast from a Cetti’s and various other birds led their voices to the cacophony. Suddenly like curtains had been thrown back the sun appeared. Within a matter of seconds I was squinting instead of staring and feeling hot rather than comfortable. Almost as sudden were the butterflies – a Small White appeared heading South out of the Dip while a Small Tort crossed paths with it heading North. I decided to try and follow the Small White as they’re still something of a novelty this season but it was hard work with the butterfly doubling back on itself and sensing the coming cloud, landed in the very middle of a massive patch of Bramble.

I climbed out of the Dip and walked along the banked mid path, zig zagging from side to side so that I could scan down across the footy field or into Dips 2 and 3 but nothing was showing. When I reached the end of Dip 3 I planned to head straight to the end but a Peacock was down on the little cross path and so I attempted a few shots. Despite the cool and cloudy conditions it was still pretty hard going following it as it flew back along the bank of the mid path. Luckily it went down so I managed to pick up at least something for a posting.

As I was getting back on track a Small Tort went whizzing over my head far too quick to see where it ended up so it just became an entry on the Tally and then I found a second Peacock. This one was sunning itself on the slope of the bank and so was much more approachable than the first. Up to the end and nothing more so I retraced my footsteps. The second Peacock was still there and on the other side of the mid path from Dip 3 was another which I though could make it 3. However it had a square cut out of the right fore wing tip which meant that this was the first individual that I’d seen. The Dips 3 and 2 were empty despite plenty of likely looking nectar sources and the sun coming out for another brief spell and warming everything up nicely and as I waited for another patch of sun, which looked like it could be reasonably long lasting I busied myself with a Bee- Fly. It was sitting with its wings still for once so I could clearly see the spots on the wings and that with the black back end meant that it was a Dotted Bee-fly, Bombylius discolour, and the line of white dots meant that it was a female.

My dalliance with the Bee-fly had paid off as the sun had crept out and I was again starting to feel a little too warm in my fleece so I popped over the path and down into Dip1. Sure enough I spotted a Small White on the far side near to the Bramble that it had disappeared into earlier. It fluttered around and about a few times but never seemed t want to leave the Dip, it acted kinda like a skater in a half pipe – it would fly towards and then up the slope of the Dip, reach the top and then tumbled back down and out across the flatter bottom. This proved quite useful for me as I could wait in the middle for it to land on some Dandelions and then grab a few shots before it pottered off to the next feeding stop. I did this three times and then left it in peace.

Back round at the Hotspot things had warmed up nicely and there were a few Nomada bees feeding/diving in the Dandelions and down in the dried pond was a Peacock that was trying to hide from me. I got a few shots by nonchalantly picking my way down and focusing my attentions on a Bee-fly; a Dotted male, and then surreptitiously turning my lens onto the Peacock. I climbed back out with the Peacock leading the way and then after a quick turn around the main pond I made to leave and as I did so a Small Tort flew right at me, skimming my cheek as it passed. Talk about a close encounter.

The stroll back was interrupted by a call from the garage to tell me that my car had been serviced so I stopped for a little bit by a very close Little Egret. It was looking quite splendid with the plumes on show, the very same plumes that got it into trouble as ladies liked them on hats – mind you this did give us the RSPB so I suppose it wasn’t all bad…

After collecting my car I called in at Five Rivers in the hope that the warmer temperatures had encouraged the OT’s to start flying. However there was only a single Peacock at Comma Corner but on the bright side I did see my first Swallow of 2021!
Took a chance trip out
The sun was in short supply
Result! A Small White

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[millerd]

That was a Very White Small White, Wurzel. Interesting the way the early ones of both this species and the GVW have very white males at this time of year. There's probably something evolutionarily significant behind it all...

Cheers,

Dave

[trevor]

Your Little Egret steals the show for me, Wurzel.
I don't know if you were close to the bird , or used some zoom,
but 'Bob' the Egret at Shoreham can detect a camera from a mile away!.

Hope to re-visit Cotley Hill on Friday 21st May, fingers crossed.

Keep well,
Trevor.

[Wurzel]

Cheers Dave Perhaps it's to increase the amount of light that they can reflect off of their wings and onto their thorax and abdomen?
Cheers Trevor I was a couple of metres away but I had a 'natural hide' as there was a screen of trees which I could hide amongst

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[millerd]

...Perhaps it's to increase the amount of light that they can reflect off of their wings and onto their thorax and abdomen...

You could be onto something here, Wurzel. I remember reading some learned article which said there is an optimum angle for them to hold their wings in order to reflect maximum energy onto their abdomens. It went on to say that white butterflies have incredibly efficient scales for reflecting light in this way, and that man has yet to replicate this efficiency artificially. It all explains why spring brood male Green-veined Whites are so blindingly white, and why so very few photos of white butterflies show them with wings held flat.

Sorry, I've wittered on a bit here... Feel free to expunge!

Cheers,

Dave

[Wurzel]

No worries Dave not wittering just interesting

Frustrating trips out 12-04-2021

When I sit and type this it’s been a very frustrating few days with the last productive trip 8 days previously…The weather has been unseasonably cold, with frosts in the evening, hail, sleet and snow and whenever the sun has shone it’s been freezing cold and then just as it’s starting to warm up it clouds over pegging the temperatures back. Whilst it’s been handy in letting me catch up with writing up my posts I’m starting to get a little fed up with getting very little out for the effort I’ve put in…

On the 11th we visited Kingston Lacey. Being further South in Dorset I was hoping for a degree or so of extra heat and so hopefully a few butterflies – maybe a Specklie or Orange-tip that had been tricked into thinking it was warm enough because of the blue skies and bright sunshine that was forecast. In the end it was more a case of cold and bright and then colder. I did see one butterfly and got one shot off – a Small White which was quartering the hedge along the road that separates the Kitchen Garden from the main part of the site but after this the sun was never really out for long enough to get the butterflies going. In fact as the morning wore on the cloud got thicker and thicker and there were a few spots of rain. The temperature dropped further still and on the journey home we drove thought a sleet/snow storm which lasted from Blandford to Langton.

On the 12th I made two trips as the weather forecast showed an extra degree and more sun than the previous day. First to Five Rivers but the cloud swallowed the sun for pretty much most of my visit so I walked around slightly morose watching the birds…that’s what it came to!
When I got back home the sun came out and it actually felt quite warm so I walked across to Middle Street. As I walked round I checked out all the usual haunts but nothing was doing. Little Nook, Hotspot, Dip 1 nothing and then as I was walking along the bank path I saw the familiar profile of a Small Tort. It did a few passes and then settled down on the deck. It was well worth waiting for as it was a cracking looking little fella; a vibrant orange and the cream patch on the fore wing really stood out.

After this I was buzzed by a Peacock and another Small Tort in the end patch but it all went quiet so I reverted to bees as they seem to be able to fly when it’s too cool for butterflies. I picked up an interesting Hoverfly, what I think is an Osmia bicolor (or I might have got the red and black back to front and it might not be), an early mining bee, an Ashy Mining Bee and finally a Tree Bee. But despite searching and scanning all the Foliage I couldn’t find what I was really hoping for – a roosting Orange-tip.

On the 13th the sun shone and while I was standing in line awaiting the opening of the hairdressers the early morning sun was nicely warming and then later as I strolled back, even with the breeze playing around my lugholes as I was sans barber I was feeling the warmest I’ve felt for a while. Then I made the mistake of checking the weather app which suggested that the sunny intervals would hold and the temperature after lunch would almost reach double figures perfect for butterfly photography. While the sun shines you find and follow the butterfly, watch where it lands when the sun goes in and get yourself set up, then when the sun comes back out click off a load of shots before it takes flight again, perfect! So I busied myself with chores and marking all the time looking about of the window and seeing acres of blue sky and the occasional big fluffy white cloud…
Then when I came to go the cloud crept up out of nowhere and for most of my visit the sun was hidden away. I didn’t see a single butterfly despite checking every pale/yellow leaf and ever set of bird droppings on leaves in case there was a White or a roosting Orange-tip. I had to make do with some shiny beetles on the way over and good old Dotted Bee-flies… This is really starting to get on my wick! The weather has got to sort itself out soon, probably just in time for the return to work!

Frustrating weather
And a case of Metitis
Let’s start again Spring!

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[millerd]

Your descriptions of this year's April butterflying feel so accurate, Wurzel - it was a very frustrating time and ended up with the first day I can remember when I saw a butterfy and snow fall on the same day... Some great shots of various bees there too - I can see how you might get drawn into studying them as well!

Cheers,

Dave

[Wurzel]

Cheers Dave If lost for subjects to photograph then there's always bees April was frustrating - and May hasn't been much better either

Martin Down 14-04-2021

I desperately needed a change of scene – all of my visits out had either been or ended up at Five Rivers or Middle Street. There’s nothing wrong in that but I was getting into a bit of a rut nd the poor run of weather wasn’t helping; glorious while I worked and it was too cold, then just as it starts to get hot enough clouding over and cooling down. There was a similar run when I decided to grab my camera and go to Martin Down but I just went with it.

As I drove through Coombe Bisset and white flew by along the verge and the sun started to peak through the cloud. It was looking like I’d actually caught a break and I was heading into the good weather for once rather than away from it! The sun got stronger and stronger and the clouds drifted off into nothingness. I turned right down towards Martin and Sillen’s Lane ignoring the “Road Closed” signs and hoping that I‘d be able to access the village itself which indeed I was. Then I drove slowly down the single track towards the car park. I spied a Brimstone pootling along and as it went down I pulled up, climbed out and managed a couple of semi-distant shots before it was off. Unfortunately that was it for the drive and the hoped for Orange-tips and Green-veined Whites didn’t materialise.

Abandoning the car I set off on foot along the flat track scanning both ahead and the hedge as I went. Near the bale blocked gateway I spotted a Brimstone but it was playing hard to get although I didn’t mind as it put me onto a Small Tort. It seemed a little more flighty than the ones I’m used to seeing at middle Street – I suppose that’s what comes from growing up in such an open locale.

My anticipation was growing now as I had just reached the start of the Tunnel track. In the past this has held Orange-tips, Green Hairstreaks, Specklies and Grizzlies to only mention those species that I knew were already flying and I hadn’t caught up with to date. However it was possibly the quietest time I’ve ever wandered the length of track way with only a pair of male Brimstones – one half way along and the other at the far end. To be honest I don’t think the cutting back had helped as what was a sheltered and lush trackway is now exposed and drying out in the wind and it’s no longer tunnel like but instead just a hedge really – disappointing. I carried on hiking alongside the Iron Age fort and the round and down to the Hotspot. From here I wandered along the little track aiming to reach the Hairstreak Field. A Peacock blocked my way and paused for a few shots but that was it after I’d completed a circuit round the whole Hotspot.

Slightly disheartened I tried my luck with walking along in the Dyke for a bit. All was quiet and the vegetation seemed to be hacked back and closely cropped with only a few Cowslips starting to peak though among the still few Violets. An Oil Beetle was a nice sight to see and then I got a bit of a shock. It was one of those times when you don’t really realise what you’re seeing, then when you do you forget that you’ve got a camera until too late. I’d almost trodden on an Adder, well when I stepped back I saw that it was in fact two Adders. One was really obvious as it was black and silver/white. The other was a bit chubbier and was a brick red or terracotta colour. They been slithering around in the bottom of the Dyke with the smaller darker one chasing the other round in circles, weaving in and out of the vegetation around a small Hawthorn bush. Then they disappeared into the shadows and I was left wondering if I’d just witnessed a successful courtship?

I make my way back and check out the Hotspot where another Peacock, or more likely the same one that had been in the Dyke, is feeding in the hollow. As I enter the Greenstreak field by the bottom entrance a Comma and a Peacock whizz over my head, slow enough that I can work out what they are but once they’re round the corner they accelerate away and following them is pointless. Another disappointment this as Commas aren’t particularly common here. The walk back is pretty uneventful until I’m almost back at the car. I spy what looks like a dead leaf among the grasses. The upright stature doesn’t fit with a decaying leaf so I slow down and then bend down and the leaf becomes a Comma, closed uptight in the cool and cloudy conditions. It’s sitting out quite exposed so I offer it my finger, take a few shots and then move it to a more sheltered spot in the hedge.

After this I drove round and parked at the main car park and briefly took my life into my hands and crossed the road to Kitts Grave. Normally visiting this area involves a long trek uphill from Vernditch but here I am today wandering the paths only 5 minutes from the car. It’s something of a revelation and I only wish the butterflies had been a little more revelatory. However there wasn’t a single one despite checking all of the little valleys. In fact there were only three things of note the whole time I was on site. The first was a pair of Oil Beetles. The ‘bulbous also tapered’ (anyone recognise this quote?) female was buried up to mid-abdomen in the ground and the male was clambering around on top. The second was a Hare as I as leaving and the third was the god awful cloud and wind that made it surprisingly cold – so much so that my wrists were aching in the chill.

Oh well at least I’m getting out and doing the spade work – it’s got to pay off soon…right?

Try a different site
So Martin Down it is then
But still the same stuff…

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[bugboy]

You can tell just how poor this year is by the amount of non butterfly pictures you're being forced to use just to fill up a report !

[Neil Hulme]

True, but I do love that shot of a Brown Hare; one of my favourite beasts of the British countryside.
BWs, Neil

[trevor]

Your image of the Hare has a 'Watership Down ' quality about it ( Though that starred Rabbits ).
I once had a Hare leap out in front of my car. Instead of heading for the opposite field, it ran
for some distance in front of the car, and touched about 30mph!.
Heading back to Wilts today, straight into rubbish weather by the looks of it

Stay well,
Trevor.

[Padfield]

I once saw a hare at Shingle Street, sitting on the stones, looking out to sea. Then I realised: its eyes were on the side of its head and it was really looking up and down the coast!

I think your hare is looking straight at you ...

Guy

[Wurzel]

Cheers Bugboy Tell me about it Bugboy - I try and only post when there is at least one butterfly - so there have been plenty of unreported trips so far this year
Cheers Neil They are a cracking looking beastie, so much more majestic than Rabbits. I had a run in with a group of about 8-9 whilst looking for Dukes and one of them went up the side of the Down as if they were running on the flat
Cheers Trevor Sorry to hear that the weather isn't playing ball for another Wiltshire trip Trevor I keep thinking that 'it;s got to change soon' but here we are a month away from the longest day and the temperature at times is barely scrapping above double figures I just hope that the butterflies can last until the weather finally does get better...if it ever does
Cheers Guy I can't work out if it was staring me out with a view to starting on me, I half expected it to start boxing at me a la Mad March Hare

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[Goldie M]

Wurzel, how on earth do you get a comma to sit on your finger, WOW! Love the Hare shot as well Goldie

[Wurzel]

Cheers Goldie I got lucky in that the cold had made it go torpid so the warmth from my finger was some relief for it

The Devenish 15-04-2021

I decided to not bother listening to the weather forecasters and also to ignore the weather apps and just head out anyway. In recent days they’ve been hedging their bets with everything from sunshine to snow forecast and the accuracy has been severely lacking. The thing that gets me is the ‘sunny intervals’ tag/symbol – well how much sun exactly? Are we talking more or less than 30 minutes of sun each hour or does a single ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ ray that bursts through the cloud count? The pattern recently is bright but too cold first thing but then as it warms up it clouds over pegging the temperatures back hence today I set out just before 11.

When I arrived at The Devenish the sun was still shining brightly and there were only a few fluffy white clouds punctuating the beautiful blue sky but there was still enough nip in the air to warrant my fleece. I quartered the Orchid Meadow noting various bees, flies and Bee-flies and then did the same in both the small and the large Paddocks. I must have checked every Dandelion and every bird dropping besmirched Nettle across the site but to no avail. I wandered across the middle of the Middle Down and then down the track back into Orchid Meadow but no matter how hard I stared into the bushes I couldn’t materialise a butterfly. It was warming up though so I thought that I’d have a coffee and a snack and then try again. As the last mouthful of Lime Pickle sandwich was singeing my cheeks a small, orangey butterfly hove into view. It was what I’d been hoping to see, a male Orange-tip. He went down and as cautiously as possible I approached him to get a few shots.

With those in the bag I stood back and shortly he took off again and set off in the darting and bobbing style that they have up the track, over the gate and into the small Paddock. So I followed suit and tried for a few more shots as he flitted from flower to flower fuelling up on possibly every other flower. Some it seems may have already been fed upon and were possibly restocking and these got short shrift. Eventually he’d worked his way round the small Paddock and then he flew over the gate and set off at pace into the Large Paddock. I climbed over the gate by which time he‘d gone though I reckoned he’d return and so I busied myself with the Bee-flies and the brace of Peacocks that were also in the Paddock.

I was proved correct as shortly we, the Peacocks and I, were joined again by the Orange-tip. While the sun shone the Orange-tip pootled around in the small Paddock and then refuelled and warmed it went on a bit of a run, down through the tree tunnel and into the Orchid Meadow. I managed to keep up with it over the first gate but faltered at the second (it just sailed over of course) but luckily got a clear sight of it just as the sun went in behind the cloud. I walked to where it had gone down but it had vanished. It was nowhere to be seen. I tired crouching, kneeling, sitting, lying flat and then scanning across the vegetation but I couldn’t see it. Then I tried scanning from different points of a circle around where it had gone down but still no joy. The sun started to claw away at the cloud and all of a sudden there was a flash of orange and where there had previously been a distinct lack of Orange-tip suddenly there was one.

Ignoring the Brimstone that was vying for my attention I followed back the way it had come. Personally I reckon it just liked making clamber over the gates and once it had finished chuckling at my expense it set out feeding again. Just as it was looking like it was going to set off on another searing run (they settle less frequently and for shorter and shorter times) it clouded over again calming the butterfly down. It was reasonably warm now but still cool enough that when the sun went in the temperature noticeably dropped, and with it the butterfly. This time I’d seen exactly where it had gone down and so I settled down and prepared for the eventual opening up when the sun returned.

After getting my fill I decided to try my luck over at Five Rivers…
To the Devenish
Blissful beauty Orange-tip
Never disappoints

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[trevor]

If there has been one advantage of the weather in recent weeks, it's been
great for OT shots, as your last few images demonstrate. ,
The forecasters were dead right about Thurs and Fri, they promised c##p
and that's exactly what we had, in a word atrocious.

Great OT shots, stay well,
Trevor.

[millerd]

As Trevor says, the weather has provided some great Orange Tip opportunities if nothing else - and you made the most of them Wurzel.

(Incidentally, have you tried the Mango Pickle in the same range? Not sweet like Mango Chutney at all, but a different piquancy to the Lime Pickle, and it makes a nice change! )

Cheers,

Dave

[Wurzel]

Cheers Trevor It was the worst weather yet wasn't it! Hopefully they'll be just as accurate with the forecast for next week which involves much improved conditions
Cheers Dave Definitely something I'll look into I'll have to see if my local Asian Foodstore have it on the shelves Orange-tips this season have often saved the trip

Five Rivers is All White 15-04-2021

Whilst I’d enjoyed my time earlier at The Devenish I’d actually only seen four butterflies of three species and managed shots of only three of them. True I had filled my boots with a bucket load of Orange-tip shots but it still felt like little return for all that work. I was musing this over and driving on Autopilot when I realised that I’d pulled into the car park of Five Rivers. As I was already here I reckoned that I’d better check it out so as to save petrol by not making a return trip in the next few days.

I set off directly to the Glades wending my way along the river path which only seemed to hold a Brimstone. But then all went a bit hectic despite the cloud shrouding the sun…A large white butterfly hove into view and twigging that the whiteness and size meant that it was indeed not just a ‘large white’ but a Large White I set to following it. No easy task this as they really have something under the bonnet and their acceleration is mighty impressive. In the end I managed to just about keep up with it and managed a few brief ‘grab’ shots in a similar place to where I’d seen my first of the year. When it took off again I tried to follow it but got distracted as first a Small White which could have been a Green-veined passed in the opposite direction and then a tiny blue butterfly took off from the grass and jinked its way towards some small trees. I didn’t know what to go for; carry on after the Large White, head back the way I’d come to see if it was a Small or my first Green-veined or watch the Holly Blue and hope that it settled low down? I plumbed for the Holly Blue but despite its slow ascent it had somehow gained enough altitude to reach the top of the tree and it disappeared from sight. A Brimstone dropped down beside me as if volunteering itself as my consolation.

By this point I was almost through the Glades and I’d reached the spot where I’d encountered my first Orange-tip pf the year. After The Devenish I must have got my eye in as scanning across the lower vegetation I spotted an OT that was down and all closed up. I spent the next 5 minutes alternatively peering through my lens and taking shots and straining my neck upwards from my prone position hoping to see a break in the cloud and some blue sky approaching. When the sun did come out the butterfly didn’t behave as it should have. Instead of the incremental opening up to reveal the gorgeous orange and white underneath as the temperature rose this individual remained stubbornly closed up until it was ‘done’ and then with a single flick of its wings it promptly took off and was gone. I stared after it in disbelief for a few seconds before reckoning to myself that I’d got plenty of shots to choose from anyway and then I made to go on my way – albeit a lot less rapidly.

I’d only taken a few steps when the sun retreated once more behind a cloud and a second OT flew towards me through the Glades. Almost as soon as the sun was gone he went down (it was like a switch had been thrown) this time on a different clump of vegetation. Again I set up camp and waited to see if this one would play by the rules. As I waited I took my shots and even had a chance to compare with some of the earlier shots – the differences in the under wing markings confirmed that this was definitely a second individual. It seemed like this one had read the play book for as the sun started to peek around the cloud there was the slightest quiver of the wings. I quickly shifted position so that I was directly behind it and waited. When the sun was fully revealed the butterfly gradually opened up, micrometre by micrometre until it was fully revealed too, the tiny eyes in the orange tips providing another point of difference. With a final flourish it was off and tearing about the place like a hoon.

After it had flown off I took to wandering once more around the Glades although there wasn’t much else back where I’d come from and so I ended back at the end where the OTs had both been. Upon my return I immediately spied two different looking whites. One was sitting on the Bramble bush and was quite square winged – it was my first Green-veined White of the year! The second was much larger with striking black markings which I could see as it powered around and about - a female Large White. As the GVW was a FFY I concentrated on that – getting my shots and moving slowly around to try and get a view of the underside. After a while I took the few steps towards where the Large White was settled but after a couple of record shots she was off so I resumed working with the GVW but kept my eye on the general direction where the Large White had been. Eventually she returned during a small cloudy period. It seemed that despite me feeling comfortable the temperature wasn’t quite high enough for the butterflies as the moment the sun went in they would quite literally drop from the sky. As I focused in on the Large White the sun started to creep out so I was able to get a few shots with her partially opening her wings up, angling them so as to reflect the maximum amount onto the dark thorax and abdomen. Eventually she reached the appropriate temperature and returned to the wing. The GVW was still in some partial shade so would take slightly longer to warm up hence I returned my attentions to it.

Feeling chuffed with two FFY and plenty of OT action I felt it was time to see what the Banks had to offer so I re-joined the main track and then branched off again to walk along the Banks about half way up. On the little trackway which had recently held a Comma a Peacock was down and then further along in the more open section there was a second Peacock but apart from this it was very quiet along the Banks, perhaps it’s season is waning – it’s generally best very early in the season. One of the two Peacocks flies alongside me to the end of the Banks and then I take the back path where there is yet another Peacock feeding on a small group of Dandelions. Normally I might have retraced my footsteps and worked back along the Banks but it had been so quiet instead I cut back along the top of the Banks and made directly for Comma Corner with a female Small White momentarily distracting me as I started off.

Upon my arrival at Comma Corner it all kicks off! A Small White is sitting minding its own business when a second Small White bombs into it sending them both spiralling upwards and chasing back and forth skimming the tops of the Bramble as they go. A female Large White joins in, her wings almost audible when she passes close-by. All three seem to reach an uneasy truce and I’m just trying to work out which to try and photograph when a Brimstone arrives hotfoot from patrol setting off the other three. Then a second and then a third Brimstone join the fray – there’s Whites all over the place. One settles just long enough for me to consider approaching but it’s gone again when one of the others passes too close. It’s dizzying but enjoyable to see and in the end I just settled back to enjoy the spectacle.

As I start back through the Glades two male OTs pass by and I was wondering why they hadn’t put in an appearance at Comma Corner when I almost trip over a Comma that’s basking down on the deck. I swear that I could read its mind and it went something like “If those bu££ers show up and nick my spot well I’ll bl@@dy well nick theirs!”. Leaving the grumpy old curmudgeon I made for the end of the Glades and in the final stretch I witnessed a comical display from two of the ubiquitous whites. I spotted a GVW down on the deck when an OT flew in from along the river and proceeded to hassle the GVW, flushing it up and then chasing it through the trees. Suddenly there came the light bulb moment for the GVW when it must have realised that it was bigger than the OT. It then pulled a loop over the OT, accelerated from behind and then started chasing the OT about all over the place. Eventually the OT chickened out and shot off across the river to safety. To the victor the spoils and the GVW smugly settled back down on a Dandelion. I thought that this might have been the last sighting of the trip but one of the OT turned up right at the end on almost the final spot of vegetation that wasn’t grass presumably to wave me off.

Not much from last trip…
But Five Rivers is all White
And Holly Blue too

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[trevor]

More OT's than you can shake a stick at, Wurzel, just how I like it.
I have decided to give Wilts another try at the end of the week.
Hopefully the forecasters will be as accurate with the ' better weather '
by then as they were with that lot at the end of last week!.

Stay well,
Trevor.