Cheers Goldie
The Meadow Brown does get overlooked a fair bit but it also doesn't help itslef with the annoying habit of (usually) sitting deep within the grass
Shipton Bellinger 16-08-2023
I arrived a little early and started off working my way through the enclosure and round to the Nettle Bed. It was very quiet with only the odd Meadow Brown stirring as my boots brushed against the grasses which set them off. A few Hedgies were basking in the early morning sun, trying to warm up and ease themselves out of the chill from the night before whilst the Whites and Brimstones were already pretty active. Once I’d seen pretty much all that was to be seen here I ended up working my way up the Main Hedge and I was all alone, not a single other person in sight for as far as the eye could see, with the only noises being the birds and the scritching of my boots and with the sun on my back it was blissful. My perusal of the Main Hedge produced a slightly tired looking Small Copper up near this years ‘Hotspot’ and there were also a few more Whites as well as the Holly Blues which were just starting to wake up. I kept on going, up the rise and worked my way into and round and out of the various largish scallops at the top of the hill. By now a few Common Blues and Brown Argus had joined the fray as it were as well as the Walls. The first one that I saw was a male and very active and the second was a female and she was much less so. In fact she sat nicely for me on a yellow flower which made a nice change.
The final scallop into the dual hedges is more of a little path which splits in two, the left hand branch runs straight and onto the main path along the top whilst the right hand one doubles back on itself before joining the main track in a miniscule clearing of sorts. As I reached the point when the right hand path joined the main track I spotted a male Brostreak sitting on a Bramble leaf. It looked in great nick for the time of year and so I readied my camera and got a couple of record shots with the intent of getting in and getting plenty more close-ups. It was at this point that a Mountain Biker came taring along the hedge, almost careered into me and knocked into the edge of the hedge. The vibration was transferred and amplified through the foliage until it reached the leaf upon which the Brostreak was perched…and then it wasn’t. I pulled myself up out of the other hedge, saw that the Brostreak was gone and cursed the biker with a few very choice phrases which I wouldn’t like to repeat. I hung about hoping that the Brostreak would return but it didn’t come back…
Disconsolately I started on the return leg and taking the broad path which was open on one side to the Down from whence you could see all the way to the village itself. I was joined on the way by a fly-by DGF and I enjoyed a few more encounters with the local Walls. These were generally hanging around the criss-cross of tracks at the top of the rise where they used the tracks as patrol routes come territorial borders come basking spots. When I’d managed to get down the grassy route to the bottom of the hill without turning an ankle I bumped into another photographer who turned out to be VJay from The-Book-Of-Face and he very kindly put me onto a pair of Common Blue who were very engrossed in each other. Further along the Hedge we caught up with Graham who was having similar luck to me but had seen a Cloudy flying by not 5 minutes before I arrived on the scene, so I’d just missed my 50th species for the year
The day was not going well – a prime butterfly spooked and an opportunity to each my year’s goal missed! I sought solace in the form of caffeine and so ended up back in the car. While I sipped my coffee I stared out across the large, roughly triangular field hemmed on two sides by the road and the back of the Main Hedge. Amidst the swaying straw coloured grasses the were pockets and patches of yellow flowers that seemed to be begging out for a Cloudy…so I resolved to seek check out the likely looking areas and walk the whole site if I had to in order to find a Cloudy. I started with the field itself and zig-zagged across it forwards and back with no luck. I then checked through the enclosure and skirted round the Nettle Patch, but the only butterflies of note here were a Silver-washed and Holly Blue in amongst several Brimstones. From here I worked up the Main Hedge, across the field and down the main track with only a Common Blue or two standing out from the masses of Whites which unfortunately didn’t number a single Cloudy among them. There was a high Brostreak that was fluttering high up across the main track around the Master Ash, which does seem to be clinging on despite the best efforts of Chalara. The twin track held a few Specklies and a there was a Wall right at the end but not the hoped for flash of mustard yellow. I then worked back across the field from one side to the Main Hedge side and all the way back round to the Nettle Bed. To be fair I’d put the work in so I was due a bit of luck but there wasn’t a canary coloured butterfly in payment and I had to settle for the usual bits and bobs.
Around at the Nettle Bed I discovered Graham and Vjay and so I decided to join them in looking for Brostreaks so as to give my aching feet a bit of a rest. A battered one showed up quite quickly once we’d settled and it seemed quite happy to sit on the scant reserves of Creeping Thistle a little way into the Nettle Bed. It reminded me of Two-face from the DC Comics; one side was typical tired looking male Brostreak and the other was ravaged and torn. The one advantage of the damage to the wing on one side was that when it was backlit the light shining through was quite attractive. Shortly after this Grahame found another on the other side of the Nettle Beds and this one was just as tired and worn looking but in a much better state of repair. It too sat nicely for us in various spots and poses as we clicked away, the reward for all those miles I tramped around the site.
We went round a few more times and on the final pass we watched another fly right into the middle of the Nettle Bed but I didn’t count it as a third as it seemed to come from the same direction as the second that we’d seen. Once more we ended up in the Nettle Bed where we were joined by a Common Blue, a Peacock and also a Brown Argus – which made a nice break from the monoculture of Brostreaks
and then we ventured along the narrow path, stopping to watch a female fly up high but not come down and instead of a lovely fresh female we were treated to half a male Brostreak at the far end which Ole Hooky had frequented previously. This one was so obviously different that finally I could count a definite ‘third’ and it was followed up quite quickly by a fourth Brostreak once we’d worked ourselves back into the Nettle Bed. At the time I wasn’t sure if it was a different one but the markings (nicks and tears) looked different from the others when I checked the shots back later that evening/week.
With that Grahame and Vjay made a move and I wandered back through the enclosure to the car. So four males and only a glimpse of a female – possibly time to knock it on the head here for another year? Maybe…or maybe one last try for females egg laying should be on the cards?
Again to Shipton
For tired and battered males
Where are the ladies?
Have a goodun
Wurzel
I'm glad you enjoyed the holiday shots 
Early season visits are definitely something I'll be considering in a few years time when hopefully I’ll have more time, money and fewer restrictions.