I originally published this post on Tuesday afternoon but it seems that blogger is up to it's old tricks once again and it's not 'showing'
So, I've re-jigged and re-posted it in the hope that you can all 'see' it now!!
For a
change the weather for the long bank holiday weekend was, for the most part,
bright and sunny with a mostly blue sky. The temperature was around a comfortable
17° - 18°C mark (I don't like it too warm!). Apart from Monday, when there was
a chilly wind blowing, the conditions were right for a spot of butterfly
watching.
The local
reports were giving information that there were good butterfly numbers showing
at a place where I'd never fully explored before...Bison Hill, about seven
miles from home, on the chalk escarpment of the Chiltern Hills in Bedfordshire.
 |
| Butterfly Country |
The
reports were right there were butterflies on the wing everywhere..
Green
Hairstreak (callophrys rubi)
Duke Of
Burgundy Fritillary (hamearis lucina)...a butterfly I'd never seen before!
 |
| female |
 |
| male |
 |
| male |
 |
| female |
Dingy
Skipper (erynnis tages)
Grizzled
Skipper (pyrgus malvae)
 |
| male |
 |
| female |
Small
Heath (coenonympha pamphilus)...as always, skulking low down in the
grass!
Just a
part of the panoramic view looking out from the top of the hill over the Vale
of Aylesbury.
Not to be
outdone by the butterflies a couple of day flying moths were on the wing.
 |
Common Carpet
(epirrhoe
alternata) |
 |
Cinnabar (tyria
jacobaeae)
|
And to
round off two good days of butterflying ....whilst I was relaxing in the garden
on Sunday evening, enjoying a welcome glass of wine, a butterfly settled on one
of the shrubs about six feet away from me, as if it was saying 'don't forget
me'...
 |
| A
well worn Holly Blue (celastrina argiolus) |
And
today?...It's raining yet again!!
