A Jolly to West Sussex

Mrs PB and myself had a few days annual vacation to use, so we popped along the coast a bit to Worthing, and had a bit of a mooch about, including to Petworth House and Wakehurst Place. The weather, unfortunately, was scorchingly hot, so we didn't fully enjoy the visits, nor did we fully explore either location.

In a decorative pond (it was quite a big pond, to be fair), Mallardling

And in the same pond, several Blue Tailed Damsels were flitting about. Some actually landed briefly!!

We meandered through gardens, this Peacock Butterfly could nearly be othered to fully open its wings, but not quite!

In another water feature were some large fish....

And talking of large..... Young Moorhens feet!!!!

"If you keep laughing at my feet I'll stay hiding in these flowers"

And legs.... they have Go Go Gadget Legs!!

Having said a couple of days ago that I'd not seen a comma this year...Ta-Daaaah....a right Raggedy one!

A few Gatekeepers were flitting about

And a lot of these..... I think Small Skipper, but this one seems a bit "stumpy"

A striking looking Pheasant was strutting his stuff

And a juvenile Song Thrush kept skipping along the path in front of us, keeping to the shadowed bits of pathway....wise despite its tender years!

On one of the lakes a few young mallards were playing chase with one another... this one was breathing in for the camera!

At the furthest end of the lake a family (I guess) of Geese swam serenely together

Above the water a Brown Hawker darted, patrolling... a couple of pics, just about good enough for ID purposes hopefully!

Alongside the lake a Red Admiral had delusions of being a bat

A pair of male Beautiful Demoiselle sunned themselves briefly at the waters edge

Out of nowhere, one of my favourite prehistoric looking creatures sailed into sight.... Cormorant, with a beady eye on the world around it!

I saw a 2nd Comma, less raggedy than the 1st

And I can't decide if this is a Small or Large Red Damsel, we were potentially in the right sort of area for Small, but they are much rarer than large

I had been tormented throughout the walk by tantalising sightings of a large, strong flying, bright orange butterfly, much like the Dark Green Fritillary I saw last week, and eventually one landed, almost within camera shot....with a little contorting (leaning sideways over a mass of brambles, one up in the air for balance) I managed to get it into shot....

What number was it Cin said the forewing markings looked like... 1663?

Does it look like that?

Sort of similar, if you squint....but I'm not convinced..... oh... go on....close your wings a mo.....

Thumbing through my book..... Silver Wash Fritillary? (If so my 1st Smiley)

As we looped back up to the car park in another pond... Azure Damselfly

We did stop for a bite to eat, and a banshee of swifts whistled through the courtyard at breakneck speed on a number of occasions. Of course, I backed my reactions to catch a few in flight, and equally of course I was massively mistaken lol I think I got a wing and a tale over all Smiley

So a lovely mini break that was too hot to fully enjoy, but nevertheless, well worth a visit.

Stay Safe All

Parents Reply Children
No Data