Sorry, everyone, it's Cin's fault... her trip to Alner's Gorse inspired me to tootle there this morning!! Some yearly firsts, plus a first ever plus (as always) a couple of warbler ID's required!!
Hot, mostly sunny, and still... so I rocked up just after 8, greeted by a white that looks veiny...so Green Veined White (probably!)
The most numerous by a long chalk today were Meadow Browns
First first of the year, Small Tortoiseshell
The first of the dragon-y damsel-y things... an Azure Damselfly
Meadow Brown, showing the first of the variations
Common Blue Damselfly
Speckled Wood, surprisingly the only one I saw
A mini quiz now, for another first of the year
A horrible angle, and a horrible distance, but I think a Beautiful Demoiselle
I can't work out the next one, possibly a Blue Tailed, or a Scarce Blue Tailed Damselfly...but I'm not happy or confident with either choice
Back to the quiz...anyone guess it from the first pic? Pic 2...
Pic 3!!
Ok... enough guesses.... horrible exposure setting on a White Letter Hairstreak, stubbornly high up the tree
Broad Bodied Chaser
You have to look where you're walking.... spot the Meadow Brown
First ever for me... White Admiral
First of the year... kindly pointed out by three chaps.... Purple Hairstreak
It take a special talent to get neither of 2 subjects in focus...Plume Moths
I've rarely seen blue butterflies at Alner's Gorse... Common Blue I think
Common Darter
White Admiral
Another yearly first Large (I think) Skipper... even though it's tiddly... with an unfeasibly long tongue!
Another annual first.... Silver Washed Fritillary, playing peek-a-boo
As it's my first ever... a bit of White Admiral love!
Managed (just about) to capture the spectacular underwing
A Small (I think) White
Back to the magnificent Silver-washed Frits
Another Large Skipper
Warbler... beak seems very long?
Something else, in silhouette?
Chiffchaff? Acting like I imagine a flycatcher does, popping out from a perch, twizzling about, then returning to the perch
On the way back to the car, I stopped at the "white hairstreak tree" and joined three or four others getting a stiff neck from looking up, and grumbling that they're "annoying little beggars that won't come down" lol
Final shot before the car, tattered Large Skipper
And final shot of the day, the Fallow Deer herd was in the shade fairly close to the lay-by opposite, so I pulled over and snapped through the open passenger window
Hope you enjoyed my couple of hours in the sun, and as I said.... it's all Cin's fault!!!
Thanks for any ID's/ corrections
Stay Safe All
Cin J
(Pardon the Scottish Accent)
It's a fab area Linda, with many different habitats... only trouble is learning all the different types