Saturday 21 July 2018

Headley Heath Fieldtrip.

Early on Thursday morning I spent a couple of hours wandering across the chalk heath and downland at Headley in the hope of adding a few species to my photo album for this season before joining an pre-planned Butterfly Conservation fieldtrip around this National Trust site.

Not unsurprisingly the most numerous species were the Gatekeeper (above) and Brown Argus (below) frantically nectaring everywhere I trod.



Not initially finding any of my target species I decided to sit awhile at a convenient spot and just soak up the atmosphere and monitor the comings and goings and nearby I spotted a couple of moths.

A Silver-Y and a Common Purple and Gold (Mint Moth).

As the temperature started to rise there was a marked increase in aerial activity and whilst I had seen Dark Green Fritillary at another site earlier this month I had not previously managed to grab any images so finding a female briefly perched was a bonus. I also saw two others, probably males, flying strongly across the hillside.


A few minutes later I located the species I was hoping to find, the rare Silver-spotted Skipper (Hesperia comma).

At around midday I was joined by the large group of BC members on this section of open hillside where a few more Silver-spotted were seen.

A male Chalkhill Blue (Lysandra coridon) was another first for me for 2018.

Above are just a few of the other species logged during our walk, including Silver-washed Fritillary, Marbled White, Speckled Wood, Common Blue and Brimstone.

The final new sighting was a very drowsy female Purple Emperor (below) who eventually fluttered high into the nearby woodland


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9 comments:

  1. I am jealous looking at all of your photos, Frank. Perhaps today, I'll go for a stroll myself!...:)JP

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  2. Hello, looks like a great fieldtrip. Beautiful collection of butterflies and photos. Thank you so much for linking up and sharing your post. Happy Saturday, enjoy your weekend!

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  3. Great post Frank,a nice number of Butterfly,all which would be wonderful to see,you did very well.
    Wonderful images,also a bonus.
    John.

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  4. Wonderful moths and butterflies! Headley heath looks like a wonderful place to hike!

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  5. Wonderful photos, amazing blogue.
    Many Greetings
    Maria
    Divagar Sobre Tudo um Pouco

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  6. Lovely photos, I've found it's a good year so far for Butterflies!

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  7. Thank you for including some moths as they are so often over looked...Michelle

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I hope you enjoyed your visit and I always appreciate your comments and feedback.

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