The plan was to visit a few sites along the 'butterfly super highway' that is the A419 between Cirencester & Stroud. The weather looked mixed, however patches of sun were predicted so I set off pretty hopeful of a good day.
First up was Cirencester Park Woods, a beautiful natural-looking wood, full of life. Here I hoped to find what is now a rare thing for me, a butterfly lifer...the Pearl-Bordered Fritillary.
Having heard an unexpected singing Firecrest, I wandered towards the specific area where the fritillaries were to be found. I initially began scouring slightly the wrong place, however soon found the habitat I was looking for. With the sun popping in and out of cloud, conditions were pretty good. Having walked around for a little while, I had no luck until BOOM, a bright orange butterfly flew up from in front of me before landing again in the grass..Pearl Bordered Fritillary!
It soon zipped off, however over the next half hour or so, I managed to find several, including a couple of cracking looking fresh specimens and a seriously tatty one, with a monstrous chunk missing from it's wing!
Having enjoyed them for some time and feeling suitably chuffed, I decided to leave with plenty of things still to see.
Strawberry Banks was next, to see one of, if not my favourite butterfly, the Marsh Fritillary. There's just something really exciting and special about going to Strawberry Banks to see them and it's now a firm fixture in late May for me.
Having wound my way along the tiny, narrow lanes towards the site, I arrived in pretty gloomy skies. Thankfully, despite the increasingly dark conditions, I did manage to find a few showy Marsh Frits basking for any ounce of warmth.
There were several Lesser Butterfly Orchids towards the top of the bank. While not completely out, they were beginning to look smart.
The typically unreliable BBC weather app had forecast just cloud for much of the afternoon, however the heavens then well and truly opened with heavy rain setting in for sometime. I lingered for a bit, but soon decided to try somewhere new with the place now seriously wet and far from butterfly-friendly! It was a shame, but I was glad to catch some Marshies at least.
So on I went to my last site, Rodborough Common on the edge of Stroud. I love Rodborough, with massive areas of flower-rich common and a great variety of unusual butterflies too. Thankfully, on arrival the sun was attempting to break through and so I headed straight for the south slopes, a particularly good area.
It wasn't long before I found the first of my targets with not one, but two Duke of Burgundy basking on a couple of small oak saplings at the base of the slope, almost in exactly the same spot I had one last year!
Close by, sat in front of me was a basking Small Blue, a butterfly I was hoping to see and very glad I did as it's been a couple of years since I saw one well. There were, in fact several in this general area and a bit higher up the bank too.
While photographing a Small Blue my eye was distracted by a remarkably bright blue butterfly zooming past me. There was only one thing that could be...Adonis Blue,. It eventually landed for a rest and after a little bit of a wait, spread it's wings to reveal that amazing colour. It was really 'fresh out of the box' too; a real looker!
Before I left for home, there were still a couple more surprises in store! I had one more look for Dukes and was surprised to find a mating pair sat up on one of the small saplings at the base of the bank...what a treat!
The final surprise was in fact an orchid. While having one last look along the bank, I came across a beautiful looking thing with a number of white flowers which I immediately presumed to be some kind of helleborine. I called a couple over who were also looking for butterflies. We were all stumped as to what it was. Then out of nowhere another couple appeared. As if by magic, this guy did know his orchids and started to get mega excited! He swiftly ID'd it as a Sword-Leaved (or Narrow-Leaved) Helleborine, a really rare species in Gloucestershire. He was ecstatic as it was his first ever one and a plant he'd be wanting to see for years! He was a lovely guy and it was dead cool to make his day like that.
It transpires that a small handful of Sword-Leaved Helleborines are known about on Rodborough Common so I hadn't found a first for the site or anything, but it was still an awesome thing to come across all the same and certainly didn't take the gloss of seeing it in any shape or form.
Well, my first visit to Rodborough last year was good, but wow this year really was brilliant! So despite the weather it proved to be the perfect day really, seeing everything I'd hoped to see and more! More than making up for the soaking feet I'd now got from walking through wet grassland all day!!
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