Brown Argus & Wood Whites

On Monday 11/05, I popped into Helmdon Old Railway Sidings on the way home from work to look for Grizzled Skipper. The site has a tiny colony but as yet I hadn't managed to find one.

On this occasion I again failed with the Grizzled however, I was pleased to find my first Brown Argus of the year, a male.

The next day I paid the site a further visit in brighter weather, again after work. A far more fruitful visit, with a single roosting Grizzled Skipper.

Brown Argus numbers were up to 3-4 and my first Common Blue of the year too.

Late May sees the emergence of the Wood White butterflies, a real South Northants speciality. Bucknell, Hazelborough & Whistley Woods all hold populations and all are around 10 minutes from where I live in Brackley. I find Bucknell the easiest, seeing them only a short distance away from where I park up.

I made two visits on both Sunday 23/05 & Monday 24/05, both in pretty dreary conditions. Thankfully, on both occasions I was able to find a few, with 2 on Sunday and around 7-8 on Monday. Also of note on the Monday was a brief Painted Lady that landed on a leaf for about a second before zooming off up the ride and into the distance!