The main highlight in the last couple of weeks was a short visit to the Wildlife Trust's Ardley Quarry nature reserve just a few miles away from Brackley and just into Oxfordshire.
I I went in the hope of seeing my first Grizzled Skippers of the year and perhaps some Green Hairstreak too.
As it turned out, the Green Hairstreaks really stole the show, proving unusually easy to find. What's more of the 7 or so I saw, all of them were really fresh. A couple of them I think had in fact emerged that very morning.
One in particular was very placid and chilled, quite happy to wander onto my finger. Very cool!
I did also get to see probably around 8 Grizzled Skippers too, so a top visit!
Due to the cold start to the spring, many species such as Dingy & Grizzled Skippers and Green Hairstreak have been quite late coming out. One of my favourite local sights near the village of Croughton, usually holds a few Dingys & Grizzled, however this year they were quite late to emerge here, however thankfully, in the second half of May, I've been able to find quite a few.
There's also been an impressive supporting cast with several Small Heath, Small Coppers, Brown Argus & Common Blues too!
No comments:
Post a Comment