A morning in the forest

I haven't been out looking at any nature much recently - not really had the time. When I have been out it's been very local and hasn't really produced very much. One constant theme though has been the impressive number of fresh Painted Ladies about; seeing them in numerous places. This is part of a mass emergence on the back of a large wave of them earlier in the summer.





Also on the butterfly theme, I did go for a walk around Bucknell Wood on the morning of Sunday 04/08.

The main highlights were the valesina Silver-Washed Fritillaries - probably 6 in total. One of these in particular was pretty bloody unusual - an aberration ab.ocellata. (directly below). It was a bit tatty but still very cool to see. Would've been awesome to so have seen it when it was fresh!







It was nice and warm and so there were plenty of butterflies on the wing - an impressive 21 species in total:

1 Purple Hairstreak
2 White Admiral
28 Silver-washed Fritillary
8 Painted Lady
1 Small Copper
2 Essex Skipper
7 Large Skipper
5 Small Skipper
13 Peacock
1 Red Admiral
1 Comma
3 Brown Argus
4 Common Blue
2 Brimstones
2 Large Whites
12 Green-Veined Whites
2 Small White
11 Speckled Wood
46 Gatekeepers
15 Meadow Brown
9 Ringlet