The hottest day of the summer, and the fierce sunlight was reflected by the white chalk in the dusty lane. A field of poppies blazed in the heat.But, being England, it was all quite gentle, and the next day, it rained.
Downland butterflies seem quite scarce, while the grasslands are full of Marbled Whites, Meadow Browns, Ringlets and Skippers.
This table (compiled with the help of the UK Butterflies site) shows that the first generation of blues have mostly gone, with the later generation not flying for a couple of weeks or so. Only the uncommon Silver-Studded Blue is at its peak in early July.
The blues have mostly been replaced by the Browns and Nymphalids,
and only a very few ragged individuals are taking advantage of the hot days.
New spikes of Carline Thistles suddenly appear, joining the nearby remnants of last year's growth
and the birds forage for food or sit on their nests.
4 comments:
The first photo with the pastoral field of Poppies is very beautiful! We have a lot of Skippers too, as well as Ringlets, and Fritillaries are emerging now too. Your skipper photo looks a bit like the European Skipper which we have here. I shall have to catch up a bit on my postings and do a skipper post some day next week.
Love the poppy field! The weather looks pretty ideal. You really make a study of the butterflies and keep such good records! That last one looked really ragged. Is that the little owl out of the stump?
Really liked the landscapes with the Poppies and the Centaury . To
say the Blue was 'ragged' was a bit of an understatment! I'm sure those Little Owls are pets , and you place them on the tree stump for photo calls . Enjoyed the read as usual .
I think the Linnet shot gets my vote, superb little birds.
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