Sunday 25 July 2010

South Harting butterflies


On Saturday I joined a very enjoyable walk led by Michael and Clare at South Harting . Tom found some Essex Skippers for us among the Small Skippers and also a tall Wych Elm with resident White-letter Hairstreaks. We spent 30 minutes watching the tree top waiting for the next sun burst between clouds. Every time the sun shone through the little fellas would fly up and a spiralling pair would argue about territory.
male Silver-washed Fritillary with Brown Argus
 female Silver-washed Fritillary
A pair of Silver-washed Fritillaries spiralled in a courtship dance. While they were resting I took a photo of the male and only noticed later that a Brown Argus had appeared in flight beside it. 
A hover fly also pestered a resting Common Blue. A couple of dozen species were recorded during the day:
Ringlet
 Large White
Gatekeeper
Red Admiral
Small Skipper
Large Skipper
Comma



Deadly Nightshade
View of the Isle of Wight

This morning we had a club dig near Findon. Good weather with slight shower in the morning. 
A stubble field produced nothing, and a pasture field provided a very worn  1890 Victoria halfpenny and a 1919 Penny in excellent condition. 
There were Cinnabar moth larvae on the Ragworts.

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