Tuesday 3 April 2012

Orange-tips galore

Orange-tip, Anthocharis cardamines male roosting
Tuesday was a very good day for Orange-tips and slow-worms. First I visited Rewell Wood and found 3 slow-worms. Then i returned to the Angmering Estate Woods at Dove Lane to search for more Orange-tips. I found a few, and Mark joined me later and more appeared. After Mark left I followed two males that were twirling together. At 2:47pm they turned at a corner of the end of the ride and immediately headed down to a small hazel and roosted on the same leaf cluster. I moved one to an adjacent leaf  to get some photos and  the story continued on Wednesday morning. It's interesting to speculate what the trigger was for them both to 'decide' to roost at that time. A temperature drop must have been a factor perhaps combined with increased wind.
juvenile Slow-worm, Anguis fragilis
Slow-worm, Anguis fragilis
Slow-worm, Anguis fragilis
Slow-worm, Anguis fragilis
Slow-worm, Anguis fragilis
Slow-worm, Anguis fragilis
Angmering Estate Woods:
Common Dog-violet or Wood violet, Viola riviniana
a popular glade for Orange-tips at the end of a ride.
This glade had Wood anemones, Wood violets, Celandines, Bluebells, Ground ivy.
The pine wood has a sterile floor - nothing much grows here
.
The deciduous woodland on the right has a rich under carpet of plants.
Orange-tip, Anthocharis cardamines male
Orange-tip, Anthocharis cardamines male
Orange-tip, Anthocharis cardamines male
Orange-tip, Anthocharis cardamines male
Orange-tip, Anthocharis cardamines male on Wood violet
Orange-tip, Anthocharis cardamines male on Ground ivy
Orange-tip, Anthocharis cardamines male
Orange-tip, Anthocharis cardamines male
Orange-tip, Anthocharis cardamines male on Wood anenome 
Orange-tip, Anthocharis cardamines male on Bluebell
Orange-tip, Anthocharis cardamines male
Two Orange-tips, Anthocharis cardamines males roosting on hazel
Orange-tip, Anthocharis cardamines male 
Primrose, Primula vulgaris
Wood Anemone, Anemone nemorosa
Wood Anemone, Anemone nemorosa
Wood Anemone, Anemone nemorosa

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