Silver Blues, Y & Light Emerald at Ashdown Forest

A breezy warm day on a Butterfly Conservation walk in Ashdown Forest with BC warden Steve Wheatley gave me plenty of Silver-studded blues to photograph. A couple of large moths were a bonus – a Silver Y and a Light Emerald which was white, an indication of age as they start off green. A walk from the Ashdown Forest car park gave great views and more blues, which feed on the bell heather. There were other heathers in flower also. The area is being returned to heathland by vigorous management.

Michelle Collins, the Andys and a Purple Hairstreak

Roger left for Canterbury yesterday, hope to see him in October. We visited the Theatre Royal, Brighton for a matinee of Deceptions starring Michelle Collins. She was very good, but the theatre was due to the fans. The story and dialogue were not to our taste, so we left at the interval. Maggie, Judy & Audrey visited in the morning. Weather perfect again, cloud cover and a breeze after days of heat and humidity. Saw Andy Murray’s defeat at the hands of Andy Roddick in the Wimbledon semi-final, great match. Finished editing last Sunday’s butterfly shots, this Purple Hairstreak had only emerged that morning.

Ice house and Witches bottles

We took Roger to Petworth House, his first visit to the influential Percy HQ for the southern estates. We arrived in time for an Estate Office tour, which was the story of why Petworth House exists. The National Trust is doing a wonderful job of restoring everything. We visited the kitchens, a larger version of the one in Upstairs Downstairs. The ice house story is fascinating. In the evening Roger joined me at the Historical Search Club meeting where we had a talk about Witches bottles and saw some veterinary artefacts. The cow horn protectors were fascinating, no one knows how the conical shaped thread was made in the 16thC, answers on a postcard please!