Thursday, July 11, 2013

From Mike Gibbons


An early start at Straits Inclosure was rewarded with many colourful woodland butterflies and a craftily Iris baiting Neil Hulme who flatly refused to pass on his special recipe to bring them down! As he rode off up the track on his foldable bike,  I thought my daughter Stephanie and myself would be lucky and witness a grounded male, she did find 2 grounded Purple Hairstreaks which had just emerged, otherwise it was Silver Washed Fritillaries a plenty and a good showing of White Admirals to keep us happy until lunch at the nearby pub. Around 15.00 we returned to Goose Green where we immediately saw our first male Emperor circling high up in the canopy and landing in a favoured oak leaf. Then it was joined in the airspace by another male where battle duly took place. Then a third ventured in but soon ventured out again as the three put on a breathtaking display over our heads. The day turned up trumps, hopefully more chances will present themselves in this incredibly late season.

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