For my friend Sid, because she likes butterflies…
Before today, I didn’t know the collective name for butterflies, but having just used Mr Google, I found that it’s a kaleidoscope. How very apt.
I‘m not quite sure when the change happened, but while I was visiting different reserves looking for birds, I was thinking about the butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies that would soon put in an appearance. So I joined a group on Facebook and suddenly there were sightings all over the place. Now I’m going to a lot of new reserves in an effort to photograph insects. Summer is here at last.
Apart from the long trek to Hampshire to see the Duke of Burgundy, perhaps the most notable has been another long drive to Herne Bay on the south coast of the Thames estuary to look for the rare heath fritillary. Or rather, two trips in two days because they weren’t showing very well the first time. I didn’t miss out too much because a lovely gentleman in the car park told me about a pair of great spotted woodpeckers feeding their young in an old oak tree. I thanked him before heading off into the woods that comprised 50% oak trees… although I did eventually find the one he was referring to, being the only noisy tree for some distance!
There was another benefit too, in the shape of a lady from my photography forum. I must say at this point that most of the members are from up north. All I knew about “Polly” previously had been that she was also retired and lived near Ashford. That was the last thing on my mind as I returned to my car to have a drink. While sitting in the car with both doors open to keep cool, I saw a car turn off the lane and park up behind me. I watched a lady get out and smiled to myself as she scanned the perimeter. It had been mentioned on the Facebook group that the butterflies were on the edges of the car park, so I knew she had seen the same post. I called out to her that I hadn’t seen the fritillaries yet and we got talking. Eventually, we discovered that we were not only members of the same butterfly group, but that we had used the same small forum for years. We hugged before heading off into the woods to look for butterflies. Polly found them first, but the sun had gone in by then and they didn’t hang around for long.
Eventually my friend had to leave and I also made the long drive home. Checking the weather forecast that evening, it looked a lot better and so I returned the next day where I found not only heath fritillaries, but also a brimstone and holly blue.
The image featured at the top is a very rare black hairstreak, also reported in the group. A small colony had been discovered in my county and so I headed off once again just a few days ago. Now I see there are some different fritillaries not far from home and I will be checking out the forecast later this evening…
sidilbradipo1
19 Jun 2018Thank you 💕
I do adore butterflies, and your photos are breathtaking 😊
Those little beauties are whimsical, seeking for them you’ve found a new friend 😀😋
Happy Tuesday!
Sid
Zooey
19 Jun 2018Happy Tuesday to you too! My husband is working from home today, so I’m off in a short while to look for more butterflies in another new place. It should be fun 🙂
sidilbradipo1
19 Jun 2018Wish you a wonderful adventure and lots of photos 😀
Happy Butterflies 💕
Sid
Zooey
21 Jun 2018I had a lovely time, thank you. Lots of butterflies I have never seen before and many other wonderful insects. Nature is amazing! 🙂
sidilbradipo1
21 Jun 2018That was a super-fantastic adventure 😀
Lots of butterflies and insects… WOW 😍
Curious to see your photos!
Have a joyful Friday 💕
Sid
Zooey
22 Jun 2018Happy Friday to you too! I will do a blog post about bugs when I can find the time. I still have loads of images to process, but the weather is lovely today… so I’m off out again! 😀
sidilbradipo1
22 Jun 2018😀 <3