A Wry smile at Denbies

Its about time someone did a butterfly post on here. I went for a walk with my local RSPB group around Denbies Hillside yesterday afternoon, and we were lucky with the weather, which had been rainy for the last two days. In sunny intervals we saw pretty much everything we hoped for, and more!

On the butterfly front, Silver-spotted Skipper was pretty easy, although they aren't half full of energy! The stunning Adonis Blues also showed well, including an egg-laying female. Brown Argus was also seen, with Common Blue, Small White, Large White, Small Heath, Meadow Brown, and Red Admiral completing the list of butterflies.

The plants were excellent too, with the chalk specialists of Common Calamint, Common Gromwell, Burnet-saxifrage, Autumn Gentian, and best of all, a few Autumn Ladies-tresses.

Moths weren't absent, with a couple of Yellow Shell, and Treble-bar seen.

An incredible bonus, was a WRYNECK, which I spotted at the end of the garden next to the car park. One of the rarest birds I have found myself!

Sorry about the quality of the pics. I think I prefer photographing moths!

Autumn Ladies-tresses

Brown Argus

Silver-spotted Skipper

Adonis Blue (with mite)