karen's country calendar

Whilst searching on line for butterfly hot spots in Cambridgeshire I stumbled across a Hertfordshire site and suddenly realised that Therfield Heath near Royston was actually only a 25 minutes easy drive from home.  So today being hot and sunny I decided to pop over and see what I could spot.   Therfield Heath is largely used as a golf course so I took a chalky looking path around the edge, I was disappointed when all I saw were a couple of whites but decided I would just enjoy the walk over the heath and the clear views all around. On the way back  I suddenly saw a tiny flutter of blue and watched for a few minutes until it settled but its wings were quickly closed which didn't help much with identification.  As I watched, it spread its rather tatty looking wings and I managed a quick but rather blurry photo before it flew off, However, this was enough to positively identify it as a Chalkhill Blue for which Therfield Heath is apparently a hotspot. Soon after I saw a tiny brow

A few sunny days and an opportunity to go further afield meant I could go butterfly spotting!  Sites visited included Bedford Purlieus Wood , apparently known to be one of the best butterfly habitats in Cambridgeshire, Brampton Wood and Grafham Water and aslso a day out to Lakenheath Fen. Bedford Purlieus, once we found the way in, provided a wide variety of species including the tropical looking Silver Washed Fritillary which is actually orange, and a rare sighting of the dainty White Letter Hairstreak!  Similar species were seen at Brampton Wood but it was the Purple Hairstreak we saw there, fluttering high up in a oak tree! We saw most of the common butterflies again at Grafham Water including a couple of Painted Ladies, my first sighting of the year!  Finally at Lakenheath Fen, there were  large numbers of Red Admirals and Peacocks and a couple of Small Tortoishells which have been lacking in recent weeks according to the Butterfly Conservation website. Unfortunately no sightin