karen's country calendar

Despite the cloudy forecast the skies were blue so I took a spur of the moment decision to pop down to Therfield Heath as not sure when my next opportunity would be.  Marbled whites, dark green fritillaries and a couple of chalkhill blues had been seen there. On arrival my first tick was for a gatekeeper near the entrance which I hadn't seen this year so far.   It wasn't  very long before I saw my first marbled white ever, there were plenty of them flying low across the grasses.    Lots of meadow browns and ringlets and skippers about too but no blues or large oranges visible. Walking back to the car I suddenly saw a small blue butterfly fly a short distance then drop down into the grass and getting closer I found it posing nicely for a photograph - a chalkhill blue! I had given up any hope of finding the dark green fritillaries but one did fly fast across the path in front of me and then disappeared.    T'hen I noticed a couple nearer the path which eventually settle

Having failed to see any White Admirals at Brampton Wood despite reports of sightings this week, I decided as I was in the area and the weather was once again beautifully sunny, to make one more visit. Nothing on the brambles at the entrance to the wood but within 50 yards or so a large black and  white butterfly flew past and landed on the path just ahead!  Wow, what an opportunity, I quickly grabbed my camera but..... SD card locked..... Oh no! how did that happen and how do I unlock it?   After trying a few settings and re-inserting the card, no change.!  I looked up and saw a photographer with a long lens approaching so asked him if he knew what to do.  10 secs later it was sorted -  apparently SD cards have a tiny locking switch on the side to prevent photos being deleted and it is easy to knock it when inserting into computers etc.  Phew! But the butterfly had long disappeared and I wondered up and down the ride scanning for it. Alas no more sightings of the elusive Admiral

A gorgeous sunny morning so I stopped off for a quick visit to Overhall Grove at Knapwell, a small local wood.   This ihas narrow paths with small sunny openings  where brambles abound and I knew white letter hairstreaks had been seen there.  Sure enough on the first large sunny glade the brambles were alive with butterflies and bees, many whites, meadow browns, a few ringlets and commas but looking carefully I soon spotted what I was looking for, then another, then another and soon realised there were lots of white letter hairstreaks, clearly showing  the letter W on their wings. On walking back to the car I suddenly spotted a small brown bird dart out from a branch and back to another higher up.  Looking at its upright position and pale chest, I realised this must be a spotted flycatcher - an unexpected bonus!