Woodwalton Marsh and Monks Wood

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One advantage of lockdown is that I currently have no afternoon or evening commitments so my field trips are not restricted to the morning or a time to be home in the afternoon.

Another warm sunny day tempted me to look for some more meadow butterflies and I had read that there was a small reserve at Woodwalton just north of Huntingdon.  I parked in a layby opposite the reserve which merely comprises a 2 acre strip of grassland sandwiched between a road and a railway line.

On entering I saw that the reserve was a mass of wildflowers with a few narrow paths that had been made amongst the grasses. I wasnt long before I saw a common blue and small heath and then I noticed a pair of Brimstone flying very close to each other before settling a number of times providing  an ideal photoshoot which is not always easy with Brimstones.  I also saw a tiny brown butterfly which when it landed,  I could identify as a Brown Argus.  I had heard there were skippers here but I didnt see any despite walking round the whole perimeter of the meadow.

On leaving the site I decided to stop and visit Monks Wood which was a few minutes away. Walking towards the gate I spoke to a gentleman with binoculars who said he had been looking for black hairstreak but hadnt seen any.  I asked if he had seen any green hairstreak there but he told me I might find one at Woodwalton Marsh which of course was where I had just come from.

I only had a quick walk at Monks Wood just long enough to see a few speckled wood butterflies but I think this would be worth a longer visit in a months time.  I decided to pop back to my previous site just on the off chance of finding a green hairstreak but the hawthorn trees were quite tall and all in the shade so I guess it would be better to search in a morning .

 Woodwalton Marsh

 Common blue


Small Heath

 Pair of Brimstones


 brown argus
 brown argus


 speckled wood




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