Wednesday 31st. July 2013

With jobs to do and the weather , didn't get out yesterday , but did find a moth in the carport . A bit of

digging and I came up with the Dot Moth , feel reasonably confident on this one . But not quite , as Spock has identified the moth as the Cabbage Moth , a close relative . Many thanks Spock .
This morning it was drizzling , so took Carol to do the heavy monthly shop and finished off some jobs . After lunch the skies cleared a bit and I was out the doors and up to High Elms . I parked at the Golf Club car park , and as I passed the Pro Shop I spotted a Hornet on the path . Fortunately no one

came past whilst I was on my hands and knees getting some shots . I'm not sure if it was injured or just blown to the ground by the very gusty wind . It kept on the move which didn't help

photography .and when I had finished , it accepted a stick which enabled me to position it well away from the path . Then I was able to head for the bottom glade , whilst the sun was still out . On arrival , it was good to see more of the Canadian Golden Rod and Hemp Agrimony in flower , and good numbers of butterflies nectaring on them both and the other species in flower . I headed straight to the stand of CGR that I found the White-letter Hairstreak on at the weekend , and was very pleased to

find two this time . Once again the gusting wind made things difficult . I was even more pleased

when a very pristine female , identified by the larger size and longer tails , dropped into the same

stand , which made a 300% increase in numbers since the weekend . The three of them necctared , not bothered by my presence at all , until another strong gust , and they headed back up into the

trees . Good to see good numbers of female Meadow Brown , along with several SWFs , including two courting pairs , when the female flies in a straight line and the male flies in a corkscrew pattern

around her , whilst keeping up with her pace . Several Large ( female pictured ) , Small and Green-veined Whites were also recorded . Other newly emerged species included Brimstone , Comma and

Peacock ( pictured ) . I then decided to check the Orchid Bank , to see if the WLHs had emerged there , but on the way met up with a group of Rangers and volunteers on a wildlife walk . As soon as I mentioned WLH , everyone wanted to see them , so it was back down to the bottom glade , where they all got good views of the species , a first for many of them . By the time I got back to the Orchid Bank , the sun had gone and it had cooled somewhat , and no WLHs were found , hopefully they should emerge there by the weekend . Back home later on , a female Holly Blue was seen in the garden , but just as I got there , another gust of wind took her off , not to be seen again .