Hardwick Wood was looking great yesterday in the strong dappled sunlight and well worth the long hot walk to get there. Butterflies everywhere with this Green-veined White taking centre stage for a time flitting among the bramble flowers but I soon found my target species, the Silver-washed Fritillary, in a sunlit glade along with Large Skipper, Comma, Speckled Wood, Marbled Whites and impressive Pied Hoverfly and Hornet Hoverfly.
As I had seen one or two elsewhere, I thought perhaps the Marbled Whites had forsaken Toft Wood Meadow but today there were more than a dozen newly hatched males flying around and nectaring. First recorded in the wood as a newcomer to the area on July 11th 2012, they spread through England as the climate has gone warmer and appear earlier each year. Also lots of Skippers now and other moths and butterflies plus the usual quota of plant bugs and flies (ID sheet included).
After several warm sunny days, we had high expectations of lots of butterflies, including the Purple Emperor , on our visit to Fermyn Woods on Sunday. In contrast, it was cool, breezy with occasional drizzle so not ideal for butterflies! Ken managed to photograph an Emperor on the ground near the entrance but the rest of us contented ourselves with good views of a Purple Hairstreak (first image focus-stacked), lots of Large Skippers, Ringlets and Plant Bugs and Spiders (Nursery Spider guarding young in the web tent). A couple of Buzzards gave a great display under grey skies.
