Grizzled skipper

A long, day in the field, which started out grey and chilly and then got far too hot. And I've got to do the same tomorrow and Friday... All went well until the end of the afternoon, when two police cars turned up and surrounded my parked car. I went over to see what was going on, and was greeted by a rather officious member of the British Transport Police who insisted on going through a prolonged process of checking the car's details and my identity on the national data-base. I felt like a criminal despite the fact that I was working for the site's owners! And have done the same work for five years without any problems!! The other policeman were charming though, and defused what could have been an unpleasant situation. Apparently there was a lack of communication in the system, which has hopefully been remedied. I suppose I'll find out tomorrow!

Still, overall the day was successful , with lots of uncommon plants recorded, including a new species for the site, rue-leaved saxifrage. And there were even butterflies around, including several grizzled skippers - flighty little creatures that skip from flower to flower and are remarkably difficult to photograph. This species is a characteristic spring butterfly of southern chalk downland and other sparsely vegetated habitats and can then be identified by the black and white checkerboard pattern on its wings. The butterfly occurs across southern England, commonly in small colonies, and has declined in several regions, especially away from the chalk. The caterpillars eat a variety of plants from the Rose family, including creeping cinquefoil, which is abundant at our site.

Track number 5 of my Desert Island Discs is Perfect Day by Lou Reed. I've always enjoyed the complex harmonies of this song, which combine so well with the apparently simple lyrics, that contain a message that I've tried to follow in my life. However, I especially associate this song with May 2000 when a BBC Music Live event was held in Peterborough city centre, and culminated with the audience singing Perfect Day. I was home educating the boys at the time, and it was one of the first occasions when I managed to get them all to learn a song, though I'm not sure they joined in on the night, having got distracted by friends. Nevertheless it was a great live experience, with some excellent local bands - and gave them a taste for attending local and national music festivals.