Butterfly bonanza

An early trip to Castor Hanglands, in the hope of catching up with a Purple Emperor. Again I saw one flying high above the oak trees, but they weren't coming down. But this didn't matter a bit as there was so much else to interest me.

I bumped into an old colleague and we had quite a long chat before he suggested I went down a side-ride to see the Small Teasel he'd recently found. Although this was interesting, the ride also had massive banks of flowering bramble which were heaving with butterflies - so many Silver-washed Fritillaries along with White Admiral, freshly emerged Peacock and all the usual woodland species. 

The Silver-washed Fritillaries were performing their courtship ritual - an aerobatic spectacular where the female flies in a straight line while the male loops the loop around her, before showering her in a confetti of scent scales.This happened repeated times and was even more stunning to watch than I'd anticipated. I briefly thought about trying to get a photograph, but they fly so fast that I felt it was doomed to failure, so I just stood and watched in wonder.

On the way back to the car I spotted this freshly emerged second-generation Brimstone, nectaring on marsh thistle. I loved the effect of the light coming through the wings and picking-out the venation. As I looked through the lens I was struck by the intensity of colour - the overlapping parts of the wing appearing an almost fluorescent greenish-yellow.

I was back home just after 10 and haven't really done much for the rest of the day. The heat seemed stifling, and I'm really beginning to feel quite fed up with it. Fortunately it looks as though there might be a brief respite next week, though still no immediate forecast for rain.