Underwing of dark green fritillary A creature appears in the gateway to the stubble field, masked by long grass, long ears erect, it lopes off along the track to Bradleyfield Farm. A hare is a rare sighting here and in that startling first moment we took it for a dog, a small deer. So unexpected it was.
Tuesday was cool, with a breeze. Too cold for larger butterflies. Micro moths flying. I find two common blue, like displaced petals on scabious. So tiny. They have not yet warmed up enough to fly.
Tuesday was cool, with a breeze. Too cold for larger butterflies. Micro moths flying. I find two common blue, like displaced petals on scabious. So tiny. They have not yet warmed up enough to fly.
Next day there is fair-weather cloud and bright sun. Bramble bushes full of flower and fritillaries restless and on the wing. Follow their flight amongst the bramble flowers, into deep shadow, and lose them. How do they contrive this vanishing act? Yesterday, they appeared with the sun and vanished the moment cloud obscured it. Their upper wing is striking, a bold pattern of black on rich amber. Gingery fur on the body of the butterfly. The underwing is pale, with soft asymmetric shapes. They haunt bramble bushes whose thorns could tear their delicate wings if a gust of wind unbalanced them. They haunt the green summer bracken where they can dip deep into shadows. Now you see them, now you don't. A butterfly hunt calls for deep engagement. Be aware of sunlight, of passing cloud, gusts of wind, and search the habitat they favour. As I watched their restless flight a dark green fritillary settled on a bramble flower and was transfixed by sunlight, like a stained-glass window, but transitory.
Today, I see so many restless dark green fritillaries in flight then come upon one that settles on green fronds of bracken, brilliant with open wings, vanishing as it closes them. A sequence of images shows how pattern and cryptic colouring allows the butterfly to conceal itself from predators. How striking the rich colour and pattern of the upperwing, the subtlety and crypsis of the underwing - its vanishing trick.
A few days ago, Bernie saw an adder ' like a coiled sausage' she said. ' and hissing. Like a Cumberland sausage.' I pictured a coil of Cumberland sausage hissing and leaping about in a frying pan, morphing into an adder.. Rumour spread amongst the locals who love Scout Scar, tales of Bernie's adder. I love the way we respond to wildlife sightings. The thrill of an adder comes alive in that hissing coiled sausage. It's a great image.
A few days ago, Bernie saw an adder ' like a coiled sausage' she said. ' and hissing. Like a Cumberland sausage.' I pictured a coil of Cumberland sausage hissing and leaping about in a frying pan, morphing into an adder.. Rumour spread amongst the locals who love Scout Scar, tales of Bernie's adder. I love the way we respond to wildlife sightings. The thrill of an adder comes alive in that hissing coiled sausage. It's a great image.
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