Summer Butterflies

This is the first of several posts that will look back at the butterflies that John and I have seen over the summer.


On 14th August we made a day trip to Fontmell Down Nature Reserve in Dorset to look for the Silver-spotted Skipper.

This butterfly is still quite rare in Britain with its habitat restricted to chalk downland. We spent several hours at the site and saw about a dozen of these beautiful skippers. They were very flighty and quite difficult to photograph with the best opportunities being when they were feeding on their favourite flowers, Dwarf Thistles.

The hillside was covered in flowers including Autumn Gentian (left) and Autumn Lady's Tresses (right).

                                   

John also took some video of the Silver-spotted Skipper and his film can be seen on his You Tube channel. (Double click the image to enlarge.)

    

An evening walk by the Truro River

Another evening trip, this time to see the Lesser Yellowlegs on the Truro River at St Clement. We saw the Yellowlegs feeding with Redshank and Greenshank on the waters edge but unfortunately it was too distant for a picture. As we walked back we were treated to some lovely views across the river as the sun came out and lit up the trees on the opposite bank. I only had my telephoto lens with me so I took this picture with the camera on my phone using the Panorama setting!

Golden Plover on Davidstow Airfield

On 19th September John and I made an evening trip to Davidstow Airfield to look for the White-rumped Sandpiper. We had very brief views of the sandpiper but this Golden Plover was more obliging!

Semipalmated Sandpiper at Drift Reservoir

On 13th September this Semipalmated Sandpiper was found at Drift Reservoir. This sandpiper has half webbed toes giving the bird its unusual name.

These photographs were taken in the evening as the sun was beginning to set.