With summer nearly upon us, it's time to revert to a bit of butterfly ticking again. First on the list this year was the Duke, and local butterfly site guru DK kindly staked a site out in Gloucestershire for us. The forecast was touch and go all week, but it the end it turned out to be warm and sunny. Within minutes we were watching a male Duke sitting on a bramble with wings spread. There was a female nearby too plus plenty of Brown Argus and a few Common Blues.
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| Duke of Burgundy |
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| Common Blue |
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| Brown Argus |
Next stop was at Strawberry Banks where this year there had been a bumper crop of Marsh Fritillaries hatched. In fact, there were so many you had to be careful and not tred on them. Also a Green Hairstreak here.
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| Amazing numbers were seen |
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| Strawberry Banks |
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| This one may have seen better days but was still able to fly |
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| Just the one Green Hairstreak present |
