I saw loads of butterflies in the sun

The Rowley Fields are mown and with the scent of fresh cut grass we can turn attention to the margins of the fields where the butterflies and bees are now concentrated. And so I did earlier this afternoon. What a treat. Marbled Whites, Small Skippers, Meadow Browns, Ringlets, a Small Tortoiseshell and my first Red Admiral of the year. All pictures below taken today. A heatwave is promised this week so expect there to be more butterflies about.

Restharrow and a Red Kite

I'd been looking out for the Common Restharrow for some time but to my disappointment it hasn't appeared in the usual places. Then today walking up the slope beside the Welcombe Hotel towards the Monument I saw this patch. It's called Restharrow because its strong stems and roots would snag the harrow. That would be in pre-mechanised days of course.

Then we went on to the Monument Field. We're used to the Buzzards so tend to take little notice of them but this large bird of prey that soared up in front of us and wheeled away looked very different. The forked tail was a give-away - Red Kite. I fumbled for my camera - wrong lens was in of course -and managed to take a few clumsy snaps. This was the best of a sorry lot but you can just make out the shape if you enlarge it.

The Red Kite is a common sight around the M4 and the M40 as far as High Wycombe. It's not common this far north.

I saw my first Marbled White butterflies in Rowley Fields today

Much as I love the showy Peacock butterfly and the ornate Small Tortoiseshell, the simply coloured Marbled White is my favourite.  It's another of those butterflies that drops its eggs in the grass and leaves them to fate. Well it seems to work. You can see these butterflies in the margins of Rowley Fields and in the back field that goes down to the Warwick Rd. You will almost certainly see them in twos and threes.

Small Tortoiseshell…again

One of the reasons why I write this blog is to show how the common and ordinary things you can see in Rowley Fields and the Welcombe Hills can give pleasure. Plants you wouldn't want in your lawn (and probably spend a lot of time trying to get rid of) like the Black Medick or Clover can be very pleasing in places where they seem to belong.
The Meadow Brown butterfly isn't all that pretty but they do have their own beauty and when they are very much a part of the experience of walking through Rowley Fields at this time of year when they suddenly appear from out of the long grass, flutter away and disappear again.
Then, now and again something like the Small Tortoiseshell butterfly comes your way. So, no apology for posting another picture.  This one was in Rowley Fields this morning sunning itself on brambles. 

I saw this Ringlet butterfly up the Welcombe Hills

The Ringlet is another butterfly that drops her eggs in the grass just like the Meadow Browns I saw the other day.
This was my first sighting of the Ringlet this year. 

I saw this Small Tortoiseshell butterfly in Rowley Fields

The Small Tortoiseshell has to be one of the most striking butterflies around. I was fortunate to see this one feeding on bramble flowers this afternoon in the baking sunshine.  

I saw the Meadow Brown butterflies in Rowley Fields

The Meadow Brown is thought to be our most common butterfly. Compared to the Small Skipper that I wrote about the other day, the Meadow Brown is a careless parent scattering her eggs freely amongst the meadow grass. Now, when the grass is high the Meadow Browns emerge fluttering in front of you as you disturb the grass.

 Some consider the Meadow Brown dowdy and plain but it has a beautiful underside with the distinctive black spot with the white dot in the middle. 

According to my Vere Temple butterfly book, the male has a remarkable feature to attract females:
'He bears on his wings a tuft of hairs connecting with scent-bearing scales that emit their perfume when the hairs are raised and opened fanwise, and uses this scent as an enticement to his bride'.