It's been along time since I've seen a Large Blue, In fact it was 17 years ago way back in 2003 at Collard hill in Somerset. I've always wanted to see them again but never got around to doing it. This year I was determined to see them again so today we headed to the Gloucestershire wildlife trusts Daneway Banks Nature reserve. We parked in a layby just before the Daneway Inn then walked to the reserve. We headed to the top slopes at the eastern end of the reserve and it wasn't long before I found my first Large Blue for a long time. 12+ were seen during our visit mostly females laying eggs on wild thyme. While photographing the blues I was lucky to come across a male and female Downland villa bee fly, quite a rarity and a first for me!
 |
| Large Blue |
 |
| Large Blue |
 |
| Large Blue |
 |
| Large Blue |
 |
| Large Blue |
 |
| Large Blue |
 |
| Downland Villa Bee Fly |
 |
| Common Field Grasshopper |
 |
| Marbled White |
 |
| Reserve sign |
Butterflies seen:-
Large Skipper 3
Large Blue 12+
Small Blue 1
Common Blue 2
Small Tortoiseshell 2
Dark Green Fritillary 1
Marbled White 20+
Meadow brown 50+
Small Heath 1
Common spotted and Pyramidal orchids were in flower.
 |
| Reserve sign |
After our walk at Daneway banks we had a quick walk through Siccaridge Wood which was opposite Daneway. The only thing of note here were 3 Greater Butterfly Orchids but looks like it would be a great place to visit in Spring.
No comments:
Post a Comment