vanessids in numbers at last!

...it is going to take a few days to get over the sadness of yesterday's Nightjar chicks but a busy day certainly helped to distract us from thinking about them. Spare time has been in short supply as we have also been preparing for the arrival of guests tomorrow but I managed to get out to Ballard Down this evening to have another attempt at photographing some Holly Blues.

The weather was gorgeous - hot, even - and I was delighted to see just how many butterflies and how many different species were present. What excited me most, though, was the number of Red Admirals, Commas and, for the first time since spring, Small Tortoiseshells and Peacocks. There were several Holly Blues, too, but they are still flying too high to photograph.

I decided to focus my efforts on the Peacocks Inarchis io that were feeding on the Hemp Agrimony, most of which was growing in patches amongst the gorse. It was difficult to get close enough for any really impressive images but I succeeded in getting a few that have enough colour to make up for any lack of detail.

On my way back down, I saw a Brown Argus and an Adonis Blue. They both disappeared too quickly to relocate so I plan to get up at the crack of dawn tomorrow to go on an Adonis safari...