The tree fellas at Dallam

Three young bucks in Dallam Park, Milnthorpe

The little fella and the bigger fella have been having their annual Summer visit to Arnside this week. The bigger fella will soon be bigger than the biggest fella; the biggest fella is no longer distinguishable by also being the photographer fella, because all tree fellas are now taking photographs, and all are signed up blippers. The little fella posted his first blip and a backblip today. While the bigger fella has resumed his blipping career after a two year hiatus.

I am taking two days off to help Wifie in distraction activities. I was up early to take Gus for his morning walk, but alas, the poor lad was not too well and has been nursing an upset stomach all day. So he did not join the tree fellas on their two expeditions.

The first expedition was to the Knott on a butterfly foray. The bigger fella does like his lepidoptera, and there are butterflies to be seen here that the fellas don't see in Yorkshire. It didn't take us long to find our first Scotch Argus (the first I have seen this year), and once we had seen one, we saw them by the dozen, restlessly flying low over the limestone grassland. As the bigger fella said, if it wasn't for the ticks, it could be paradise. The bigger fella's journal provides a listing of the 10 species seen. It was just a bit too warm to be able to pin many down for respectable photos, the most elusive of all being the big fritillaries, amongst which there must surely have been some High Browns.

We came home and managed to miss the opening of the heavens, and when the sky had cleared again, we set off for Dallam Park. This is the place I used to go to two or three times a week last year, but amazingly, this was only my second visit of 2013. The mission here was to see and photograph fallow deer, the little fella is a great deer enthusiast, and it was his turn to be in paradise (and this time without the ticks) (see link). What's more the fallow were the second deer species of the day. On Arnside Knott we had a close encounter with a roe deer clattering down the hill across our path, having been spooked by a lepidoterist with a butterfly net.

So a successful day of missions accomplished, and a bit of a rest for Wifie too.