Return to Cumbria.

 When Lisa and I headed north for our break of over 3 weeks to Scotland at the end of May we had several butterfly targets. Those that do not live in the south, and are only found either in Scotland or the Lake District. Our main targets were achieved on this trip, giving Lisa 4 brand new species, but we also had hoped for a sighting of the High Brown Fritillary on our return south, but not surprisingly we were slightly too early, especially with this being a late year following the cool damp spring.

We already had the possibility of heading north again for the Scotch Argus, which is a species that is only seen from very late July, and one that I had only seen once before, several years ago, and had been keen to see again. This is as the name suggests, mainly a Scottish species, but there are 2 colonies in Cumbria, at Smardale and Arnside Knott. Arnside Knott was the site where I had seen them before, on a great trip several years ago with Nigel. Arnside was also the site where I had seen the High Brown Fritillary before, as well as at Holme-stinted Pastures, which is close to the M6 and close to the other sites that we could see the Scotch Argus at.

With a return trip to Cumbria planned for the Scotch Argus, it dawned on me that it was just possible that we may also get a High Brown Fritillary. These would normally have finished by the time of the Scotch Argus, but Lisa didn't mind how tatty the butterfly would be if it meant getting one more species nearer the full British list, so we planned to go to Holme-stinted Pastures first. I knew the site from the trip with Matt in 2021, when we stopped there after a Scotland dragonfly trip. That day we saw a couple of High Brown Fritillaries. We had also arranged to meet up with Mark, that we had met at Latterbarrow a few weeks before. We were there a couple of hours before Mark, who also had another enthusiast with him, called Tim. After a bit of a discussion, and as we had seen very little in those 2 hours, Lisa and I decided to head to White Scar, where there had been recent reports of High Brown Fritillaries.

The biggest problem we had was a lack of time, mainly due to the weather. The forecast was very poor for the following 2 days, which is all the time we had. The weather though on arrival day was not too bad, so we knew we had to get as much done as possible on that first day, despite the fact we were tired following a 5.30am start, followed by a very long drive. We were then relieved to find we could actually park only a couple of hundred metres away from the site at White Scar. Even better than that though was on our arrival, seeing 3 other photographers photographing a High Brown Fritillary!! We quickly joined them and saw 2 or 3 Fritillaries in the area. We just had to make sure we were watching High Brown, and not the very similar Dark Green Fritillary, that were also flying there. After a few minutes we saw a definite High Brown land on the ground, this butterfly was showing the concave forewing, as against the slightly convex wings of the Dark Green. The butterfly then flew to a nearby Buddleia bush to nectar on the flower.

High Brown Fritillary.

The butterfly was actually in pretty good condition considering how late in the season it was. We certainly weren't expecting to see this very rare butterfly so easily, and now we had a bit of a dilemma. With the sun still shining, do we stay here and just enjoy watching the Fritillaries, or do we drive 45 minutes plus away to Smardale Gill for the Scotch Argus. The forecast for the next 2 days was not looking at all promising, and as the Scotch Argus was really the main reason for the trip, we decided to go on to Smardale. This was a site that I had read about many times, but had never visited before, so I didn't know that after the drive it was then quite a long walk to where the Scotch Argus could be seen.

 After arriving we had a chat to a couple that had just returned to their car after seeing several Scotch Argus. They pointed us in the right direction, and off we went. By now the breeze had picked up quite a bit, and out of the sunshine it was chilly. The sun had also by now been covered with more clouds, but we did see that there were several breaks coming, so we remained hopeful. After walking for nearly a mile, the disused railway line we were on opened up a little, and the sun returned and straight away a very dark butterfly fluttered into view. Immediately we knew we had our target butterfly, so the pressure was off and we could really enjoy the rest of the late afternoon.

 A little further along the track we saw some Broad-leaved Helleborines and a very large Marsh Fragrant Orchid.

 Once again the track opened up again and after waiting a few minutes for the sunshine, we were rewarded with more than a dozen Scotch Argus flying above us on the bank. It was wonderful seeing so many of them flying here, and was a fitting way to finish the day. Just as we thought we should head to the hotel, Mark and Tim turned up. They had also seen the High Brown Fritillaries at White Scar, but they were also staying close to Smardale, whereas we were further away at Kendall, so we left Mark and Tim to enjoy the butterflies and after a short chat started the long walk back to the car.

 I was only slightly frustrated that I hadn't taken any photos, as none had settled in a position that would give me a good photo. However, just as we started walking back, a very smart Scotch Argus suddenly was flying around me, and then headed back to some bushes, where it settled in a near perfect position. So as not to disturb it I only used the camera with the telephoto on, but that was in my rucksack, but I managed to get it out quickly so I could get a couple of quick shots before it flew.

Scotch Argus.

Marsh Fragrant Orchid.

The following day, the forecast was pretty accurate with rain and very high winds with just the occasional sunny interval. We were not sure what to do, but then decided to head back to White Scar to see if we could find the High Brown Fritillary. Well, that was not going to happen, but we did look for some time. We did get a good bonus though when I disturbed a tiny male Black Darter dragonfly. I guess it had come from the nearby marshes. It flew up in front of me and landed on a low bush, where it stayed for a few minutes before moving to another bush. The light was pretty dire at this point, and with the wind blowing and light rain falling it was not easy getting any useable photos, but a few were actually okay in the end.

Male Black Darter.

Around midday, it suddenly warmed up a little, and some sunshine, albeit, very weak sunshine appeared. I then disturbed a large Fritillary from the ground. It too settled on a low bush. This turned out to be a surprisingly fresh female Dark Green Fritillary. I called Lisa over and after getting a couple of shots, it took off and landed on a Buddleia bush where it promptly went back to sleep. An hour later it was still in the same position, when I showed it to another butterfly enthusiast that had turned up.

Female Dark Green Fritillary.

We had also seen several Grayling on both our visits here, and although it wasn't a target it is always nice to see these butterflies as they hide in plain sight!!

Grayling.

After a couple of hours at White Scar, and with the weather improving slightly, we headed over to Arnside Knott. We had spoken to someone at White Scar the day before, who had seen several Brown Hairstreak that morning, nectaring on Hemp Agrimony.

 On arrival at Arnside it was clear that we would be very lucky to see any butterflies at all in the high wind, but with the shape of the hill at Arnside, there was a chance that we may find a sheltered spot. We climbed up the hill with our hopes falling as by now it had clouded up again, as well as the chilly wind still blowing. We were quite near where the man had seen the Brown Hairstreaks the day before, when we bumped into another two enthusiasts that asked us if we had seen anything. The answer was no!! They had also drew a blank here, and also at Smardale that morning. We were then even more pleased we had made the effort to get to Smardale late on the day before!! 

We mentioned we were going to check out the Hemp Agrimony in the area where the Hairstreaks had been seen the day before, and then, the sun actually appeared. Almost straight away, a very tired looking Painted Lady appeared, followed by a Common Blue, but no Hairstreaks or Scotch Argus showed. After another 30 minutes it was clear that it was just a bit too windy, so we suggested to the other 2 that it might be worth looking slightly lower down the hill to see if we could find some Hemp Agrimony in a more sheltered spot. Only around 30 metres lower we moved into a little sheltered spot and as one of the guys walked past some Hemp Agrimony I spotted a butterfly on one of the flower heads. I quickly told him to stand still, and on checking the butterfly it turned out to be a male Brown Hairstreak. We then spotted a 2nd Hairstreak on another flower head.

 On a day that held very little promise, we had suddenly changed the day for all of us into a much improved day. The only photo I managed of the Hairstreak was after it had settled nicely on a leaf, where it stayed for a couple of minutes before flying high into the trees, where we could observe it for the duration of us staying in the small enclosure.

Male Brown Hairstreak.

Later, we did hear back from Mark, who had been back at Smardale for the day. Eventually, after many hours there he saw a handful of Scotch Argus in the late afternoon.

We had initially thought we would have a bit of time on our final morning to do some butterfly searching, but with heavy rain falling, and the forecast saying it was going to rain all day we headed back south early, calling in to see Matt and Emily at Alton on the way home.

An extremely successful short trip in pretty poor weather again, which also brought my equal highest British species seen in a season of 52. Will a Long-tailed Blue turn up for me to beat my record?

It has also given Lisa her most successful butterfly year by a very long way, and she now only needs 3 species to complete the British mainland list.