Quality, not Quantity!!

Every now and then I really enjoy a day away from my local area, and with the weather forecast all week looking good for Friday, I had in mind a drive over to West Sussex to hopefully find some fresh Duke of Burgundy. With a round trip of around 100 miles I checked the forecast on Thursday evening and it still looked good for the next day. I got up in the morning and quickly checked the latest and couldn't believe that the forecast had changed to cloud and chilly with a slight chance of sun at 11am. By now I was in the zone so I decided to ignore the forecast and just enjoy the day. On arrival at the site it was pretty chilly and I just hoped to find a roosting Duke. No luck there, and after being on site for over an hour I saw a brighter patch heading my way. It took a long time to arrive, and it was only for about 10 minutes, but in this short time I stumbled across a very fresh Duke as it flew past me. Fortunately I managed to keep it in sight and it was then wonderful to get it on a Cowslip. As the sun soon went back in I could then get lots of photos of this little beauty as the cool temperature slowed him right down.

Duke of Burgundy on Primrose.

Sitting Pretty.

The butterfly eventually flew and I lost sight of him. I continued to stroll around hoping to find a Skipper or Duke at roost. No luck there and after another hour or so of wandering about with the coat now back on I once again saw a small brighter patch heading my way. This bit was even briefer, but once again a Duke flew up in front of me. On checking, it turned out to be the same butterfly. After opening its wings to try to warm up it soon flew and landed on a large bud where it went into roosting mode again, hardly surprising as it now felt very cold.

Duke of Burgundy on warm up mode.

Roosting mode.

Following this, and seeing heavier clouds heading back I decided to call it a day with just the one butterfly seen. Driving back into Seaford in the afternoon I saw a Small White, my 2nd butterfly of the day!!

The previous day I had some good sightings of the local Skippers. Once again, not many butterflies in the cool overcast conditions, but a nice Grizzled Skipper was soon followed by a very handsome Dingy Skipper that landed just by me as I was walking along a bank.

Grizzled Skipper.

Dingy Skipper.

Two Days running where I got lucky with the quality, but saw very small quantity!!