The Wall Brown Appears.

I have been checking my regular Wall Brown area for most of the past week as I was sure the first brood were imminent. Yesterday morning, another search started and almost immediately I saw an orange/brown butterfly with the distinctive flight of the Wall Brown. I watched him for several minutes as he was staying around an area out of the cold breeze.

The first Wall Brown of the year.

Nearby was a nest of Brown-tail Moth larvae. They were all on one side of the nest trying to warm up. A couple of Grizzled Skipper were also seen, although in the cool breeze most butterflies were taking shelter.

Brown-tail Moth larva.

Another visit this morning produced at least 4 Wall Brown flying with a few aerial battles between the males, all trying to have the warm patch for their territories. 

On the end of a Hawthorn twig I spotted a smallish, but really smart spider that I assume was hoping to ambush an insect. It was also possibly sitting on its nursery? My thanks to Nigel for informing me that the spider looks like a Agalenatea redii.

Agalenatea redii.

Talking about spiders, last Thursday Pete and I went to check out one of the local colonies of Early Spider Orchids. There are only a few showing at the moment as it is a bit early in their season but one plant was showing well with another alongside it giving a different shot to my past efforts.

Early Spider Orchids.