High summer

IN a corner of Wiltshire where the Cotswolds limestone reaches its southern most limit, there is a small grassland site with abundant wild flowers and some rather special butterflies: marsh fritillaries.

Although ploughed, maybe 100 years ago, the grassland is unimproved and full of flowers.  As it is ungrazed, upright brome grass dominates and tries to smother out everything else, but it has not quite succeeded.  The presence of devil's-bit scabious means that this butterfly has found a foothold here, along with other more common insects.  As it is so late in the adults' season the individuals that I found were all were looking tatty and washed out, but were still a pleasure to see in the hot evening sunshine.  They fly very fast and so are a devil to catch up with, but just occasionally they alight together on one flower and get distracted - just enough time for a snap.

Marsh fritillary

Six spot burnet moths - the most common day flying moth in this sort of habitat

Marbled white butterfly

Marbled white in flight

Small skipper

Small skipper

Gatekeeper butterfly

As the season progresses different flowers on limestone grassland come into their own.  Harebell has a fairly long flowering period.

Yellow rattle, which is an attractive flower found in old grassland, is a hemi-parisite, feeding of grasses through its root system, but also having chlorophyll like most plants.

Yellow rattle

Marjoram

Black knapweed

Goat's beard seed head

Wonderful!

A wonderful spring day

Even though the biggest horse race of the year was run today, that was not enough to stop every dog owner in the area going out - I suppose its selfish to think that we should have this glorious countryside to ourselves.

It has been the warmest day in 2010 so far, and we chose a walk in the Cotswolds near Uley.  Here the majestic beech woodlands tower over deep, lush limestone valleys.  The countryside was a picture with limestone villages bursting with blossom and daffodils.

Primroses and lesser celandine

 wood-sorrel

 violet

The sun also bought out the woodland flowers (wood anemone, wood sorrel, violets, primroses and lesser celandine) and the butterflies (such as commas, peacocks and brimstones), as well as some birds, such as chiff-chaffs singing heartily.

The primroses love the woodland edge and creep out into the fields.  They shine out like blobs of yellow-gold against the starkness of the bare trees, and can be seen from a considerable distance in their spreading clumps.

We also came across a couple of roe deer (with a buzzard gliding low over their heads for scenic effect) which regarded us suspiciously through the trees, but were reassured as we walked on without disturbing them.

 

Comma

Peacocks getting jiggy (These are tatty individuals that have overwintered as adults)

 Woodland floor carpetted in ramsons - aka wild garlic

Last year at this time I the woodland floor was a mass of bluebells - no sign of them yet apart from a few buds here and there.  Apparently we have to wait till mid-May this year for the peak - I can wait.

Not wildlife - just a typical village scene...

A good day to be in England - and we haven't even won the 2010 world cup yet!