Week six of my butterfly transect, the weather was
perfect. No clouds and 100% sun,
virtually no wind, just a slight breath of air from the southwest and a
temperature of 18C in the shade.
 |
| Green-veined White |
 |
| Orange Tip |
I began the survey on the first sector with three
Green-veined Whites followed by two more and a Speckled Wood and my one and only
Orange Tip on the second sector.
I began thinking that I might have sightings on all ten
sectors after the first five very sparse weeks.
 |
| Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary |
 |
| Speckled Wood |
I continued to record Green-veined Whites and Speckled Woods
until I emerged from the woods to where the Small Pearl-bordered Fritillaries appear. And appear they did. I saw one and photographed it and another
appeared later in this sector (No 6).
Walking along the valley towards the sea I could see a bank of sea mist
hugging the cliffs.
 |
| 24-spot Ladybird on Sea Campion |
 |
| Wall |
It was Sector Eight that let me down. Here the footpath ascends the cliffs and the
sun was hidden by the mist just overlapping the cliff edge. So no full house although I did search for
and found four 24-spot Ladybirds. They
were where they always are in season, on the Sea Campion that grows all the way
up the cliff path. So the sector was no
a total loss although no full house this time.
Once at the top of the cliff I turned inland with the mist
behind me and the sun fully blazing once again.
The last two sectors produced butterflies, notably three Wall Brown,
another first species of the year.
Nine out of ten sectors produced 26 butterflies of 6 species
giving me a target of a full house for next time.
