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Tuesday 5 July 2011

Marbled Whites

Went down to Wingate Durham to have a look for Marbled Whites , also to check for any Orchids large number of Common Twayblades varying in height  from a couple of inches to 12+ " a rather plain orchid till you have a close look at there structure, plenty of Common Spotted Orchids again varying enormously in size depending I suppose on the soil depth , Frog Orchids have been recorded in the past but I could not find any, no surprise there, Bee Orchids also present   I would have thought there where lots of unusual plants but unless they have a distinctive flower I probably would not notice them, Greater Knapweed  a very common and showy flower , and  St Johns Wort (slender ?). Picked up the first Marbled White flying high it just looked like a dirty white, eventually followed one till it settled very briefly a couple of times allowing me to get a couple of shots an impressive creature indeed , actually as are all Butterflies they just seem to sum up warm summer days . 

 Slender St Johns Wort ?
 Greater Knapweed
 Marbled White
 Marbled White actually the same one re- settled
 Common Twayblade
Common Twayblade three very healthy spikes
 A few of these fungi  around probably common but just caught your eye even though they are very small
 As I sat on the grass for my lunch I noticed this Slug , so camera out I took a couple of shots , a very intricate red and black  pattern along the foot of this specimen
I'm sure I have had these before , they will be on the blog somewhere the name Latticed Heath comes to mind .

2 comments:

kirstallcreatures said...

Those Marbled Whites are a lovely butterfly aren't they, I enjoyed some recent sightings at Brockadale Nature Reserve in Yorkshire. The underwing pattern is one of my favourites.
Linda

Northumbrian Birding said...

Hi Linda , Apparently the Marbled Whites at Wingate where introduced causing a bit of controversy, but they seem to be doing well so lets just enjoy them.
Brian