I quickly found one resting on the leaves of the Elm tree and eventually found at least 4 flitting about, 3 smart looking ones and a rather worn and tatty one.
White-letter Hairstreak
I also found at least 3 Purple Hairstreaks resting on the leaves, they were less obvious and often hid under leaves or in the shade but I did manage to get some views of them with their wings open and showing their beautiful purple metallic sheen.
Purple Hairstreak
Purple Hairstreak
Purple Hairstreak
Purple Hairstreak
It was interesting to watch them occassionally feeding on the honeydew on the leaves, walking around the leaf with their yellow proboscis dragging across the surface.
A Painted Lady was feeding on nearby Valerian and is only my second of the year and a Large White and a Meadow Brown were also seen along with 2 Common Darters. There were 2 Chiffchaffs and a Blackcap singing away and the nearby Pyramidal Orchids were flowering well along with just 1 Bee Orchid.
Painted Lady
My cold continued to evolve but regular LFT's all proved negative and so I went to work for my night shift on Tuesday night as planned. However by Wednesday afternoon I felt quite rough which I initially put down to a lack of sleep after my night shift but another LFT test finally proved what I had suspected all along - I had indeed got my second bout of COVID and now my third sickness abscence from work this year!
I'm surprised that this is only my second time of catching it considering where I work but while I feel a bit crappy it is nothing like the first time I had it. Unfortunately the 3 episodes of sickness from work I've had in the last 6 months will result in my first ever Stage 1 Sickness Abscence Monitoring Meeting in over 25 years of working at Derriford Hospital - and in my final 2 weeks of working there too! I've also had more sickness in the last 6 months than I've had in the last 6 years (barring my first episode of COVID last year which wasn't included on my sickness record), a sign of how run down I am or is it just bad luck?
Anyway I felt better on Thursday 29th June and with the sun shining but a cooler and fresher feeling in the air we took a walk away from everybody on Roborough Down. It was quiet on the birding front with the highlights being a briefly singing Willow Warbler, 3 Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcap, a pair of Stonechat and a songflighting Meadow Pipit.
There were a few butterflies flying around, mostly Meadow Browns, but I did see my first Comma, Gatekeeper and Silver-washed Fritillary of the year plus a Red Admiral, a Purple Hairstreak, Speckled Wood, Ringlet and Brimstone. All were very flitty and combined with my COVID addled brain I messed up any decent shots but there were a few moths on the toilet block wall at Yelverton including Marbled White Spot and Small Engrailed, both new moths for me.
Marbled White Spot
Small Engrailed
I was feeling much better again on Saturday July 1st and so I headed out to the southern edge of Dartmoor for a walk about to look for Fritillaries. It was breezy with cloudy periods but it was humid and warm, especially so when the sun did shine.
I quickly found Fritillaries as soon as I arrived on site but they were fast and flitty and disappeared off over the bracken no sooner than I got my eye on them. Eventually they did occassionally settle on bramble flowers to nectar and I managed to get some decentish views with the Silver-washed Fritillaries being the showiest and most confiding and the High Brown Fritillaries being the most awkward and difficult.
Silver-washed Fritillary
Silver-washed Fritillary
Silver-washed Fritillary
Silver-washed Fritillary
Silver-washed Fritillary
Silver-washed Fritillary
Silver-washed Fritillary
Silver-washed Fritillary
High Brown Fritillary
High Brown Fritillary
High Brown Fritillary
High Brown Fritillary
High Brown Fritillary
High Brown Fritillaries
High Brown Fritillary
High Brown Fritillaries
High Brown Fritillary
A Red Admiral, a pair of Brimstone, a Comma, 3 Purple Hairstreak, Ringlet and Meadow Brown were also noted along with 3 Golden Ringed Dragonfly.
Brimstone
Comma
Purple Hairstreak
Purple Hairstreak
Ringlet
Golden Ringed Dragonfly
Golden Ringed Dragonfly
Chiffchaffs were singing away and giving a few brief views, Bullfinch were heard too but kept well hidden, a Buzzard soared high overhead and Siskin were heard flying over.
A good day out and a nice start to July.
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