Friday 23rd June 2011 (Part 2) - Hartlebury & Shenstone

After the morning's visit to Penny Hill Bank we headed back home via Hartlebury (which is only about 2 miles of patch).  

Our first stop was at a small reserve situated at the rear of the County Museum called 'Old Moat Coppice' which is a site where Spotted Flycatcher have bred in the past...needless to say we saw none.  Just as we pulled off the carpark and onto the entrance drive I noticed something flying over a mixed patch of Comfrey and Nettles...it was a Scarlet Tiger Moth, followed shortly afterwards by 2 more.  We pulled over the car to check out this area and in total we counted 10 Scarlet Tiger Moths

Next stop was an area of lowland heath (and local dog latrine!) called Hartlebury Common. The target species here was Small Heath and we saw at least 7 of these diminutive little butterflies.

The final stop of the day was a quick visit to the patch, in particular Butts Lane set-aside.  Of note here was the first patch Small Skipper of 2011, 2 Essex Skippers, 2 Small Tortoiseshells and many Ringlets, Meadow Browns and Small Whites.  All in all a very enjoyable insect day.

Scarlet Tiger Moths - County Museum, Hartlebury



























Small Heath - Hartlebury Common















Small Skipper  - Shenstone

5 comments:

  1. I searched high & low for Scarlet Tigers while holidaying in Cornwall a few years back. And did i find any, did i buggery.
    Superb shots of a superb moth.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sorry, Jason. I must have had a blonde moment, DOH!!! I was in fact referring to Cream-spot Tigers.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ha no worries Dean...we all have those moments! Cheers for the positive feedback on the photos

    ReplyDelete
  4. Love the Scarlet Tiger Moths. Very striking markings!

    ReplyDelete
  5. They are stunning Shy...one of my favourite moths

    ReplyDelete