Tuesday 12th July 2011 - Shenstone

I decided to do a couple of butterfly walks around the patch today with the weather being fairly nice.

My first port of call was the field at the back of Stone vicarage (just behind the top of Butts Lane).  Here there were good numbers of Small Skipper, Meadow Brown and Ringlet.  The highlight was a nice fresh 2nd generation Small Copper that was feeding on the flowers of some Yarrow.

Next stop was Stanklyn Lane.  The Gallops field was disappointing as the grass has now been cut (hopefully all the pairs of Skylarks here had fledged there young!)  I spent some time at the beet field watching 3 Purple Hairstreaks flit around the Oaks and Ash but still didn't manage any photos (one day!).   Also in this area were 4 Speckled Wood and 2 Holly Blues.  2 singing Chiffchaffs were also present along the lane.

My final stop was Butts Lane/Barrs Lane.  I decided to walk the footpath across the field towards the vicarage.  There had been an emergance of Small Tortoiseshell with 9 present on one area of thistles.  It was also good for the farmland birds with Skylark, Yellowhammer and Linnet all showing well.  2 young Common Buzzards could be heard calling from the trees at the back of Stone Manor with one fledgling showing quite well. The walk back along the set-aside was fairly productive with good numbers of Essex Skipper and Small Skipper seen (it seems to be about 70% Essex to 30% Small down there at the mo).  A Red Admiral, 1 Comma, 2 Gatekeepers and 1 Large skipper were also added to the days list here.  The Whites were numerous across the patch with all three common species seen.

Below are a few butterfly shots from the walk plus another handful of photos of the patch's flora.

Small Copper

Gatekeeper

Essex Skippers

Comma

Small Tortoiseshell

Lady's Bedstraw

St. John's Wort

Knapweed