Friday 31st May - Penny Hill Bank

Sorry for the delay in posts folks, I have been having a few problems with a recurring knee injury and haven't been able to do my usual summer walks around Shenstone looking at the butterflies and other invertebrates. What I have done is, in between resting up, visit a few places where access is easy and I haven't had to walk too far from the car.  So what I will do is over the next week or so do a series of posts on these trips out and what was seen.  Hope you enjoy the read....

Friday 31st May - Penny Hill Bank (Worcs)
Today I caught up with my old partner in crime and long time curmudgeon Tony S for a visit to Penny Hill Bank near Martley.  It was a beautiful sunny day and I was hopeful that some of the site's speciality butterflies would be on the wing.

On entering the actual nature reserve we bumped into a fella with his family who were looking at some of the reserve's rather splendid flora and he pointed out to us a couple of cracking Common Twayblade orchids. 

We soon caught up with our first target species of butterfly with 2 Green Hairstreaks showing well on the bank.  We also a rather stunning Brown Argus butterfly nearby followed by 3 more later on in the days proceedings.  Also on the reserve I noticed an interesting red and black bug called Corizus hyoscyami.  This bug is typically found in coastal areas but is gradually spreading inland and now even exists at a few sites in land-locked Worcestershire.

We then headed up to the footpath above the reserve on the former landfill site.  Hear there were Dingy Skippers galore and we were soon into double figures and at the pond we were treated to the sight of 2 Four-spotted Chasers flitting about over the water.

All in all it had been an enjoyable and productive trip at one of my favourite sites in Worcestershire.

Green Hairstreak
















Dingy Skipper

Brown Argus

Four-spotted Chaser

Corizus hyoscyami

Common Twayblade Orchid