Albino Wild Thyme strikes again

Albino Wild Thyme on Dalton Crags (just click over to enlarge)

Monday 23rd June 2014

I have been going up on Dalton Crags checking this little beauty now for the past four years and it always produces the goods about this time each year, but this year has come even better with far more flowers. This photo just shows you the great comparisons of the two has they sit together on the old "anthill".

Dark Red Helliborine starting to straighten out

My main purpose today was to check out the Epipactis to see how they are coming along, and the Dark Reds have started to straighten out and I'll bet they are looking great in about one weeks time.  The Broad Leaved will be another fortnight to three weeks at least. All the dark Reds where at about the same stage has this photo shows on the left.

It was a proper butterfly morning, I had for the first time on the wing fourteen Dark Green Fritillaries on my way up to the Common, also several Common Blues (all males) about three Small Pearl Bordered Fritts, up to about a dozen Small Heaths, and scores of Ringlets and Meadow Browns, with just a few Speckled Woods thrown in. 

Found a new but going over colony of Bittersweet, and a new colony of Yellow Pimpernel. The Lesser Whitethroat was in song within Dalton Crags, along with some Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps.

One of my archived "Dark Green Fritillary photos above"
they were too fresh and flitty today and did not want to be photographed