I Love Arnside and Silverdale: Dark Green Fritts and Large Skipps and other bits! (22nd June 2017)

Friday, 23 June 2017

Dark Green Fritts and Large Skipps and other bits! (22nd June 2017)

Dark Green Fritillary taken today in Dalton (Click over to enlarge)

Thursday 22nd June 2017 - Dalton Crags - 1500hrs to 1630hrs

My intentions today were purely to go and check out the new possible Scollie "Crispum" fern in Dalton Crags. A quick check on the "Marginatum" on the way up through the Crags and eventually arriving at the place were we have the new young Crispum! but on arrival it was one of those days when you get a nice shock, let me explain. Whilst setting up to take photographs (as windy as it was), I quickly became aware that a brand new baby Crispum had appeared as if from nowhere, and what a little beauty this looks like it might turn out to be. Just look at the wavy edge it already producing - I just can't wait to see this in maturity. For now we do have this photo - like I say it was very windy for taking photos. I know for a fact that our fern men Alec and Julian will love this one!

Our new Crispum, and yet another new crispum frond (Click over to enlarge)

Not far away I also wanted to check out our rare "Montanum's" (Pale St. John's Wort) and yes they are coming along nicely, but another pleasant surprise was to see one already in flower. I did manage to capture the plant but only the flower and top part because the wind was blowing it about like a swinging pendulum!

Hypericum Montanum (Pale St. John's Wort) today - (Click over to enlarge)

I decided to come back over "Hypericum Way" and check out some of our Hirsutums, Pulchrums and Tetraterum. But straight away as I was coming down the "Way" it was butterflies, butterflies and even more butterflies. Beginning with Red Admirals, then obvious recent hatches of the beautiful "Ringlets", then Large Skippers and Meadow Browns and then just before reaching the bottom two very flitty Dark Green Fritilleries. Continuing on a little way and back to the Plain Quarry areas I was having lots of Speckled Woods, Small Heaths, Common Blues, more Ringlets and a beautiful Dark Green Fritillary which allowed me to get a good photograph (see above)

Red Admiral on Hypericum Way today (Click over to enlarge)

Large Skipper on Hypericum Way today (Click over to enlarge)

Another Large Skipper on Hypericum Way today (Click over to enlarge)

I had been recording our beautiful "Maiden Pink" for several years when a couple of years ago they just stopped coming through. So it was a great pleasure to see them today coming through again this year. There did used to be two more small populations close by but to press these are still missing.

Maiden Pink in Dalton Crags 23rd June 2017 (Click over to enlarge)

To finish off whilst on the car park I noticed four large populations of "black mature peacock butterfly larvae" bunched up and devouring "nettles" and "bindweeds".