I paid a short afternoon visit to Morgan's hill today to see some Marsh Fritillaries which were not out at my last visit. After the cloudy morning the sun had appeared and it was a fine afternoon, despite the continual NE wind which we are experiencing at the moment.
Having visited the reserve numerous times, I knew the sheltered areas where I would be likely to find these butterflies and took the track in that direction, passing through a gate to enter the reserve. Almost immediately I noticed a lightish brown butterfly flying quickly past, which did not settle. I first took it to be the marsh fritillary but after seeing a third one, which did stop for a moment, I realised that these were not marsh fritillaries but Wall browns being blown along by the brisk wind.
I continued across the slope, which was quite windy. to reach a sheltered area. Here I soon found the butterflies I was looking for - there were good numbers of them though I thought they appeared slightly worn. Other butterflies in this sunny spot included common blue, dingy skipper, grizzled skipper and brown argus. Also I saw a couple of brimstones and large whites, a small heath and my first large skipper of the year. Someone told me they'd seen a duke of burgundy earlier but I didn't see it myself.
large skipper
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