I had a course booked for this afternoon near Cirencester so decided it would provide a good opportunity to combine a visit to some woods nearby to look for pearl bordered fritillaries. Usually I opt for Oakley Woods but had recently been told that these butterflies had been seen in good numbers at another site - Siccaridge Wood. I knew where this was, as it is immediately opposite the entrance to Daneway banks - a well known site for large blue butterflies.
Having secured a parking space not too far away, I went through the gate and followed the path through the woods. After a while I came to a cleared area, which had some bugle flowers in bloom - a pearl bordered favourite - and saw some other people chatting holding cameras. Looking around in the sunshine, a couple of orange butterflies appeared as if from nowhere flying close to the ground. Immediately I knew they were what I was looking for. After taking a few photos, I got into conversation with one person who said there was a particularly good area, further down the track where there was a large amount of bugle. After thanking them for the information, I headed further along the path and soon found a couple of other people.. and more butterflies!
They were settling regularly, giving opportunities for both upper and underwing photos which show the line of 'pearls' along the edge which give the species its name, and without the need to stray far from the path. One of them even settled on my shoe for a few seconds!
As I left the woods, I turned back to look at the sunny scene behind me. As I did so, a roe dear appeared from the trees and after stopping and looking at me for a few seconds, continued to cross into the trees at the other side of the path. Soon afterwards, it was followed by three or four others. Certainly a site worth remembering for the future.
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