Wood You Believe It?

A text from Alan Shorrock alerted me to the presence of a Wood White at Harry's Park Wood. He had seen it and taken a record shot of it yesterday and managed to see it again today. Given that Wood Whites are not usually found in this neck of the woods I set out after work for a look.

I

It's rubbish record shot time - Wood White.

At first I thought that I was going to add to my growing list of insect dips but eventually the butterfly duly obliged. Now I've always thought that Wood Whites were weak flyers but this one led me on quite a chase and though I got prolonged views they were often quite distant and usually in flight. The butterfly did land twice for just about long enough to see that it was a male but not long enough for a picture. In the end I got a couple of ropey flight shots which do at least confirm the identity. As to the origins of this individual I wouldn't like to say, there's a large population in Geddington Chase but then there have also been a few incidences locally of people releasing them so who knows? More clear cut were the new brood Small Tortoisehells, a Peacock and several Speckled Woods. On my walk home I managed to catch up with my first Large Skipper of the year where Kettering Road meets the A43.

Small Tortoiseshell and Large Skipper.

Also present in Harry's Park were at least three female Broad-bodied Chasers and two Emperors while the only other wildlife of note was a male Cuckoo.

Broad-bodied Chaser and a slightly larger flyer.