A Walk Before Work

 I'm doing late shifts this week which means that I have a little bit of time before I start my working day. This gave me the opportunity to take a stroll around Brookfield Plantation today which is only ten minutes away from my place of work. The weather was pretty obliging as there were some fairly lengthy periods of sunshine and this brought out a good number of butterflies.

A quartet of browns.

On my walk through Willowbrook Industrial Estate I saw a very fresh looking Common Blue though as my camera was in my backpack I didn't get a pic. Arriving at Brookfield both bins and camera  came into play and there was plenty to view with them. Masses of Ringlets continue to frequent the rides though some are beginning to look more than a little rough. Almost as common were Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers, all three species were enjoying the nectary delights of Ragweed. Marbled Whites are still on the wing though there getting towards the end of their season, some fresh looking Speckled Woods are at the opposite end of their season. Close to the entrance at least two Silver-washed Fritillaries were nectaring on thistles sharing them with Red Admirals and Commas. I eventually managed to drag myself away from the area near the entrance and headed off into the wood.

Silver-washed Frits, Red Admiral, Green-veined and

 Small White

Three species of skippers were on the wing today, Large were the commonest but the most interesting were my first Essex  of the year. I got the chance to compare them to the very similar Small Skippers when they calmed down a bit during the cloudier periods. As well as the hordes of browns there were good numbers of whites, Green-veined Whites were the most numerous but Large and Small were also present in good numbers. At the crossroads in the middle of the wood a female Silver-washed Frit showed very well as she nectared on Ragwort. By now the spectre of work was looming and I had to head back towards the road. Not much else to report, odes were in short supply with just singles of Ruddy and Common Darters, a Brown Hawker and a Common Blue Damsel were the only species on show.

Essex, Small and Large Skippers and Comma