By way of a change I thought I would visit Holtspur Bottom reserve which is owned by Beaconsfield Council and managed for Butterflies by Butterfly Conservation Upper Thames Branch. I had not visited the site before despite it only being a few miles from my house. The single track road is not for the faint hearted. Ridings Lane is very narrow and with only one passing place in a 600 metre distance! Just don't meet anyone half way!
The reserve is close to the railway and is on a grassy slope with hedgerows and several paths across it. Plenty of wild flowers to see also. No-one else was there during the whole time I was there.
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Ridings Lane Tunnel - The railway is high overhead.
A nice shady place to park. Almost no traffic. |
Not too many birds to see but I thought I heard a Firecrest and definitely heard Bullfinches and Linnets. As for the Butterflies :-
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| Marbled Whites were very common with hundreds present. |
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| Another Marbled White - They seemed reluctant to perch with their wings open. |
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| Brimstone - The only one seen. |
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| Ringlet - Would not land in the open! |
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| Gatekeeper - A few seen. |
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Skipper Sp - Quite a few Skippers seen with Little and Essex likely here. This is probably an Essex Skipper.
Note the retracted proboscis. |
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| Note the proboscis inserted into the flower.. |
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| Six Spot Burnet Moth - and below. |
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| Silver Y Moth. |
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| White Plume Moth. When I first saw this I thought it was just a bit of dead plant but on closer inspection I could see it's narrow wings. See also below. |
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