Not far from the gate out of the woodland is a clump of Thyme, which is always popular with butterflies. When I arrived there were two Small Skippers, a Ringlet and a Northern Brown Argus on it.
Almost every Marsh Thistle flower had one or more Small Skipper on them.
If not they would likely be occupied by Ringlets.
In the short walk, of about 500 metres up the valley I counted 373 Ringlets and 199 Small Skippers. This clump of thistles had four Small Skippers, a Meadow Brown and it wasn't until I looked at the picture once I was back home that I noticed a Northern Brown Argus on the flower on the left.
There were two lovely fresh-looking Common Blues.
I counted 23 Small Heaths and 71 Meadow Browns.
There were at least 22 Dark Green Fritillaries around, although they were flying backwards and forwards, so there could have been more. I struggled to get a picture of one without another butterfly photo bombing my shot. The pictures below were all taken within 14 seconds. First a Meadow Brown tried to get in on the act.
Then a Small Skipper joined in.
And then a different Small Skipper landed just below it!
This female Dark Green Fritillary was accompanied by two Small Skippers.
This male seemed to have more extensive dark markings than normal.
I saw a total of seven Northern Brown Argus. They were all quite worn-looking, having been out a couple of weeks earlier than normal.
It was amazing seeing so many butterflies in this special valley. I have been visiting it for about 20 years and I have been watching it slowly evolve since grazing has stopped and trees have been planted. Some species, such as the Northern Brown Argus have not been so numerous in recent years, most likely because their larval food plant, Rockrose, is becoming a bit swamped by other vegetation. But other species, such as the Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary and Small Skipper have increased considerably.
Just as I was leaving I thought I should check out the clump of Thyme again and this time there were six Ringlets and a Small Skipper!
