Saturday 25th July Butterflies Abound

A short walk around the patch after the rain stopped. Offshore 5 drake Common Scoter flew south close inshore and a Sandwich Tern was fishing near one of the buoys. It was generally quiet but several families of Common Whitethroat were evident. The highlights however were the numbers of butterflies which took flight as the sun appeared. Freshly emerged Gatekeepers (16) were seen along with 20 Marbled White, 25 Meadow Brown, Common Blue, Small Copper, Comma, Peacocks, Red Admiral, Small Skippers and Large Whites. Gatekeeper shown below.