Strawberry Banks Bredhurst 05/06/21

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A walk to primarily look for the Adonis Blue on the far slopes of this site. The butterflies weren't difficult to find though photographing them proved less easy as the males, in particular, were very active in the sunshine, either territorial skirmishes with rivals or chasing females.

I was unsure of the identification of two individuals (one of each sex) though had dismissed them in the field as Common Blue.  However, later after reviewing the pictures (8 and 9 shown below), and posting on Facebook Kent Butterflies group the consensus of opinion was that they were both worn Adonis, hence only showing traces of the dark line through the outer white margin of the wing.

Other butterflies there included numerous Small Heath and Common Blues plus singles of Small Copper and Green Hairstreak.

Three specimens of Bee Orchid were great to see, with more numerous Man Orchid nearby.

A juvenile adder, approx 6 ins in length, was also a nice find, no doubt an individual born last year.

Strawberry Banks

Adonis Blue (male)

Adonis Blue (female)

Adonis Blue (male)

Adonis Blue (female)


Adonis Blue (male)

Worn Adonis Blue (male)

Worn Adonis Blue (female)

Bee Orchid

Man Orchid

Juvenile Adder

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