ST SWITHUN'S FEAST IN FERMYN

It seems a long time since St Swhithun's Day has dawned hot and sunny, but this prompted me to set off early to grab some action in Fermyn Wood. I met up with Andy Wyldes and Matthew Oates around Nine O'clock to find HIM already active. The rides had been duly baited and this brought a succession of males down to the ground during the rest of the morning. In the rides of Lady Wood at least thirty males were grounded or flying along the tracks. The recent hot, dry spell has made sources of mineral salts harder to locate and in several places two, three and on one occasion four males congrgated, an unusual sight even for Fermyn.



 

Soon after we met Matthew, while we were watching a group of males succumbing to his bait, an aberrant lugenda flew into our midst. It kept settling briefly on the ground and I managed only one shot as we pursued it along the ride for some forty yards or more before losing sight of it.

 

 

I wandered round the corner into the next ride where I found another specimen of the same aberration which again came to ground briefly before alighting for a couple of minutes on a hazel.

 

 

Matthew also pointed out the weak purple on the specimen below:

 

 

I returned through Cherry Lap, the main ride down from the entrance by now bathed in sunshine and more males were in evidence on the ground, bringing te total by the time I left at One O'clock to around forty males, an impressive emergence over the last few days. Sadly, so reluctant were they to move off the ground that one fell victim to a car. No blame is attached to the driver who took extreme care to avoid the butterflies as she drove through.