{"id":6812,"date":"2019-04-11T16:23:54","date_gmt":"2019-04-11T16:23:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/?p=6812"},"modified":"2019-04-11T16:33:12","modified_gmt":"2019-04-11T16:33:12","slug":"spring-butterflies-at-wraysbury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/2019\/04\/11\/spring-butterflies-at-wraysbury\/","title":{"rendered":"Spring Butterflies at Wraysbury"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I’d hardly stepped onto the path before a pair of Peacock butterflies spiralled up in a territorial dispute – the little meadow was evidently prime habitat, and the males were fully charged up on this beautiful spring day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Small Tortoiseshell on Dandelion<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A bit further along, a Small Tortoiseshell was visiting some of the many Dandelions by the path. It’s certainly my first this year; and I can’t recall seeing one here at Wraysbury before. It was once a common butterfly but nowadays unkempt beds of Nettles are rare enough, and like all our showier butterflies, they’ve suffered from the changes to the countryside, including insecticide sprays. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Male Orange-Tip<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The next delight was the first Orange-Tip of the year. It’s a “White” butterfly but with beautiful coloration above and below: the underwing is remarkably well camouflaged. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a woodland glade, two Commas tussled for the best display position. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Alder-Fly<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And near one of the lakes, an Alder-Fly clambered along a twig. The larvae are aquatic; on a good day in early summer, the air can be full of adult Alder-Flies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Birdsong was pretty much continuous, with Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs, Great Tits, Song Thrushes, Blackbirds, Green Woodpeckers, a Cetti’s Warbler and I think a Sedge Warbler too all contributing their songs. A Heron gave a harsh croak and some ungainly squawks. A Parakeet shrieked overhead. A Kestrel hunted silently. Spring has sprung in Wraysbury.
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’d hardly stepped onto the path before a pair of Peacock butterflies spiralled up in a territorial dispute – the little meadow was evidently prime habitat, and the males were fully charged up on this beautiful spring day. A bit further along, a Small Tortoiseshell was visiting some of the many Dandelions by the path. … Continue reading Spring Butterflies at Wraysbury<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[90],"tags":[705,168,126,110],"class_list":["post-6812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-natural-history","tag-kestrel","tag-orange-tip","tag-peacock-butterfly","tag-small-tortoiseshell"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6812"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6812\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6818,"href":"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6812\/revisions\/6818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}