Cuxton Church...

St. Michael and All Angels Church, Cuxton...

Cuxton Church has a long history, dating back to Roman times. Its current Rector, the Reverend Roger Knight, has written a nice summary of some of that history, which can be found here.

Butterflies in Halling Wood, 26th June 2017...

Two less common species were present in good numbers this year in Halling Wood, particularly the Silver-Washed Fritillaries.  Given that these woods are a pheasant factory for the local shoot, how any caterpillars survived to make it to the adult stage is amazing.  The Silver Washed Fritillary caterpillar feeds on violets on the forest floor, and pheasants (not a natural UK bird) go mad for them.  I believe these feathered rats are the reason for decline of the fritillaries in general, particularly the High Brown, which tends to frequent more open habitat.

The more pheasants get blasted, the better, as far as I am concerned.

Female Silver-Washed Fritillary

Underside, showing the silver bands that give the butterfly its name

The male butterflies are not as easy to photograph. They are a brighter orange and the forewings have four or five broad dark veins. There were plenty of them but they are very wary, restless and active, constantly gliding up and down the woodland paths, chasing and fighting with each other and checking out anything that might be a female.  They are a spectacular sight. I saw this female crawling around some violets by a beech tree.  They lay their eggs on tree trunks near patches of violets, so I watched this one for a while but she got spooked and flew off.

White Admirals are my favourite butterfly, although they are quite scarce.  This one came down to drink from a mud puddle, though they are partial to bramble blossom.

Female White Admiral

The females tend to be slightly browner than the males and the hind-wing orange markings are more obvious.  They lay their eggs on honeysuckle, which is not too common in these woods.  They obviously manage though.

White Admiral, underside

White Admirals are sometimes called "gliders", as they beat their wings and then glide for long distances. They are fast and powerful flyers, and love flying up and down sunlit woodland paths.  They are a joy to watch.

Luddesdown in June...

From the edge of Wrenches Shaw, looking towards Cobham

From the edge of Wrenches Shaw, looking towards Luddesdown church

From Cutter Ridge Road

From Cutter Ridge Road

Taken 23rd June 2017

Ragwort in bloom...

Southern Valley, looking east

Taken 20th June 2017

Scenes from the Brockles in Summer...

Looking south-east

Marbled White butterfly and bumble bee on scabious

Looking south-west

Taken 13th June 2017

Cuxton Church bellringer's outing to Suffolk, 10th June 2017...

St.John the Baptists, Thaxted

Windmill, Thaxted

Barley fields, Thaxted

St. Mary's, Cavendish

Cavendish village green

St. Mary's, Glemsford

St. Mary's churchyard

Church of the Holy Trinity, Long Melford

Church of the Holy Trinity, Long Melford

Churchyard, Long Melford

Mays Wood, 13th May 2017...

Red Admirals used to be restricted to an annual immigrant population, and were a lot less common than they are now.  These days, our milder winters allow both adults and the caterpillars to survive. This battered warrior obviously managed to overwinter here...

Red Admiral

I saw a much less tatty individual a bit later. It had probably overwintered as a caterpillar and had emerged from a pupa in the past few days or so.

Red Admiral

The wild garlic was in spectacular flower this year...

Wild Garlic (also known as Ramsons), Mays Wood...