Aldbury Nowers butterfly walk

Dingy Skipper
Dingy Skipper

Helen spotted a butterfly walk/meetup on the BBC website, so she made enquiries and we arrange to meet at the lay by near the Aldbury Nowers (Grid Ref SP949128). Helen had other things to do but I went anyway and took Helen’s dad with me.

After hang about in the lay by waiting until the intended start time, and whilst listening to all the butterflies we might expect to see, we set off round the edge of the field. It soon became apparent that Butterfly miles are far slower than Bird miles, but the act of looking down at the ground and walking slowly means that you have time to take a lot in, and it is surprising what you find when you take the time to look. As well as some of our intended butterfly species we saw spiders, beetles, and a lizard.

After a look round the edge of the field we headed into the woods, which was not as productive, but when we then headed out on the chalk slopes that had been cleared/managed we again started seeing butterflies.

Nursery Web Spider (Pisaura mirabilis)

The whole evet was about 3 hours from arrival to departure and it cost us nothing, real value for money. We saw the following butterflies: Dingy Skipper, Brown Argus, Green Hairstreak, Small Copper, Small Heath, Grizzled Skipper, Brimstone, Large White, Green Veined White, Orange Tip, Common Blue, and Peacock,

Thanks to the British Butterfly Conservation Society