Two Quarries

 23.06.22 Two quarries Bishop Middleham and Wingate. The former for Northern and Brown Argus butterflies and of course Orchids I’m not sure I managed to find the Northern variety though. The latter for Marbled White butterflies. The sun was shining so it was difficult to get the butterflies at rest however I did manage a few shots.

Dark Green Fritillary a nice surprise at Bishop Middleham.

Brown Argus butterfly.

Another Brown Argus.

A couple of Brown Argus.

The nearest I may have come to a Northern Brown Argus looking at the small white spot.

Male Common Blue butterfly.

Female Common Blue.

Dingy Skipper.

Large Skipper.

Yellow Shell moth.

Grasshopper.

Bee Orchid. I found quiet a few around the quarry.

A few more Orchids.

Marbled White butterfly.

Two Quarries

 

My wife and I had a trip to Bishop Middleham and Wingate quarries on the 16^th (she preferred the latter) primarily for the Marbled White butterflies at Wingate. The weather was hot and sunny and the butterflies were reluctant to settle, the ones that did were mainly female. I knew it was late in the season but I still wanted to see if there were any Northern and Brown Argus at Bishop Middleham quarry. There were a few still around as you can see below however if I have the identification wrong, please let me know.

Female Marbled White butterfly

Male Marbled White

Female Marbled White butterfly

Male Marbled White

Small Heath butterfly

How this snail got into this position on this slender bit of grass I will never know.

Looking at the markings on the underside of the wing I think this is a Northern Brown Argus.

Once again looking at the markings this is a Brown Argus and it appears to be laying eggs. As I mentioned in a previous Blog I was speaking to a man about these butterflies and this seems to go against what he said.

Is the fly checking out the Speckled Wood butterfly or is it the other way around?

Six-spot Burnet Moth.

When we were kids, we called these Hairy Caterpillars.

Quarrying

A visit to Wingate and Bishop Middleham quarries last week primarily for butterflies but this time I looked at some flowers that I would normally just walk past. The reason I looked, I saw two groups of people looking closely at these flowers and realised what they were looking at were different types of Orchids so I took a few photographs (if I have the names of any of the Orchids wrong please correct me). However, the first part of that day started at Kibblesworth Brick Ponds.

Two's company (mating Burnet Moth)

Three’s a crowd

Burnet Moth

Blue-tailed Damselfly (rufescens) please correct me if I’m wrong

Blue-tailed Damselfly (rufescens-obsoleta) as above

Marbled White Butterfly

Small Heath Butterfly. It looks as though its wing has failed to unfold properly.

Small Skipper

Latticed Heath Moth

Brown Argus

Bee Orchid

Another Bee Orchid

Pyramidal Orchid

Could this be a Small Heath Orchid (I was told it was)

Dark Red Helleborine

Another Dark Red Helleborine

Common Twayblade

?

Common Spotted Orchid