Captured Moment

We went to Edmondsham for a walk through the woodland and wildflower meadow, there was hundreds of butterflies fluttering around particularly on the bramble along the edge of the meadows.  The large number of butterflies was the Gatekeeper, I have never seen so many of these butterflies before and I have visited these meadows now for twenty-one years.  I say meadows in the plural, there has always been one wildflower meadow but it appears that another, a field that we walk through on our way back to the car is slowly becoming a wildflower meadow, it has taken years to go from purely grass to a wildflower meadow.  I hope that is the case as we have lost so many wildflower meadows throughout the UK, 90% I believe.   I have visited a few wildflower meadows in Dorset and when you see them and see them at different stages of flowering it makes you realise what we have lost, such treasures that are pricless.

 

This is my captured moment, a hoverfly hovering near the flowers of Yarrow

This meadow is dominated by the Betony

Betony

 

Gatekeeper, hundreds of these, they are having one of their best years

 

Silver-washed Fritillary, I think these are having a good year, I saw four of these today

 

 

Marbled White

Skipper, not sure which, not often see these at this meadow, saw two today

At Long Last! Found it! Got it!

The Little Owl.  Thanks to one of my blogging friends, Richard Pegler http://peglerbirding.blogspot.co.uk/  who found a Little Owl on one of his trips to Portland Bill.   So ever since, every time we went to Portland Bill, we were looking out for the Little Owls and yesterday we found one in one of the old quarries along the coast from the Lighthouse.  Malcolm my partner was the one who saw it first and I did manage to get a few pictures of it :-)  Thankyou Richard for discovering that Portland had these owls their old quarries  :-)

My very first picture of a Little Owl! 

 

The Little Owl flew off onto some rocks near the edge, trust me, that little blob on the rock is the Little Owl 

 

There was someone else who was looking at me, a Wall Lizard

 

Need your help here, anybody with an expert eye, what is this bird? it looks like to me a pale Common Buzzard.  It was in the same location as the Little Owl.  Not a brilliant picture but I hope it is enough to identify this bird.