East is East and West is West.....

 And this update is all about a visit to both!

East Blean and West Blean that is. The purpose of the visit was to hopefully see the rare Heath Fritillary butterflies. The last time I blogged about these stunning insects was back in June of 2011, but I cannot believe that was my last visit: I must have been again at some point in the intervening decade?

Whenever it was that I last visited, one thing is certain, numbers are not what they once were; at least that's how it appears this year to me. There are butterflies to be found, but sadly not in the vast numbers seen on previous visits.

So here are a few shots of the Heath Fritillaries, together with a couple of other species that were present...

For me, the underwings are the prettiest...

Even so, the upper wings are beautifully chequered...

The closest I got to a backlit shot...

I was lucky enough to also see and photograph, both Red and White Admiral butterflies...

The whites always look like they have been rather badly hand-stitched around the wing edges...

Then a couple of mating Ringlets...

The final 'spot' of the day was this amazing Painted Lady. My first of the year...

I guess I should have said my final butterfly spot of the day; because just before leaving the woods, I came across this batch of newly hatched Green Shieldbug nymphs on a Broom plant...