As July progressed, with each day seemingly hotter and drier, the fine grasses wilted and dried out where there was no shade, whilst other plants came into bud then flower, with berries developing all within a few days. The berries however remained small, needing water. Butterflies continued to appear in large numbers, with Gatekeepers seen even on the hottest days. Speckled Wood butterflies were also numerous, most choosing the dense shade thrown by the old Oaks and Maples on the river bank:
A Speckled Wood butterfly hanging onto a nettle leaf - with wings closed to
prevent over-heating in the strong sun,
they usually prefer chasing in spirals high up into the shady tree canopy to basking in the sun at any time and even remained very active on the hottest days.
The rivers continued to flow well but water levels dwindled, although the steep shady river banks were damp, attracting birds seeking out invertebrates lodged in them.
Riverbank vegetation mirrored in the clear water with Salix growing across.
22nd July 2018
Willows with roots at the water's edge have grown well this year and are
frequented by warblers, especially Phylloscopus (chiffchaff, willow warbler).
They forage for insects amongst the leaves but also thrive on insects over the water,
'flycatching'
Another butterfly, the Comma (polygon c-album) , mingles with Speckled Woods and Gatekeepers over bank vegetation and its caterpillars feed on the edges of nettle leaves. Only usually seen in small numbers, there were always one or two present n the same locations as the other two species but often seen basking with wings outstretched. When perching with closed wings however it can be almost invisible.
This Comma butterfly is perching with outstretched wings in order to catch the faint sunshine on a rare cloudy day.
Unfortunately, promising thunderclouds yielded no rain here, but did cause the river level to rise slightly as rain fell in the catchment area upstream.
13th July 2018
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