Somewhere new this afternoon for Ellie and I as we headed off after lunch to the western edge of the Mendips and a walk up to Crook Peak, some five miles of so west of Cheddar. We picked this location as the Somerset Butterfly Group were running a field trip here in a weeks time to look for Graylings and Walls, but as we would be unable to make it we thought we'd try it out ourselves.
Unfortunately, though it was still very warm the skies were overcast so there were not a huge amount of butterflies about, and on the exposed rocky slopes we saw none at all! However, we did see at least thirty Common Blues as they roosted on grass:
Also on the wing were a few Marbled Whites and several Ringlets and Meadow Browns. There were also a couple of Small Skippers:
Other than the butterflies we also saw a Jay as we left the car and entered the wooded slope leading up to Crook Peak, and a couple of young Bullfinches were seen. As we reached the top of the "peak" the ground opened up on to heathland and several Meadow Pipits were flitting about. A single male Stonechat was seen and a Raven slowing passed by overhead.
After two hours of walking over rocky terrain and steep slopes we found our way back to the car ready to head for home and Sunday dinner!
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