Collard Hill - Sat 11 Jun

A difficult decision this afternoon, Over Stratton Village Fete or Collard Hill and the chance to finally see some Large Blue butterflies. The butterflies won and after lunch I drove up to the site just north of Compton Dundon and arrived at about 3.00pm and walked up to the hill top. I had seen a small group of people on the hillside as I drove along so I made straight for their location in the hope that they were looking at my target....and they were! In rather blustery and overcast conditions a Large Blue was resting in the grass affording excellent views and as I wandered round the site I saw three more. Not bad for a less than perfect day for butterflies.

I also saw my first Marbled White of the year and a couple of Meadow Browns and a Small Heath were also braving the weather.
On the bird front if was unsurprisingly quiet with just a pair of Bullfinches, a hovering Kestrel, and a couple of fly-through Swifts being seen. So I didn't hang around too long and instead headed on home in time to see the Canadian Grand Prix qualifying.