Butterflies and Moths (9): At Burgh Castle Saxon Shore Fort

David finding the perfect photo spot inside Burgh Castle walls

I had not been here for many years, but this impressive Roman fort on the Saxon Shore (along with others) was the subject of my A Level History project many moons ago. I may post a piece about the Saxon Shore over on my Coastcard Poetry Plus blog in the next few days, but this post here (and a couple of subsequent ones) will be about the wildlife we encountered. 

The sun was shining most of the time - a rare treat this 'summer' in our corner of the world - but there was a breeze, so I wasn't sure what to expect in terms of lepidoptera. As we walked through the beautiful meadowlands, we soon realised that we were surrounded by lively butterflies like the (female) Meadow Brown above.

We walked on a bit towards the castle walls, and I spotted this butterfly in a grassy verge. It was busy 'nectaring' on what I took to be a kind of red (purple!) dead nettle. I think it may be a member of the Hesperiidae, otherwise known as Skippers. Possibly a Large Skipper? 

The butterfly resting.

The final species of butterfly we noticed was this male Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus). It was a bit ragged around the edges, but a delight to watch.

You can read about the dragonfly we saw at Burgh Castle here in the next post. Meanwhile, if you live in the UK, you might like to take part in the Big Butterfly Count. It is something I hope to do, and I look forward to sharing my results.