Priddy to Draycott Mendip hike & 16 butterfly species 18/7/15

Our hike took us from Priddy following part of the West Mendip Way to Draycott Sleights and back to Priddy a total of 10 tough stunning miles. The walk took us through a mixture of field, meadows and high rocky limestone areas each with its own rich variety of flora. Plenty of Scabious, Thyme, Kidney Vetch, Grasses, Knapweed, Thistles, Clarey and a few Harebells here and there. All great for the butterflies!  The butterflies seen were Comma, Small White, Large White, Marbled White, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, S.Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Small Skipper, Chalk Hill Blue, Dark Green Fritillary, Ringlet, Speckled Wood and Small Heath. A record Day for us. Birds of note were Buzzard, Raven, Kestrel and Skylark.

A beautiful walk with amazing views packed with flora and fauna.

   Meadow Brown

               

                  Skylark, one of many seen in the meadows. Wonderful to hear their song as well

    Coffee time looking across to Draycott Sleights, Cheddar, Brean and beyond!

               

                    Small Skipper

               

                   Chalk Hill Blue on wild Thyme

  Chalk Hill Blue - a real stunner

                

                   Chalk Hill Blue 

    Scabious, great for insects

                

                   Small Skippers and guest!

   Stunning views 

                

                   Kestrel at Draycott

   Marbled White

                

                    Painted Lady - great to see a few of these butterflies 

    Dark Green Fritillary. Only saw one near the end of our walk

Brean Down - High Summer

We spent an amazing morning on Brean Down - all grasses looking very brown now a combination of the heat wave and life cycle giving the down land an extreme dried out look.  Plenty of harebells, ragwort and brambles around all looking very colourful in their 'straw' background..

Saw a group of warblers in a hawthorn plus ravens and a striking stonechat.  Despite us getting caught and soaked in a thunderstorm when the sun did shine we saw a total of 14 species of butterfly the highlight for us being the Chalk Hill Blue.  It is the first time we have seen this butterfly and wow! What a stunner.

View from Brean Down across to Weston Super Mare

Small Skipper

Six Spot Burnet Moth - hundreds on Brean

Grayling

Stormy Skies

Chalk Hill Blue

Chalk Hill Blue

Stonechat