Today we walked the length of the deciduous forestry that forms a large part of the extended grounds of Dunrobin Castle. With the long daylight hours and the recent fine weather, the vegetation has sprung into life, so everything is gloriously green.
In one of the small clearings, where the sunlight reaches down through the canopy, we came across this woodland brown. They were common in similar environments in Felixstowe, a very pretty butterfly that makes a habit of perching in a sunny spot either in a clearing or on the edge of woodland.
On Friday we walked in a totally different environment, the links area to the southwest of Golspie. The picture shows a dip between two old storm beaches, formed of large pebbles, which separate today's sand beach from the links themselves.
The links' soil is formed of shell sand blown in from the beach. Its main vegetation is grass, heather and gorse, but at this time of year the wildflowers it supports are spectacular. The carpet of yellow in both pictures is bird's foot trefoil, egg-and-bacon plant, which....
....this butterfly uses as a source of nectar.
It's a new butterfly for us, Britain's smallest, the small blue, which has a wingspan of 20-30mm. It's also fairly rare, being found in only a scattering of sites from south-central England up to the eastern Highlands, and is declining in numbers. The sole food plant for its caterpillar is....
....kidney vetch, which is only just coming out.
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