Meathop Moss and Arnside knott july 7th 2012

After a failed trip to Whixall moss to shoot Large Heaths , i decided to combine at trip to the lakes , and visit Meathop Moss in the morning , then go Back to Arnside Knot in the afternoon.
I arrived at Meathop about 9 am , was fairly warm which makes a change and forecast was for a warm sunny day!!!!!  it had rained quite heavy overnight and the main track onto the moss was very much flooded! 

                                                                    the warning sign :)

I made my way to the wooden boardwalk and almost immediately found the Large Heaths flitting around the heather and long grass .  as usual they just don't perch on a clear stem to be photographed , and only stay still for a very short time before flying off again,  they have to be the most frustrating butterfly to shoot!!!!!!!!   i walked along the wooden structure and then made my way onto the moss, it wasn't too wet actually . chasing the butterflies was quite tiring but eventually managed this reasonable image.

                                                       a view looking across the moss

walking further onto the moss i got the chance of another well perched Large Heath, this is the final image i got.

Now i will make my way over to Arnside knott , to hopefully shoot the High brown fritillaries.

   by now the sun has come out and it is getting very warm , makes a change to say that this year!
i make my way down to the 3rd lower level and find High Browns straight away, very active in the sun and feeding on bramble flowers.  this was going to be a challenge to photograph them!
first image one feeding on thistle flowers , and a low level image taken against the blue sky :)

this is the area they are found

High Brown Fritillary

 as a comparison, here is a Dark Green Frittillary .  note no red circle spots on rear edge of wing

                             as you can see they are quite similar unless a close view is taken

                                           here are a few more views of High Browns

The end of another good day fluttering , but with Arnside being probably the worst place for ticks, i had a few hitch hikers come home with me!!!!!!  Arghhhhh    counted 18 crawling up my jeans while driving home!

                                                         this one has had a huge meal!!   NOT ME!

Red colouration from blood!

             Tomorrow i will be climbing Green & Great Gable in cumbria with the twitterati group