Rain stopped play

The transect team chose Monday morning to do this week's butterfly count and although the weather held fair for the first four sections, by the end of Section 8 the rain started at which point we decided to abandon the transect. 
 
We saw all but one of the day's butterflies in the brief sunshine on Coneyboro Hill and Fames Rough (section 2, 3 & 4) . In these three consecutive sections we recorded 18 Dingy Skippers, 2 Brimstones, and 1 Grizzled Skipper, and ended the count with a single Speckled Wood (the first this year, so far) in the wooded footpath between Hill Wood Field and Barn Field.
 
For comparison, Week 7 of  2020 was our first transect following the first Covid 19 lockdown, and in obviously better weather than we encountered today we counted 42 Dingy Skippers, 21 Brimstones, 13 Common Blues, 7 Small Heaths, 2 Peacocks and 1 Small White and 1 Green-veined White.

Survey by Brian Gardner, Graham H and Graham Kenward ​submitted to Butterfly Conservation (UKBMS). 
​Report by Brian Gardner. 
Pics by Graham Kenward.
​Click on pics to enlarge.

Dingy & Grizzled Skippers, both favouring Germander Speedwell.