Horseshoe Vetch

Hairy Violet

Grizzled Skipper

16 April 2012 On a Cumulus day too cool for butterflies, a visit to Mill Hill was only entertained because the forecast for later in the week was worse. On the lower slopes the first flowers of Horseshoe Vetch, Hippocrepis comosa, appeared with another prostrate downland herb Milkwort. The tiny black pollen beetles Meligethes scrambled over the flowers on the bank, especially on Horseshoe Vetch, Dandelions and on a few of the violets. Salad Burnet was just beginning to flower and their leaves were commonly seen lying prostrate on the bank. Dog Violets predominated with thousands still present. The thousands of Sweet Violets had all faded, which leaves the identity of some of the fresh violets near the bottom of the slope as a bit of a puzzle. I have tentatively identified it as a Hairy Violet. Occasionally, a skipper (butterfly) rose from the ground and fluttered rapidly to a new resting place. The only one positively identified was a fresh Grizzled Skipper. A small bee, one of the Nomada species visited a Dandelion. A few Buff-tailed Bumblebees, Bombus terrestris, were noticeable in the absence of the butterflies.

Dog Violet