This morning I got up early to see if I could get some photos of the pearl-bordered fritillaries before they became too active.
In the end it turned out to be quite a good plan.
This very fresh and perfectly co-operative male pearl-bordered fritillary would have stayed on my finger for ages but I persuaded him to settle on a bracken frond at a convenient height to photograph.
The result was probably the best photo of the week, except for one thing - this species nearly always basks on the ground so in the end the photo just didn't look quite right.
Pleased by this early success, I sat down for a spot of breakfast and this little gem landed right in front of me - a gorgeous green hairstreak.
One of the best butterfly spots in the forest, Hawkshill Enclosure, produced this very attractive wasp beetle.
