Exam Butterflies and Breeding Birds

After recently discovering a new local patch, I decided to head down there a couple of days ago in the middle of a busy week of exams. The weather has been perfect for all creatures great and small, so I was hoping to find some butterflies on my walk.

A new species for me, the Orange Tip is very abundant in April as it has only 1 brood from mid to late spring. Surprisingly, I manage to connect with not 1, not 2 but 11 of these little butterflies on my walk. Photography of Orange Tips isn't easy; as I'm sure butterfly photographers will tell you, as they very, very rarely land! I was luckily enough to sneak up on this beautiful male as he fed from a bluebell...

The Green veined White, my favourite 'White' butterfly, is also very abundant at this time of year; a closer look at these butterflies reveals just how beautiful and delicate they actually are...

The Comma is another very common butterfly that is quite easily overlooked...

... but to be honest I think its quite hard to overlook this Peacock with those large eyes staring at you!

Probably one of my least favourite butterfly; the Speckled Wood (they are too common!)- but still very pretty with those black eyes in the middle of yellow blobs...

There were also lots of signs of the bird breeding season being well underway in the woods. Long-tailed tits make one of the most astonishing nests in the bird world; it makes you wonder how these tiny birds manage to make such intricate designs using just a beak, when a crow or sparrow would make do with some twigs settled down in a bush!

This Long-tail was collecting spiders webs to act as a sort of mortar to hold the nest together...

Chiffchaffs and Blue tits were also present, note the feather to the left of this Chiffchaff; after I took the shot the Chiffchaff took the feather and flew off!