And did you walk from the town into the heather

A work trip to Little Beck on the North York Moors to talk to BBC TV about YWT's objection to the proposed potash mine which threatens the National Park, gave me the opportunity to pop in to the delightful YWT reserve of Fen Bog. I was on the hunt for Wood Tiger, a belter of a moth that I have never seen. Sadly, I couldn't find any, but did manage to get a brief view of a Small Argent and Sable, a tiny black and white moth which was hanging out among the profuse snow drift of Heath Bedstraw. Several Small Pearl-bordered Fritillaries sipped nectar from the heather. They were very fresh, perhaps newly emerged. A trio of rather pale Painted Ladies were knocking about, the harbingers of a mooted major immigration. Also, two Small Heaths and a Large Skipper.

Small Pearl above, Painted Lady below