Pignut Paradise

We visited Pegsdon Hills (BCN Wildlife Trust) on the way to Norfolk a couple of weeks back. I used to spend a lot of time here when we lived nearby, checking the Hebridean sheep, birding and botanising. It is a cracking place and the chalk grasslands looked stunning, with drifts of delicate Pignut and magenta Knapweed, whilst in the valley bottoms, carpets of Marjoram were teeming with butterflies and other insects. It was a bit late for orchids, but I did find a couple of Chalk Fragrants. It was great to find Chalkhill Blues still flourishing at Pegsdon, along with Brown Argus, Common Blue, Small Copper and others. A wonderful place, full of great memories for me. I wrote my wedding speech sitting on top of the hills looking north, one August afternoon, back in 2003.

I noticed a cool moth on the Field Scabious. With a bit of help from Twitter mates, it was identified as a Brassy Longhorn Moth. Nice. Chalk grasslands don't come much better than this.

(All photos with Samsung Galaxy A5)