In July 2013 I found a small colony of Marbled Whites on the ridge between Abercynon and the Merthyr Valley near the "Giant's Tooth". In 2014 and 2015 I saw small numbers but in 2016 I did not manage to get there at all although Martin Bell had had a look with no luck.
After dinner today I decided to go up and have a quick look. Although it was earlier than I had seen them before we had managed to see some Marbled Whites in Gloucester the previous week so I thought it was worth the risk. I first walked up the road on the Merthyr side and was soon delighted to see a Marbled White flying around, soon followed by another. By the time I took the turning to walk up to the ridge I had seen four. On top however things just got better, walking on the edge of the grass I kept flushing more Marbled Whites getting 13 in total, much more than I had expected.
There were also good numbers of Dark Green Fritillaries, Meadow Browns, Ringlets and Cinnabar Moths.
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| Dark Green Fritillary |
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| Dark Green Fritillary |
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| Marbled White |
Excellent. The last Marbled White I saw was a fly by, at Bryn Du, about four years ago. As for DGF; they only exist in my world, as a distant orangey thing hurtling away from me at high speed.
ReplyDeleteGreat photos.
Well done phil for keep checking and going back up .
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