Ringlet Butterfly

The Ringlet is a fairly common butterfly in Britain.  At first you may just dismiss it as a brown butterfly but when its resting as in this photo, taken on Uley Bury, you can see the rings towards the base of the wings which give it it's name. In colour it is all brown which distinguishes it from the Meadow Brown which has patches of gold and yellow.
Ringlets fly in mid summer around grassy, bushy areas and woodland clearings.  This one as you can see was sitting on a bramble above the long grass and the wood was nearby.
We will be making the most of the sunshine today before it disappears again.  We plan to take part in the www.bigbutterflycount.org and encourage our followers to do the same.

Make hay while the sun shines

This recent summer weather has had farmers rushing to make hay before the next batch of wet weather arrives.

Badger Traps

Although plans for a badger cull are proceeding there are still attempts to establish a vaccination programme with the aid of traps like these.
Badgers are thought to spread TB so some control may be needed but care is needed as killing some animals may increase the mobility of remaining badgers and can increase the potential to spread disease.

Young Frog

We spotted this Common frog whilst tidying up the garden this morning.  We think it is a youngster as it is still quite small, see the snail shells nearby.  We presume it will have started the year as frogspawn, gone through the tadpole stage and is now looking like an adult and was very well camouflaged until it hopped out of the way.
Common frogs apparently feed on insects, snails, slugs and worms so must have been doing very well during this year's wet summer.  They are active both during the day and night although we have found them to be more often visible if around the garden in the evening.

Cattle Resting

They say when cattle lie down it is going to rain which it certainly did within minutes of taking this family group relaxing in the sunshine.

Marbled White Butterfly

It is said to be a poor year for butterflies but a little sunshine brings them out in large numbers.
Marbled whites abound in the limestone grassland on the Cotswolds feeding on thistles knapweed and clover.
Sunny mornings are a good time to see them as they rest with wings open warming in the sun's rays.

Slugs

A walk through this long grass after a stormy afternoon revealed more slugs and snails than we have ever seen before.  They were of all sizes, colours and shapes munching away.
We have encountered the similar quantities in our garden this summer as they have eaten their way through every petunia in our patio pots, and almost everything in the vegetable patch.  At least the birds have had a feast.

White sheep

Another sunny morning before the next storm. These newly shorn sheep look pristine white against the green grass. Guess all the rain that we have had has kept them clean. Their lambs have been separated and so the ewes can enjoy peace once again.



Showery Evening

The evening sun breaks through to briefly light up the fields of  Severn Vale despite the rain as the wettest summer on record continues.

Milk producers

The dairy industry is not just cows grazing the meadows and producing milk as this photo shows. The large factory in the background is Dairy Crest, one of the largest creameries in Europe supplying milk and cheese to much of the UK. It is clearly visible from the Cotswold Way National Trail in our area.

Stormy Weather

This wet summer continues although the sun does break through as shown by this picture from Rodborough Common.