Memories So Golden, So Sweet and so Sad, Of what Time has Stolen

I woke after a good nights sleep in the van at Dunsford. I lit the stove and made some green tea while eating my meusli and pondering on my next move.
The morning was overcast with the threat of rain. The clouds hung heavy over the forest so I decided on plan B hoping the weather to the West was brighter. It was closer to North Dartmoor so always a toss up weather wise and quite frequently worse.

I was staying with my good friends Brian and Sara near Okehampton for the weekend. Not far from there is the wonderful Meeth Quarry Nature Reserve. So my destination lay there before I traveled to see them.

I try to visit most years. For two reasons. To meet dear friends and explore Devon's amazing flora and fauna.  It holds many species I won't find in my neck of the woods in Hampshire and Spring is one of the best times to go.
 Being a place most associated with water due to it's previous industrial clay pit use, Meeth produces many thousands of  Damsel and Dragonflies amongst so many other wonders.

The road leading to the quarry passes fields of green, lush with the damp early Spring.
 The car park is huge. Lined by trees on one part with the opposite side that used to house the massive warehouse - now demolished - leaving a concrete base with it's fate unknown. Hopefully to be broken up and reverted back to nature ?

The main path twists from this area towards the main lakes and myriad of small ponds.
First up for sightings were Speckled Wood and a Dingy Skipper Butterfly.The latter coming to the end of their season but showing well here along the lush rides.      

Southern Marsh Orchids were just beginning to bloom along the paths.

One specialist species here that normally shows to the point of almost total ambivalence, is the Wood White. I have witnessed these Butterflies in their hundreds here. The slow start to Spring has held them in check however but these most delicate of Lepidoptera put in an appearance not too far along the path.
If you believe in Fairies, then the Wood White must have been confused with them on many an occasion.
They dance along the rides like gossamer on strings, feeding occasionally on Ragged Robin - their preferred nectar source which is abundant.  

These cannot be confused with other 'White' butterflies. They are not 'Cabbage whites' to coin a derogatory term. They do not lay eggs on brassicas that their offspring can devour, they are extremely rare and on the edge of extinction in the UK. Meeth is an oasis for this angelic insect and I am always in awe of this diminutive creature.  

Burnet Companions are day flying moths. You are guaranteed sightings at Meeth. They aren't something I go in search for but when found, are always welcome. Moth monikers are always pleasing to pronounce too !

I was nearing the many water bodies, so in agreement the Dragonflies began to appear. Four Spotted Chasers being the most prevalent.
I tried to catch them in flight with terrible success, so perching was the better option. 

Large Red Damselflies managed to squeeze into the action as this pairing couple oviposited below me in the pond.

I picked up on a Wolf Spider carrying it's egg sack nearby too.

More day flying Moths appeared. This Cinnabar is as spectacular as an adult as it is as a black and yellow striped caterpillar feeding on Ragwort.

They do prove to be elusive when trying to grab a decent photo however.

I gave up and immediately stumbled across a Garden Warbler singing from the scrub.
Normally shy and retiring, this individual gave almost respectable views along the Birch tree line.

The path here is lined by small trees and shrubs. The growth is quite noticeable over the years and has become extremely dense. 

The information board along the path gives a good perspective on the area before nature took control of the industrial landscape, with a little help from the hand of man.

My time this year was over. The weather had held again but my time with my friends beckoned. I was long overdue for a catch up..

Folly Gate : A tiny hamlet north of Okehampton. Set amongst the rolling hills adjacent to Dartmoor with the Tors as it's backdrop. Every road that leads from it is downhill. I know, I've cycled it and good grief it's hard on the way back up.

Rather than cycle, the best alternative is to wander in Sara and Brian's back yard. Their paddock has a mixture of raised vegetable beds, poly tunnel and damp grassland with a large wildlife pond at the back.

Although a tad overgrown with pygmyweed, the pond has a microcosm of life. I took the time to record the damselflies that flitted over the surface.
Mainly Azure Damselfly but the abstract nature of the shots appealed to me as I tried to focus on them in between the dense vegetation..   

Exiting their property takes you into the rural lanes.

Early Orange Tip Butterflies are not long for the season. Their flight period nearly at an end.
I was lucky this one stayed for a photograph.

Swallows are common here but have been declining in numbers. It's all too easy to think they will be here forever.

Lydford Gorge is a great place to visit 20 minutes down the road. The steep sided valley has a waterfall and is a place many tourists visit while in the area.
I had other plans. Lydford Forest adjacent to this is Forestry Commission land.
I'd found a patch deep down in the valley last year that harbours the very rare Heath Fritillary. I was returning to the place I had got to know well in the hope of another close encounter.

As I turned onto the track that takes you to the car park there, I was stopped in my tracks by signs barring my way. It was closed due to tree felling in the area !
I turned off the engine and pondered my options. Firstly I thought, it was a Sunday. Secondly it was a bank holiday weekend so I knew no one would be working in the area and thirdly, no other human would venture past the no entry signs. The place would be all my own so I threw caution to the wind and jumped the barriers. I was excited by my anarchical stance !

The single gravel track winds like a snake dropping steeply at every corner. I'm always aware I will have to walk back up.

After only last years walk as a reference point, the area became very familiar once again.
I knew of a place ripe with Pearl Bordered Fritillaries on a south facing path.
Before I had even reached that place, I encountered one in an area that had recently been clear felled. This is something the Fritillaries love. They used to be called the Woodcutters friend as they followed the felling in the past and recolonised the open habitat as their flower foodplant grew. Hopefully they would have new breeding grounds to call home?

I passed the same Oak trees where a Garden Warbler sang from last year. It had returned to it's territory once more. So good to meet it after a years absence. Although it was tucked away in the foliage doing what Garden Warblers do, unlike the individual at Meeth.

My usual rest at the bench overlooking Brent Tor and it's chapel was as impressive as before.

Then to the path which gives up a wholly unusual place to witness Pearl Bordered Fritillaries..
They were here as usual providing top views.

Some twenty or so flitted along the south facing bank.

Not far from this innocuous butterfly heaven is the base of the hill where the rivulet that followed me down gathers into a small clear pool where Large Red Damselflies congregate to breed.

The path on the valley floor bends round in a loop and begins it's ascent on the opposite side of the river that runs through it.

I came across a stunning little bug but was unsure of it's name. Upon consultation of my insect book I found it to be a Black and Red Froghopper. Fairly uncommon. I usually see it's dowdier brown cousins.

In the clearing I found more Fritillaries. This time a female Small Pearl Bordered feeding on the bluebells..

I carried on across the river and up the hill to my destination just around the corner where another glade opens up between the trees.
The place is covered in bracken and south facing. Perfect habitat and one of the only places in the South West to find the rare Heath Fritillary. I hit the jackpot here last year and thought, in my naivety, it was a done deal this year.
As this is such a rare insect, you are discouraged from traipsing all across this place and understandably so. It's all too easy to trample eggs and cocoons. I kept to what defined paths there were.
There were plenty of Butterfly on the wing but with it being so hot, they refused to stop for any more than a couple of seconds.
Eventually some obliged but all I kept finding were Small Pearl Bordereds.

Mainly females...

Or the occasional lighter males.

I was getting more and more concerned. If the Heaths were emerging they were keeping a low profile.
It had been a poor start to the Spring so I think their emergence had been delayed. It was still on the cusp that they are due to fly so I reckon I was a few days early. I was here almost to the day last year and there were tens on the wing. It had been a better start to Spring last year however.

I've added two of my stock photos from last year of the Heath Fritillary as a comparison

I consoled myself in Small Pearl Bordereds before me. Still beautiful and getting rarer by the year. I couldn't be too disappointed.

I still felt a little cheated however and pushed on back to the van  I had a long slow climb before me.

Back at the pool a very weary and tatty Peacock fluttered around me. I was amazed it could even get airborne?!

Further up the path, Orange Tips occasionally danced passed and even stopped for a photo as they fed on the Herb Robert.

Another Devon sojourn was drawing to a close. More joy out walking in Nature and meeting good friends. Slight disappointments with chances missed but I'll be back !!

The title of this post is a line taken from the poem... 'Things Lost on Gossamer Wings' by David Whalen
https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/things-lost-on-gossamer-wings/