Saturday 18th July 2020

My inner weatherman deemed it a good day for macro photography.

Yay, I hear you all cry.

It was a fine, clear and still morning. Perfect.

We have coffee and are out of the house by quarter past seven, driving up the motorway to Ashford then across the Marsh to Warehorne, as I wasn't going to give up on seeing my 40th UK butterfly species, the White Letter Hairstreak.

We cross over the level crossing and park near the canal, grab my camera and was all excited, we were here at eight, should be the ideal time to spot butterflies.

Under the railway bridge, and on the left, the first of several bramble patches, and the Hairsteaks should be there.

I look.

I look.

I walk down to the next two or three patches.

Walk back.

Most of the expected species are there, except one. Can you guess which one?

Yes. Bloody Hairstreak.

And to make matters worse, the breeze was building, though in the lea of the brambles it was calm, no self respecting Hairstreak would leave their honeydew at the top of their elm tree to come down to the brambles in this wind!

I call Jools to walk back to the car, defeated again.

We drive back to Ashford, where the traffic is building, and there are lane closures past the new lorry park for Brexit.

Sigh.

It was good to get through that and onto the motorway, drive up the twenty or so miles to Maidstone, then up Detling Hill to Pilgrims Way, just off the main road, but in a sleepy corner of Kent.

You can always reply on orchids, they don't fly away or hide in tree tops.

Yes. back at The Larches, because Helleborines. And all Broad Leaved. Even if every spike looks different.

As we walked through the wood, the bright sunshine looked as though it was going to fail me, and the half hour trip from Warehorne was going to be a waste, but soon the breeze cleared the clouds, and I was left with almost perfect macro snapping conditions.

We walked up the path beside the meadow, and on both sides we saw new spikes unfurling all the way up.

Into the meadow, and straight away there are more and more spikes, being later than last time we were here, so many more in sunshine, and what a selection to choose from! I quickly spot something unusual, and very pale spike and being so pale it was a good var. viridiflora.

Further along the path we come to more and more spikes, until under the middle tree, there were spikes everywhere. Yes, the site is more overgrown than last year, but the orchids are loving it, even if they are hard to snap. BUt whatever, there is always another tempt me to get the camera out.

I see something odd on a spike of Viper's Bugloss, and what I thought was a bit of bird poo turned out to be a pair of Burnet Moths mating. I snap them. Several times.

We walk back down the other path beside the meadow, and even there we find dozens more spikes, and even more disappearing into the gloom of the wood. Some are real monsters, three feet tall or more.

And that is that. Back to the car, back down Detling Hill to the motorway and home, going via Stop 24 to refuel and get some snacks, a couple of chicken wraps to munch on the way home, to tide us over until we got home.

There is football on the radio, half a Championship round of matches, felt almost like a "normal" Saturday, other than it is in July, and there were no Prem, League 1 or 2 games. There is even the familiar sounds of Sports Report at five,. By then we had eaten lunch, burgers. And a beer. Which explained my struggles with staying awake.

At half five, Norwich were playing, live on TV of course, as all torture should be. But we were off to play cards, picking John up on the way. When we got to his house, he was chatting to a lady in a bikini, the old fox!

And to Jen's, where her Mum has an infection, and is having visions. Mainly of people in the living room and her teeth on the ceiling. Jen has got her some antibiotics, and so we hope some kind or normality will return. But for the night, Bet slept off the drugs, sound asleep and made no noise for over four hours, and the TV went unwatched.

In cards, I had another wonderful night, including all seven hands in a game of Meld, something had not happened in all the time we have played, to any of us. The final hand was a triumph.

And to rub salt in to the others wounds, I scoop the run jackpot in Queenie too. End of a fabulous day, much swearing from John and Jen!