Beautiful summer in the United Kindgom

Our trip to England for my son's graduation provided us with the perfect opportunity to explore the south of the country, an area that I had not visited during my previous stay in the 1980s. In my research on butterflies in the UK, I was thrilled to discover that Dartmoor is a particularly popular spot for these beautiful creatures.

Here are the places that we have explored at Dartmoor:

 

(1) Snapes Point, National Park Car Park.  I was not sure what to expect and was in for some nice surprises!

 

The Ringlet was my first UK butterfly that I have photographed.

Gatekeeper was one of my favourite butterflies!

 

Peacock was absolutely stunning!

 Lots of the Meadow Brown flying about!

Small Tortoiseshell was skittish but I managed to get some good shots!

Red Admiral was skittish too!

(2)  After spending about 2 hours at Snapes Point, we drove to Start Point Lighthouse.  My husband was enjoying the walk to the Lighthouse while I took my time looking for butterflies and at the same time enjoying the scenery.

Here I found a lovely mating pair of the Ringlet.

 

(3)    Our apartment in Haytor Drive was just right infront of the Moorland. Took some lovely evening walks up to the Moorland where I found many Small Heath but unfortunately they were just too skittish to get good shots of them.

 

 (4)    Newbridge Hill, Dartmoor

The White Admiral was one of my target butterfly!

 

 

We spent a week exploring Dartmoor before heading to Cambridge to visit a dear friend whom I hadn't seen in 30 years. She had recently purchased a charming cottage in Ely, surrounded by stunning wheat fields.

To my great pleasure, I discovered a grassy patch near her home and captured photos of several butterflies, including the Comma, which repeatedly returned to bask in the same spots.

Many Small Skippers but most challenging to shoot!

We visited the Cambridge Botanical Gardens and was delighted to see many butterflies there too.

 Green Veined White

Large White

On our return from Europe, we spent our last week in London. I revisited Kew Gardens but was rather disappointed that I did not see many butterflies on that day.

 Comma

Similarly in Boxhill, Surrey Hill, it was another disappointing day for butterflies but nevertheless it was a nice walk at the London countryside.

 

Speckled Wood