Paying Respects to the Naked Man

If you are interested in wildlife, and find yourself in early summer in Dorset with some hours to spare, then you really should go and pay your respects to the Naked Man.

And so to Cerne Abbas, a picture postcard village a few miles north-west of Dorchester, nestled amongst gentle rolling hills.

A typical house in Cerne Abbas.

The hills to the north west were the focus today, and in particular the south-facing slope, ancient meadows alive with butterflies. The commonest butterfly,  yes the commonest, was the fantastic Marsh Fritillary. Just everywhere, fluttering from dandelion to dandelion.

still struggling with the depth of field on the Macro Lens ...

Amongst them were other butterflies; Meadow Brown, some unidentified blues, Speckled Wood, and two skippers: the appropriately named Dingy Skipper and the spectacular Grizzled Skipper.

Dingy Skipper

Grizzled Skipper

And finally the man himself; the Cerne Abbas Giant. I was on the slope on the LHS of this picture. Common Buzzard on the right.

As a postscript, one way to ruin a day out is to immediately on your return google the place you've just been and see what others have seen here. Those Speckled Woods; they were quite well marked. Am I sure they weren't Duke of Burgundies?  Its too late now - no photographic evidence to review. Next time I will be prepared.