Knees Up Meadow Brown

I’m in a large meadow in East Sussex in the heat watching butterflies. They are a nightmare to photograph in this heat because they are too active and I’m too hot and really want to be inactive in The Beachy Head pub nearby.

There’s a brown butterfly which is sticking very closely to the ground and which disappears every time it lands, keeping its wings tight shut. I lie down waiting for one to come near.

There it is:

Meadow Brown - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

They are incredibly hairy. Look at those eyes! And those incredible legs!

Meadow Brown - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Just when I think that I’m photographing a Meadow Brown butterfly Maniola jurtina I realise that it’s too small and must be a Small Heath Coenonympha pamphilus instead. Despite appearances, I’m not actually in a large brown meadow in East Sussex; I’m on a small heath instead.

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