Butts Brow and Babylon Down

There is currently an archaeological dig at Butts Brow; several teams are investigating the neolithic ditches that cover the hill. The grassland is looking marvellous and is full of butterflies, day-flying moths, grasshoppers and bees.

Common Blue. I think this is a male.

Female Common Blue.

Male Common Blue.

The magnificent chalk grassland flowers on Babylon Down

A rather friendly Common Green Grasshopper, Omocestrus virdulus, with a missing back leg.

Flowering Wild Marjoram, Origanum vulgare. This actually the same species as the herb oregano, but it has a different scent when growing in a cooler climate. The bees were very strongly attracted to it.

A Buff-tailed Bumble Bee, Bombus terrestris, collecting nectar from the Marjoram.