Cornwall Butterfly

Our first Grayling of the year (above left) was seen during our eventful trip to Kynance Cove on The Lizard (see Cornwall Moths post). Typically it was sitting with wings closed on the ground, cryptically blending in with its surroundings of bare rock and dried grass. The pair at Braunton Burrows last year (above right) were easier to pick out.

Insight into Grayling (Hipparchia semele): its distribution is mainly coastal around much of the UK showing a preference for well-drained ground, baked dry by the sun, but it may also be found inland on lowland heaths where some colonies may contain hundreds of butterflies.

When it stops to rest it rarely opens its wings and blends in beautifully with its surroundings making it one of the best camouflaged butterflies to be found (or not found!) in the UK.