Mountain Ringlets in Cumbria.

A walk up Kidsty Pike which is one of the classic sites for the mountain ringlet. Their main food plant is believed to be Mat grass - Nardus stricta and they like open mountain grassland that is dominated by Nardus with heath bedstraw. There may also be an association with sheep's-fescue - Festuca ovina. In the Lake District it occurs between 500 and 700m. The flight period varies between years but is generally thought to be the third week of June - third week in July. The butterfly itself is very active in sunny weather and the ones we saw rarely settled making photography challenging to say the least!

Mountain ringlets - there were between 20 and 30 on the wing on the ridge up to the top of Kidsty Pike. 

Patterns in the beck - and a trout ....a welcome paddle for the dog in the heat!