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Exploring Pole Hill

@exploring_pole_hill

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Supposed to be running. Distracted by butterflies. All phone photography. Exploring my neck of Epping Forest. 🌿🦋

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🦋 Speckled Wood
📍 Pole Hill
📅 28 September, 2026
🕰️ Early afternoon sun

Speckled Wood still going very strong on Pole Hill. Been seeing a few Large Whites and Red Admirals flapping about too. Still hoping to see the Comma I saw a couple of weeks ago. Lots of autumnal blooms - I’m particularly enjoying Michaelmas Daisies (if that’s what these are in the last two images) at the moment.

#savebutterflies #ButterflyConservation #SpeckledWood #EppingForest #PoleHill #UKButterflies #shotoniphone taken in Pole Hill Epping Forest by @exploring_pole_hill

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21 hours ago

🪰Willow Emerald Damselfly
📍Pole Hill
📅 25 September, 2026
🕰️ Afernoon sun

So nice to have a few days of sun in late September. These photos are from my Friday walk. As well as seeing several Speckled Wood, a couple of shy Red Admiral and a few white butterflies, there were lots of dragonflies darting about. This rather elegant damselfly stopped right next to me so I did my best to get a pic. Good to see a Large White making the most of some flowering rosemary in a friend’s garden too.

#LargeWhiteButterfly #EppingForest #PoleHill #UKButterflies taken in Pole Hill Epping Forest by @exploring_pole_hill

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3 days ago

🦋 Speckled Wood
📍 Pole Hill
📅 18 September, 2026
🕰️ Mid morning sun

It’s officially Speckled Wood season - by far the most active and visible butterfly on the woodland edges right now.

#savebutterflies #ButterflyConservation #SpeckledWood #EppingForest #PoleHill #UKButterflies #shotoniphone taken in Pole Hill Epping Forest by @exploring_pole_hill

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4 days ago

🦋 Small Copper
📍 Pole Hill
📅 7 September, 2026
🕰️ Morning sun

This is the same Small Copper I posted a pic of the other day from a couple of weeks ago. It obliged by posing against grass, on Ragwort, by some brambles - all the available backgrounds. I stayed in pretty much the same spot and took some snaps and, well, this is the brambles background (hero crop and original shot).

It’s official:

I ❤️Small Coppers!

#savebutterflies #ButterflyConservation #SmallCopper #EppingForest #PoleHill #UKButterflies #brambles taken in Pole Hill Epping Forest by @exploring_pole_hill

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6 days ago

🦋 Small White
📍 Pole Hill
📅 3 September, 2026
🕰️ Afernoon sun

A Small White from earlier in the month. Saw a few on the wing today too.

#savebutterflies #ButterflyConservation #SmallWhiteButterfly #EppingForest #PoleHill #UKButterflies taken in Pole Hill Epping Forest by @exploring_pole_hill

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8 days ago

🦋 Small Copper
📍 Pole Hill
📅 7 September, 2026
🕰️ Morning sun

My last sighting of a Small Copper was a couple of weeks ago. The ragwort that was keeping them going is going to seed - although there are new autumnal flowers appearing in the woods and meadows… like ivy-leaved cyclamen and autumn hawkbit. And the ivy is finally starting to bloom - a great refuelling plant for autumnal butterflies.

Talking of which, I’m still hoping to get one final glimpse / shot of the elusive Comma I’ve seen a couple of times on recent walks. 🤞

#savebutterflies #ButterflyConservation #SmallCopper #EppingForest #PoleHill #UKButterflies #ragwort taken in Pole Hill Epping Forest by @exploring_pole_hill

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9 days ago

🦋 Speckled Wood
📍 Pole Hill
📅 17 September, 2026
🕰️ Afernoon sun

Another Speckled Wood from this week.

#savebutterflies #ButterflyConservation #SpeckledWood #EppingForest #PoleHill #UKButterflies by @exploring_pole_hill

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10 days ago

🦋 Speckled Wood
📍 Pole Hill
📅 18 September, 2026
🕰️ Mid morning sun

This guy came and sat right next to me in a sunny ivy patch on the edge of the forest this morning. Saw quite a few Speckled Woods today - and a couple of Clouded Yellows and Red Admirals.

#savebutterflies #ButterflyConservation #SpeckledWood #EppingForest #PoleHill #UKButterflies taken in Pole Hill Epping Forest by @exploring_pole_hill

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12 days ago

🦋 Speckled Wood
📍 Pole Hill
📅 14 September, 2026
🕰️ Afternoon sun

Butterfly season isn’t over just yet. I popped out for a quick lunchtime stroll on Monday and spotted several whites, two Clouded Yellows, two Red Admirals, a Comma, a rather lonely looking Small Heath and a Speckled Wood.

#savebutterflies #ButterflyConservation #SpeckledWood #EppingForest #PoleHill #UKButterflies taken in Pole Hill Epping Forest by @exploring_pole_hill

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13 days ago

🦋 Small White
📍 Pole Hill
📅 5 September, 2026
🕰️ Late afternoon sun

Had hoped to get out earlier in the day last Saturday - it was around 5:30pm when I got to my current favourite meadow. On the plus side, it was a gorgeous evening but I found that not a lot was happening except this quite fresh-looking small white diligently checking out every ragwort flower head in the sunniest corner of the field.

When the fields are teeming with more exotic looking and rarer species, I’m as guilty as everyone else for overlooking the whites, but they are no less beautiful than the blues, browns, clouded yellows and hairstreaks that have made my forest adventures so rewarding this summer.

#savebutterflies #ButterflyConservation #SmallWhite #EppingForest #PoleHill #UKButterflies taken in Pole Hill Epping Forest by @exploring_pole_hill

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18 days ago

🦋 Speckled Wood
📍 Hawk Wood
📅 30 August, 2026
🕰️ Afternoon sun

This Speckled Wood boldly stood his ground slap bang in the middle of our path through the woods. So I took the opportunity to try an experimental low down shot without being able to see my phone screen.

#savebutterflies #ButterflyConservation #SpeckledWood #EppingForest #PoleHill #UKButterflies #iPhonePhotography taken in Hawk Woods Epping Forest by @exploring_pole_hill

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19 days ago

🦋 Green-veined White
📍 Pole Hill
📅 5 September, 2026
🕰️ Morning sun

I’ve been hoping to get a decent photo of a Green-veined White all summer and finally got the chance to hang out for a few minutes with a particularly chilled out, fresh looking specimen feeding on ragwort in the meadow.

#savebutterflies #ButterflyConservation #GreenVeinedWhite #EppingForest #PoleHill #UKButterflies taken in Pole Hill Epping Forest by @exploring_pole_hill

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20 days ago