scotch argus at the rickety fence

30-07-26 Colin invited me on his planned trip to the rickety fence, Melrose, to hunt for Scotch Argus butterflies. I jumped at the chance: it is a pretty butterfly, and a great location. The main real reason I'd not planned to visit it solo, was the hassle of travelling. Which previously involved trains, my bike or 10miles of running. Last done (I was surprised to see) in 2022. Always around the end of July. And it had become something of an annual pilgrimage. Always successful in finding the subject although they are not without difficulties. In fact they are downright uncooperative.After a bit of chat we chose Thursday which was spot on weather-wise. A bit of sunshine along with sporadic cloud cover which is just about perfect for this species (and the half a dozen other species we saw on the day).this large white appeared and posed nicely, as we crossed the golf coursebecause Colin hadn't yet got his camera out!Before we even got in sight of the rickety fence there were scotch…