9
rescued a speckled wood from the surface of the
open sea between Bradwell and Colne Point.
Consequently it came as no surprise to learn
of its arrival at St. Osyth that same year.
In 1981 it appeared at Fingringhoe Wick Nature
Reserve, and in 1982 an individual took up
residence in a garden at Walton-on-the-Naze.
Actually, one had been seen even further north 
in Stour Wood just south of the Stour Estuary -
several years earlier, but this might have been
a straggler from the Suffolk population.
There seems no reason why, within the next two
or three decades, the speckled wood should not
spread to the rest of Essex, but it is unwise
to make firm predictions where nature is concerned.
It is sobering to relate that at the very time
that aegeria is spreading northwards, another
'brown', the grayling (Hipparchia semele Linn.),
which in Essex has always been virtually confined
to the north-east, has almost disappeared from
the County. It has also become very rare in
Kent, although it is still to be found regularly
in east Suffolk.
Needless to say, any records of the speckled
wood beyond the range indicated above would be
greatly welcomed by the writer.
Geoffrey Pyman
An up-dated account of the status of Essex
butterflies and its larger moths is to be
published shortly as an issue of the Essex
Naturalist. - Editor.