Garston Wood 30-06-2024
It was getting to that time of the year and after the brilliant weather and plenty of Emperor sightings already littering the Evil Book of Face I was lucky enough to get out and try my luck over at Garston Wood. After the recent success and also armed with the knowledge that things were great at Bentley Wood this seemed like the best option. I was also hoping that my disdainful approach that I’d utilized the year before would prove successful again…
From the car park I set off up the hill on the main track. The sun was doing its best to break though the cloud so the conditions weren’t exactly ideal for Emperors so I only kept half an eye heavenward and focused the remaining eye and a half nearer to the ground, scanning the deep verges on either side of the stony track. They were much more lush and verdant than I could ever recall and so it wasn’t too long before I started spotting the odd Brown – mainly Ringlets and Meadow Browns. The Ringlets were very fresh and when they sat with their wings open trying their bets to absorb some radiant heat their wings looked like a grey brown, almost plum coloured crushed velvet. A Large Skipper stopped in and slightly further on up the track a Specklie dropped down onto the path.
When I reached the top and the staggered cross tracks I bore right and went through the gate into the old Plantation. As I strolled along what, in the past had been open woodland rides I was shocked to see how overgrown and tangled it was. The clearings and scallops all looked much smaller as the coppice had started to encroach and the claustrophobic feeling was further exacerbated by the tall grasses and scrub that carpeted them like the deepest shag pile ever, the tall grasses spilling over onto the paths making them even narrower. The Browns were back to their Harry Potter-esque ways of taking to the wing vertically like the puffs of Deatheater smoke. They were mainly Meadow Browns, a fact revealed by glimpses and flashes of orange but occasionally there would be an all-black Ringlet as well. As I worked round the final stretch of track which looped back onto the main track I entered the a miniature clearing and sitting right at the top of a crazy tall Thistle sat a Silver-washed, a female too. She looked brilliant in the glare of the sun light which was only able to reach her due to her lofty altitude. Back at the car park a Red Admiral tricked me into watching it, possibly as a decoy for the Emperors? Indeed when I finally looked up something vaguely Emperor like did go over, it did seem a little too big and chubby to be a White Admiral but it was such a fleeting look I’ll never be able to count it as anything by ‘stringy’.
From here I make my way up the main track still umming and ahhing over the PE/WA? Again I’m beset on all sides by Meadow Browns with the occasional Ringlet and a single Large Skipper. This time instead of right I head left at the staggered cross tracks and saunter down the hill making for the large Bramble verges. On the way a Green-vined White pops up as does James LeRouge and his partner. The butterflies still remain mainly of the Brown variety although I started seeing more and more Ringlets. They started sitting with their wings closed now that they were warmed up and as they were so fresh they appeared a chestnut brown and the eyes starred out at you vacantly from the shade. In the butterfly enclosure itself I watch as a male Large White sticks out like a sore thumb as it glades over the tops of the dark green fronds of Bracken. On the return journey I finally spot the familiar silhouette as it cuts and slices it’s way effortlessly through the air. It was a White Admiral and it cut short its aerial display to refuel. I watched with baited as it started flying in ever decreasing circles as it selected its pitstop site. Unfortunately for me it chose a spot right in the middle of the Bramble, in a little ‘bowl’ which meant the only way I could get anything, even just a distant record shot was to aim my lens in roughly the right direction and hope that the autofocus would find a way through or a gap in the undergrowth.
After this I took another turn round through the Plantation stopping at the staggered cross tracks as a Hawker was quartering the tops of the ferns. It would lazily glide over the top and then suddenly veer off at an alarming speed before completing a loop before dropping back down to dawdle over the tops of the ferns. In the Plantation itself, once again amid the predominantly Brown offering, the Silver-washed was still hanging out on the crazy tall Thistles. She seemed more restless than previously and so I backed off and waited for her to either settle or depart. Unfortunately she chose the later and seemed to defy gravity as she literally drifted upwards to disappear into the foliage. I competed the circuit by walking and then waiting for a bit in the car park and chatting with the other Emperor hopefuls.
Despite our vigil things didn’t appear to be happening today and to ease my itchy feet I made my way for the umpteenth time into the Plnatation but to shake it up a little I started at the bottom entrance from the car park and worked my way slowly up the hill. At the start of my procession was a Green-veined White which actually sat still and looked lovely with the bold black markings contrasting with the pale lemon and white ground colours. Further up I checked out on of the lower scallops and found a rather nicely behaved Large Skipper. Finally in the middle section I saw a definite Gatekeeper looking slightly out of place compared to the duller and darker Meadow Browns and Ringlets right up to the point when it closed its wings and then it conformed becoming another ‘Brown’.
After this I realized that my time was almost up and so I packed up and made for home. As I drove I tried to work out what was going on this year as hardly anything was playing by the rule book? Things are either early or late emerging and so things were emerging in the ‘wrong order’; most species seem to be in much lower numbers than previous years with one or two exceptions which seem to be having a whale of a time and finally almost everything is fidgety and trickier to approach. Hopefully things will sort themselves out and we’ll have a more usual ‘normal’ next year…
Off to Garston Wood
A sea of Brown butterflies
Fleeting Emperor?
From the car park I set off up the hill on the main track. The sun was doing its best to break though the cloud so the conditions weren’t exactly ideal for Emperors so I only kept half an eye heavenward and focused the remaining eye and a half nearer to the ground, scanning the deep verges on either side of the stony track. They were much more lush and verdant than I could ever recall and so it wasn’t too long before I started spotting the odd Brown – mainly Ringlets and Meadow Browns. The Ringlets were very fresh and when they sat with their wings open trying their bets to absorb some radiant heat their wings looked like a grey brown, almost plum coloured crushed velvet. A Large Skipper stopped in and slightly further on up the track a Specklie dropped down onto the path.
When I reached the top and the staggered cross tracks I bore right and went through the gate into the old Plantation. As I strolled along what, in the past had been open woodland rides I was shocked to see how overgrown and tangled it was. The clearings and scallops all looked much smaller as the coppice had started to encroach and the claustrophobic feeling was further exacerbated by the tall grasses and scrub that carpeted them like the deepest shag pile ever, the tall grasses spilling over onto the paths making them even narrower. The Browns were back to their Harry Potter-esque ways of taking to the wing vertically like the puffs of Deatheater smoke. They were mainly Meadow Browns, a fact revealed by glimpses and flashes of orange but occasionally there would be an all-black Ringlet as well. As I worked round the final stretch of track which looped back onto the main track I entered the a miniature clearing and sitting right at the top of a crazy tall Thistle sat a Silver-washed, a female too. She looked brilliant in the glare of the sun light which was only able to reach her due to her lofty altitude. Back at the car park a Red Admiral tricked me into watching it, possibly as a decoy for the Emperors? Indeed when I finally looked up something vaguely Emperor like did go over, it did seem a little too big and chubby to be a White Admiral but it was such a fleeting look I’ll never be able to count it as anything by ‘stringy’.
From here I make my way up the main track still umming and ahhing over the PE/WA? Again I’m beset on all sides by Meadow Browns with the occasional Ringlet and a single Large Skipper. This time instead of right I head left at the staggered cross tracks and saunter down the hill making for the large Bramble verges. On the way a Green-vined White pops up as does James LeRouge and his partner. The butterflies still remain mainly of the Brown variety although I started seeing more and more Ringlets. They started sitting with their wings closed now that they were warmed up and as they were so fresh they appeared a chestnut brown and the eyes starred out at you vacantly from the shade. In the butterfly enclosure itself I watch as a male Large White sticks out like a sore thumb as it glades over the tops of the dark green fronds of Bracken. On the return journey I finally spot the familiar silhouette as it cuts and slices it’s way effortlessly through the air. It was a White Admiral and it cut short its aerial display to refuel. I watched with baited as it started flying in ever decreasing circles as it selected its pitstop site. Unfortunately for me it chose a spot right in the middle of the Bramble, in a little ‘bowl’ which meant the only way I could get anything, even just a distant record shot was to aim my lens in roughly the right direction and hope that the autofocus would find a way through or a gap in the undergrowth.
After this I took another turn round through the Plantation stopping at the staggered cross tracks as a Hawker was quartering the tops of the ferns. It would lazily glide over the top and then suddenly veer off at an alarming speed before completing a loop before dropping back down to dawdle over the tops of the ferns. In the Plantation itself, once again amid the predominantly Brown offering, the Silver-washed was still hanging out on the crazy tall Thistles. She seemed more restless than previously and so I backed off and waited for her to either settle or depart. Unfortunately she chose the later and seemed to defy gravity as she literally drifted upwards to disappear into the foliage. I competed the circuit by walking and then waiting for a bit in the car park and chatting with the other Emperor hopefuls.
Despite our vigil things didn’t appear to be happening today and to ease my itchy feet I made my way for the umpteenth time into the Plnatation but to shake it up a little I started at the bottom entrance from the car park and worked my way slowly up the hill. At the start of my procession was a Green-veined White which actually sat still and looked lovely with the bold black markings contrasting with the pale lemon and white ground colours. Further up I checked out on of the lower scallops and found a rather nicely behaved Large Skipper. Finally in the middle section I saw a definite Gatekeeper looking slightly out of place compared to the duller and darker Meadow Browns and Ringlets right up to the point when it closed its wings and then it conformed becoming another ‘Brown’.
After this I realized that my time was almost up and so I packed up and made for home. As I drove I tried to work out what was going on this year as hardly anything was playing by the rule book? Things are either early or late emerging and so things were emerging in the ‘wrong order’; most species seem to be in much lower numbers than previous years with one or two exceptions which seem to be having a whale of a time and finally almost everything is fidgety and trickier to approach. Hopefully things will sort themselves out and we’ll have a more usual ‘normal’ next year…
Off to Garston Wood
A sea of Brown butterflies
Fleeting Emperor?
Lulworth 22-06-2024
As I couldn’t park up the side street near the village stores I had to risk some critical damage to my wallet by shelling out for parking in the main car park. The upside of this was that while the rest of the family partook of the ‘facilities’ I could have a brief wander around the surrounding environs. The education field held three species of Corvid so I got some shots of all, my favourite being the Rook, despite it’s partially naked head it is still mighty fine looking. However there were no butterflies of any shape or form and so I was eager to get down to the cove.
Once we’d negotiated the street full of Grockles and gotten down to the Cove we started walking eastwards only to be stopped around half way round by a combination of the rock slip and high tide making the final stretch impassable. Instead we retraced steps round to the west and then up the little path towards Stairhole. This little part was my original ‘hotspot’, a place where a sample of the local butterflies cling to the cliff allowing shots whilst still being near enough to the beach and within earshot my picnic-ing family. In recent visits it’s been a little bare possibly as I’ve gotten used to the multitudes of butterflies over on Bindon Hill and the other side of the Cove but it had picked up this time. There were several Lulworths about all of which had been triggered by a flappy Meadow Brown. Slightly further the track almost where it was steepest a brace of Common Blues flitted about. I managed to get a few shots of the former while we slowly ascended the track and then at the top we continued onto Stairhole.
After admiring the view of the Lulworth Crumple with its concordant and warped strata we followed the only remaining path down towards the ‘beach’. We’d only taken a few steps when I spotted the first butterfly here which was a slight surprise as it was a Silver-studded Blue. I’ve known about these being here for a while but it’s still nice to finally see one even if it looked a little out of place with not a scrap of heather insight. While my wife and L had a sit down and did a bit more view admiration I had a little mooch about across the slope. It was actually quite gently sloped here, easier going than Cotley yet in front of the girls it dropped down a little like a wall. On my travels I spotted a Small Heath, 3 or 4 Meadow Browns and plenty of my quarry, which really due to their location should be known as The Stairhole Skipper. They’re in a range of attire; some still in nicely pressed Sunday best others in old overalls at the end of a working week and nearing retirement.
As I reached the girls, my wandering having taken me round the slopes in a large loop, there are a few mining bees about and then I started on another loop around, a pre-lunch amble. Again there were several Meadow Browns, also a brace of Common Blues and a Dingy Skipper. I got a single shot of a Mother Shipton moth and after watching its frenetic behaviour I settled back into the groove; watching and photographing the Lulworths. They seemed to fly about for far longer than their appearance would suggest they were able to. When they finally did land I hoped that it was on something other than Bird’s Foot Trefoil as they only seemed to stay on this for the briefest of moments, just long enough to make the approach and only occasionally actually get something.
As lunch time was fast approaching we wandered back to the visitor centre to wash our hands before once ore walking down to the Cove for lunch. After we’d eaten and packed away I once again set off up the narrow bit of track. Again there was the odd Meadow Brown, and the number of Common Blues had risen to three now up to three now, two of which were quite close to each other. One was busy feeding whilst the other roosting, possibly having an after dinner nap instead of laying in such a way as to make a little ‘flag’ it was laying horizontal on its side. As he sun shone more strongly it started to open up but the breeze made getting shots tricky as it was rocked forward and back. Leaving it clinging on for dear life I reverted my focus onto the Lulworths and filled my boots when they let me. I generally get to the Cove once a year but twice in quick succession isn’t an opportunity to be missed, even if the family ties pulled me back sooner than I’d have wished for...
Battered Silver-stud
Clings to a heather-less cliff
A Stairhole surprise
Once we’d negotiated the street full of Grockles and gotten down to the Cove we started walking eastwards only to be stopped around half way round by a combination of the rock slip and high tide making the final stretch impassable. Instead we retraced steps round to the west and then up the little path towards Stairhole. This little part was my original ‘hotspot’, a place where a sample of the local butterflies cling to the cliff allowing shots whilst still being near enough to the beach and within earshot my picnic-ing family. In recent visits it’s been a little bare possibly as I’ve gotten used to the multitudes of butterflies over on Bindon Hill and the other side of the Cove but it had picked up this time. There were several Lulworths about all of which had been triggered by a flappy Meadow Brown. Slightly further the track almost where it was steepest a brace of Common Blues flitted about. I managed to get a few shots of the former while we slowly ascended the track and then at the top we continued onto Stairhole.
After admiring the view of the Lulworth Crumple with its concordant and warped strata we followed the only remaining path down towards the ‘beach’. We’d only taken a few steps when I spotted the first butterfly here which was a slight surprise as it was a Silver-studded Blue. I’ve known about these being here for a while but it’s still nice to finally see one even if it looked a little out of place with not a scrap of heather insight. While my wife and L had a sit down and did a bit more view admiration I had a little mooch about across the slope. It was actually quite gently sloped here, easier going than Cotley yet in front of the girls it dropped down a little like a wall. On my travels I spotted a Small Heath, 3 or 4 Meadow Browns and plenty of my quarry, which really due to their location should be known as The Stairhole Skipper. They’re in a range of attire; some still in nicely pressed Sunday best others in old overalls at the end of a working week and nearing retirement.
As I reached the girls, my wandering having taken me round the slopes in a large loop, there are a few mining bees about and then I started on another loop around, a pre-lunch amble. Again there were several Meadow Browns, also a brace of Common Blues and a Dingy Skipper. I got a single shot of a Mother Shipton moth and after watching its frenetic behaviour I settled back into the groove; watching and photographing the Lulworths. They seemed to fly about for far longer than their appearance would suggest they were able to. When they finally did land I hoped that it was on something other than Bird’s Foot Trefoil as they only seemed to stay on this for the briefest of moments, just long enough to make the approach and only occasionally actually get something.
As lunch time was fast approaching we wandered back to the visitor centre to wash our hands before once ore walking down to the Cove for lunch. After we’d eaten and packed away I once again set off up the narrow bit of track. Again there was the odd Meadow Brown, and the number of Common Blues had risen to three now up to three now, two of which were quite close to each other. One was busy feeding whilst the other roosting, possibly having an after dinner nap instead of laying in such a way as to make a little ‘flag’ it was laying horizontal on its side. As he sun shone more strongly it started to open up but the breeze made getting shots tricky as it was rocked forward and back. Leaving it clinging on for dear life I reverted my focus onto the Lulworths and filled my boots when they let me. I generally get to the Cove once a year but twice in quick succession isn’t an opportunity to be missed, even if the family ties pulled me back sooner than I’d have wished for...
Battered Silver-stud
Clings to a heather-less cliff
A Stairhole surprise
Higher Hyde Heath 17-06-2024
On the way home we called in at Higher Hyde Heath. I though it was supposed to be a lowland heath so expected to be wandering along sandy and stony paths as dried heather scritch-scratched against my boots. But no I found myself walking through a lush woodland past a bird hide, carrying on round a large, reed filled pond and then up and over a bank where a man hole ring had been dug into the bank so that (I presume) kids could get through without having to climb over. Finally the trees thinned and the path broke out at the top of a hill with the heather clad slopes flowing away into the middle distance to be replaced first by Bracken and then pasture. I passed a rectangular cutting in the bog on the way with sun dew on the sides, cotton grass showing and a single Bog Asphodel standing out like a yellow hot poker - a bit like a sparkler on Guy Fawkes Night being held vertically. Up ahead I could make out three other people, who from their behaviour (wandering around, stooped and staring at the floor with camera held out before them) I guessed were other butterfly enthusiasts.
When I reached the ridge there were a series of tracks all meeting up there are the three other enthusiasts as I drew near and I posed the all important question “much about?” the older one points out a few Silver-studs. I recognized them but it took me a moment or three to recollect from where during which time I started getting a few shots in. Then it came to me they were ‘Zonda’ (Frank) from UKB a few years back. I grabbed a few more record shots while we chatted and caught up and then he pointed out a mating pair.
This little area at the top of the ridge seemed to be the hotspot so I took to wandering around the tiny trackways trying for this and that. One or two sat closed wings which was nice, a few other males displayed their fantastic contrasting margins with their wings held out open wide. There was also the smallest female that I’d ever seen, so small that it would have given a Small blue a run for tis money in the deminuative stakes. But whilst these were all very nice there were two stand-out stars of the Heather. The first was a male which landed down on the deck, the ground colour of the topside contrasting nicely with the white pebbles of the path. It didn’t take on the usual blue hue but instead seemed to be a more steel grey colour and so was very eye-catching. However it was pipped to pole position by a deliciously fresh female. She was immaculate and when the light caught here wings there was the oily sheen running from green through to blue and out to an orange colour whilst looking at the main part of the wing was like looking into a liquid. What a beauty.
At one point my wanderings after Silver-studs took me into an old bomb crater and a brown and black bird, a little like a snub-nosed hawk erupted from the heather. It was a Nightjar and the white flashes on the wings and edge of the tail allowed me to sex it as a male. Almost shocked by this sudden sighting I worked back out of the crater and got back to looking for the Silver-studs. There were plenty about and at one point a Large Skipper shot by. It was then that I realized that I’d only seen one species of butterfly up to the point from the whole time I been on site. In that way it was quite similar to Slop Bog but in all other respects it was wildly different, literally wildly!
Sadly I said my goodbyes and made my way back to the car and then homewards, not even adding a Specklie en route back to the car through the wood. A very productive day – three year ticks, plenty of shots, a catch-up with old acquaintances and a visit to a new spot.
To Higher Hyde heath
Pastel blue over heather
Job done third year tick!
When I reached the ridge there were a series of tracks all meeting up there are the three other enthusiasts as I drew near and I posed the all important question “much about?” the older one points out a few Silver-studs. I recognized them but it took me a moment or three to recollect from where during which time I started getting a few shots in. Then it came to me they were ‘Zonda’ (Frank) from UKB a few years back. I grabbed a few more record shots while we chatted and caught up and then he pointed out a mating pair.
This little area at the top of the ridge seemed to be the hotspot so I took to wandering around the tiny trackways trying for this and that. One or two sat closed wings which was nice, a few other males displayed their fantastic contrasting margins with their wings held out open wide. There was also the smallest female that I’d ever seen, so small that it would have given a Small blue a run for tis money in the deminuative stakes. But whilst these were all very nice there were two stand-out stars of the Heather. The first was a male which landed down on the deck, the ground colour of the topside contrasting nicely with the white pebbles of the path. It didn’t take on the usual blue hue but instead seemed to be a more steel grey colour and so was very eye-catching. However it was pipped to pole position by a deliciously fresh female. She was immaculate and when the light caught here wings there was the oily sheen running from green through to blue and out to an orange colour whilst looking at the main part of the wing was like looking into a liquid. What a beauty.
At one point my wanderings after Silver-studs took me into an old bomb crater and a brown and black bird, a little like a snub-nosed hawk erupted from the heather. It was a Nightjar and the white flashes on the wings and edge of the tail allowed me to sex it as a male. Almost shocked by this sudden sighting I worked back out of the crater and got back to looking for the Silver-studs. There were plenty about and at one point a Large Skipper shot by. It was then that I realized that I’d only seen one species of butterfly up to the point from the whole time I been on site. In that way it was quite similar to Slop Bog but in all other respects it was wildly different, literally wildly!
Sadly I said my goodbyes and made my way back to the car and then homewards, not even adding a Specklie en route back to the car through the wood. A very productive day – three year ticks, plenty of shots, a catch-up with old acquaintances and a visit to a new spot.
To Higher Hyde heath
Pastel blue over heather
Job done third year tick!
Lulworth 17-06-2024 Part 2
At the end I went through the gate very tentatively and then went down the steps even more so as there were lots of signs warning about cliff collapse. A few Lulworths played alongside the track but a little too far off it and on the side of the cliff for my liking so I just had to watch and hope that occasionally they would venture a little closer. One or two did and the odd Small Heath also turned up, mainly when I was trying to photograph a Lulworth so it looks like they’ve remembered their raison d’etre. There was also a Burnett Moth sits on a Pyramidal Orchid. This was nice but I’d rather have found a Lulworth on one wink. About ¾ of the way down I looked round the curve of the Cove and there is the rock slide, slap bang in what was at one time a very productive spot. Still in a few years once the wildflowers have colonized the rock it could be even better, a scaleable cliff face where Lulworths and DGFs play within camera range again.
I started back up stopping for the odd Lulworth on the way. At one point a Brown Argus flitted ahead of me up the steps and a there was a fly-by Adonis, a species which really wasn’t behaving so far on the trip. At little higher up and I was granted my wish from earlier as there was a Lulworth feeding on a Pyramidal Orchid. This would make a great addition to growing ‘Butterflies on Orchids’ collection and so I clicked away. Timing was everything as I hoped to catch it in just the right position just as the wind entered into a lull. A quick check of the shots didn’t reveal whether I’d got my timing correct but I was denied the opportunity to try for any more as a Small Heath barreled into the Lulworth displacing it from the Orchid and so then it flew on before disappearing over the edge of the cliff.
At the top I took a moment to catch my breath and let the burn from the lactic acid pass before I set off on the home leg. Again the Lulworths flew along the path and across the thin turf in spite of the breeze. I was watching a Lulworth when another skipper hove into view. From a distance I could see that it was larger than the Lulworths but not large enough for a Large Skipper. It’s colour was also different from the Lulworths; more orange and less olive. I managed to get in close enough to examine all of the salient points; size = larger, ground colour = orange and not olive, margins = white and not buff, sex brand = long and crooked. Yep it was my first Small Skipper of the year and a more than welcome sight as I realized that I missed them.
I carried on along the lower track adding a Holly Blue, a then a little further along, a Specklie to the list as well as a few more Meadow Browns. The couple of Adonis Blues played really hard to get as did the Meadow Browns. In fact pretty much all of the butterflies barring the Lulworths were nigh on impossible to approach so I gave up and instead focused all my attention on the Lulworths. To this end I found myself making very slow progress as I’d stop and examine every stand of Viper Bugloss. It paid off as almost every flower spike held at least one Lulworth, sometimes several. Then it was just a case of waiting for the butterfly to orientate itself in a pleasing fashion before clicking away and racking up the shots on the memory card. I filled my boots and before long I realized that I’d bagged all manner of shots through the day from close-ups to failed courtships, fresh and worn males and females and every state of wear and tear between.
With boots well and truly filled I made one last check on the Orchids and the slope that I’d started at before leaving through the gate and making my way back to the car to meet the others. What a fantastic morning!
Sea of pale turquoise
With slides and slips and skippers
Tumbledown Lulworth
I started back up stopping for the odd Lulworth on the way. At one point a Brown Argus flitted ahead of me up the steps and a there was a fly-by Adonis, a species which really wasn’t behaving so far on the trip. At little higher up and I was granted my wish from earlier as there was a Lulworth feeding on a Pyramidal Orchid. This would make a great addition to growing ‘Butterflies on Orchids’ collection and so I clicked away. Timing was everything as I hoped to catch it in just the right position just as the wind entered into a lull. A quick check of the shots didn’t reveal whether I’d got my timing correct but I was denied the opportunity to try for any more as a Small Heath barreled into the Lulworth displacing it from the Orchid and so then it flew on before disappearing over the edge of the cliff.
At the top I took a moment to catch my breath and let the burn from the lactic acid pass before I set off on the home leg. Again the Lulworths flew along the path and across the thin turf in spite of the breeze. I was watching a Lulworth when another skipper hove into view. From a distance I could see that it was larger than the Lulworths but not large enough for a Large Skipper. It’s colour was also different from the Lulworths; more orange and less olive. I managed to get in close enough to examine all of the salient points; size = larger, ground colour = orange and not olive, margins = white and not buff, sex brand = long and crooked. Yep it was my first Small Skipper of the year and a more than welcome sight as I realized that I missed them.
I carried on along the lower track adding a Holly Blue, a then a little further along, a Specklie to the list as well as a few more Meadow Browns. The couple of Adonis Blues played really hard to get as did the Meadow Browns. In fact pretty much all of the butterflies barring the Lulworths were nigh on impossible to approach so I gave up and instead focused all my attention on the Lulworths. To this end I found myself making very slow progress as I’d stop and examine every stand of Viper Bugloss. It paid off as almost every flower spike held at least one Lulworth, sometimes several. Then it was just a case of waiting for the butterfly to orientate itself in a pleasing fashion before clicking away and racking up the shots on the memory card. I filled my boots and before long I realized that I’d bagged all manner of shots through the day from close-ups to failed courtships, fresh and worn males and females and every state of wear and tear between.
With boots well and truly filled I made one last check on the Orchids and the slope that I’d started at before leaving through the gate and making my way back to the car to meet the others. What a fantastic morning!
Sea of pale turquoise
With slides and slips and skippers
Tumbledown Lulworth
Lulworth 17-06-2024
We got there early so we could park for free and also in hope that the building of cloud forecast didn’t occur. Whilst the others went on I was straight up the side of Bindon Hill. I checked out the area to the left first of all but only spotted a few Small Heaths so I worked back round right. On the exposed corner of the hill there were several Orchids growing which look like they’re some variety of Marsh, possibly two different species – Early and Southern? I wasn’t really here for Orchids but the good things about them is that they don’t move so I’d be able to photograph later and move on to find my quarry.
The breeze was quite strong at times, clearly shown by my wind indicator – the soft brim of my hat which was bending up and down as the breeze tugged and pushed against it. I reckoned the best bet then would be to keep to the lower paths where the boundary hedge would offer some shelter. Sure enough the first little section held 6 different Large Skippers and then at the next as well as a Dingy and a couple more Large there was my quarry – a very aged Lulworth. I didn’t mind that it was so bedraggled looking as this made the identification really easy for when the scales rub off they take on an olive grey colour, vastly different from the washed out orange of a Smessex. Keeping to the bottom path was working a treat and soon there are more and more Lulworths in amid the Large and old and faded Dingies. In the final little area just before where the old track leads down to the Cove a Meadow Brown appeared and as well as my quarry and other skippers there were also a couple of Common Blues, 2 definite Adonis and Small Heaths and Brown Aggro…sorry Argus.
After this the track started to rise and so became a little more exposed. Luckily the warmer weather meant that the butterflies were braving it anyway and the vegetation, adapted to the battering it receives from the prevailing wind, grows very low to the ground so any butterflies aren’t really shaking about all over the place; they’re practically grounded. The exceptions to this is were the tall spikes of blues flowers that acted like high rise, nectar blocks and there always seemed to be a couple of Lulworths on each flower stalk. The odd Adonis did a fly by as did some surprisingly large Small Heaths. At least them seemed larger…that’s the thing each year you get your eye in on a species and remember their comparative sizes. Then a different species emerges and your reference point that you’ve just gotten used to alters. I’d just gotten used to Brown Argus, Small Blues and Small Heaths being the smaller butterflies and then along comes the Lulworth Skipper which is even tinier and so what were the smallest seem to grow in stature relative to the newcomer. At the end a very fresh Lulworth battled it out with a Large for the territory of a scallop of grass eating into the large gorse bush...
The breeze was quite strong at times, clearly shown by my wind indicator – the soft brim of my hat which was bending up and down as the breeze tugged and pushed against it. I reckoned the best bet then would be to keep to the lower paths where the boundary hedge would offer some shelter. Sure enough the first little section held 6 different Large Skippers and then at the next as well as a Dingy and a couple more Large there was my quarry – a very aged Lulworth. I didn’t mind that it was so bedraggled looking as this made the identification really easy for when the scales rub off they take on an olive grey colour, vastly different from the washed out orange of a Smessex. Keeping to the bottom path was working a treat and soon there are more and more Lulworths in amid the Large and old and faded Dingies. In the final little area just before where the old track leads down to the Cove a Meadow Brown appeared and as well as my quarry and other skippers there were also a couple of Common Blues, 2 definite Adonis and Small Heaths and Brown Aggro…sorry Argus.
After this the track started to rise and so became a little more exposed. Luckily the warmer weather meant that the butterflies were braving it anyway and the vegetation, adapted to the battering it receives from the prevailing wind, grows very low to the ground so any butterflies aren’t really shaking about all over the place; they’re practically grounded. The exceptions to this is were the tall spikes of blues flowers that acted like high rise, nectar blocks and there always seemed to be a couple of Lulworths on each flower stalk. The odd Adonis did a fly by as did some surprisingly large Small Heaths. At least them seemed larger…that’s the thing each year you get your eye in on a species and remember their comparative sizes. Then a different species emerges and your reference point that you’ve just gotten used to alters. I’d just gotten used to Brown Argus, Small Blues and Small Heaths being the smaller butterflies and then along comes the Lulworth Skipper which is even tinier and so what were the smallest seem to grow in stature relative to the newcomer. At the end a very fresh Lulworth battled it out with a Large for the territory of a scallop of grass eating into the large gorse bush...
Priddy 05-06-2024 Part 2
I did one final check of the Hillock and managed to relocate the ghostly Small Heath flying amid a group of its peers. It seemed like it had been invited to the party and mistakenly come in fancy dress as a ghoul whilst everyone else was in black tie. I also found one of the Greenstreaks as well a Large Skipper and a Green-veined White up along the top path and a Small Pearl did a fly-by on the Hillock but I couldn’t help feeling that the little Hollow was now more of a hotspot? To that end I decided to head of home but after one final pass. This turned out to be an excellent plan as almost as soon as I reached the hollow there a brace of Small Pearls flew so I set about getting some final shots. As I clumped back to the car I tried my best to work out how many different Small Pearls I’d seen. It was tricky but I had a feeling that there were only two at each of the main spots. Not exactly the bundles I’d seen the previous year but at then they had only been recorded for the first time 3-4 days previously so hopefully their numbers would build.
It was still early so on the way home stopped in at Cotley to check how it was progressing. A swift hike up the hill and I was into the first hollow with 3 Marshies in various stages of disrepair all flying. There was also a Large Skipper, a Brown Argus and 2 Small White. The male was in a somewhat amorous mood but the female was having none of it and kept flipping him the middle finger, well her abdomen really but you know what it looks like! I tried my luck over at the Bowl and there was stuff flying everywhere but double alas I need to head back and also nothing would sit still for even a fraction of a second. Even though I was enjoying just watching I had to depart almost as swiftly as I arrived and I retraced my steps in almost record time. It would have been quicker had it not been for a cracking looking Marshie that was surprisingly smart for the stage of the season, although they were late to arrive this season so perhaps it wasn’t as remarkable?
The best butterfly?
Ghostly Small Heath or Small Pearl?
Nope, the Garnet-streak!
It was still early so on the way home stopped in at Cotley to check how it was progressing. A swift hike up the hill and I was into the first hollow with 3 Marshies in various stages of disrepair all flying. There was also a Large Skipper, a Brown Argus and 2 Small White. The male was in a somewhat amorous mood but the female was having none of it and kept flipping him the middle finger, well her abdomen really but you know what it looks like! I tried my luck over at the Bowl and there was stuff flying everywhere but double alas I need to head back and also nothing would sit still for even a fraction of a second. Even though I was enjoying just watching I had to depart almost as swiftly as I arrived and I retraced my steps in almost record time. It would have been quicker had it not been for a cracking looking Marshie that was surprisingly smart for the stage of the season, although they were late to arrive this season so perhaps it wasn’t as remarkable?
The best butterfly?
Ghostly Small Heath or Small Pearl?
Nope, the Garnet-streak!
Priddy 05-06-2024
I had a hospital appointment due and so diligently booked a day off work but unfortunately they didn’t give me the time just the date. It later transpired that my appointment was slap bang in the middle of the day so I decided to try over at Priddy for Small Pearls. They like everything else seemed to be running a little late this year but I’d received a tip-off during my Green Down foray that they’d started emerging. On the day in question I made great time, shaving minute after minute off the Satnav right until final the turning off to the right. The road was closed so I had to head off on a massive detour.
When I eventually arrived a quick glance heaven-wards reassured me that the sun was still on my side and so I wandered down the track, rather than ran (well hobbled what with needing my operation). As on previous visits the odd small heath flew on either side of the track in what, to my mind having never visited more northern reserves, would be ideal habitat for their Large cousins. At the end of the bank on the right something made me stray from the main track and I followed the snaking little track between the Hawthorn and the Pine tree and up the steep slope. My hunch paid off as sitting about half way up the slope was a familiar burnt orange coloured butterfly. Yep there was a Small Pearl. Job done time to see if there were any more…
I got back on the main track and then made for the usual hotspot; the little Hillock at the base of the hill itself. When I got there I took a turn or two around the tiny, twisting paths. A few Small Heath fluttered about and I found another Small Pearl but this one didn’t play nicely and kept sitting deep within the Bramble patches. After the briefest of record shots it was off, flying deep into the middle of the burgeoning Bramble. During my continued wandering I found a ghostly Small Heath and a brace of Large Skippers. The Small Heath was a ghostly grey fading into white rather than the chipper orange colour and to further add to its oddness it was blind in that the eye spot was entirely missing. When it flew it took on the air of a spectral Small Heath. After watching it for a bit I got back to my strolling ending up back to the Hollow. The slight slope as the bank ran down to the path was covered in Bird’s Foot Trefoil and so I wasn’t surprised to find a brace of Common Blues here. They were both males, scrapping with each other endlessly or occasionally breaking off to have a go at a Dingy that was also hanging around here. After a little closer look of the side of the bank itself I managed to relocate the Small Pearl and so spent some time following it and hoping for it to sit tight and shut up shop.
After this it was back to the Hillock and round and round various of the little track ways – I’d forgotten how damaging this site can be to the legs with the potholes and dips hidden by the overhanging grasses on either side of the path just waiting to catch you out and twist an ankle or jar back/hip/knee. On my wanderings I ended up following the main path up the hill. On my right as I climbed was the sprawling, flowing bog and on my left a hedge of Bramble and taller trees behind lined up against a drystone wall. I spotted a Large Skipper here, several Small Heath played about and there were also a few Greenstreaks in the hedge holding territories in the hedge. At least one (possibly all but although they were a bit too active) of the Greenstreaks, was absolutely immaculate, with not a fringe hair or eyelash out of place or worn away. I practically glowed emerald like when it caught the sun and the orange marginal band stood out like burnished copper. It was so stunning it would have been worth the trip for it alone. I also encountered two Small Pearls back down on the Hillock area itself but again they don’t stop…so it was back to the Hollow…
…where I had more luck with the Small Pearls with another, definitely different individual. I’d followed one as it had flown ahead of me along the top of the bank but I’d lost sight of it as I was reaching the gap between the Pine and the Hawthorn. After investigating the other side and the Brid’s Foot Trefoil I spotted a Small Pearl flying around the grasses at the foot of the bank. It sat briefly but regularly and so I managed to be in the right place at the right time on a couple of occasions, even getting one or two passable closed wing shots. I was quite confident that I was spooking it and it was merely travelling from one spot to another either for nectar or marking it territory so I didn’t feel too bad about following it. However I finally did spook it as I was trying to manipulate a grass blade out of shot and as it flew to its next perch I left it and took the few steps back to the Bird’s Foot. A Brown Argus had joined the male Common Blues as had a female and there were now two Dingys.
When I eventually arrived a quick glance heaven-wards reassured me that the sun was still on my side and so I wandered down the track, rather than ran (well hobbled what with needing my operation). As on previous visits the odd small heath flew on either side of the track in what, to my mind having never visited more northern reserves, would be ideal habitat for their Large cousins. At the end of the bank on the right something made me stray from the main track and I followed the snaking little track between the Hawthorn and the Pine tree and up the steep slope. My hunch paid off as sitting about half way up the slope was a familiar burnt orange coloured butterfly. Yep there was a Small Pearl. Job done time to see if there were any more…
I got back on the main track and then made for the usual hotspot; the little Hillock at the base of the hill itself. When I got there I took a turn or two around the tiny, twisting paths. A few Small Heath fluttered about and I found another Small Pearl but this one didn’t play nicely and kept sitting deep within the Bramble patches. After the briefest of record shots it was off, flying deep into the middle of the burgeoning Bramble. During my continued wandering I found a ghostly Small Heath and a brace of Large Skippers. The Small Heath was a ghostly grey fading into white rather than the chipper orange colour and to further add to its oddness it was blind in that the eye spot was entirely missing. When it flew it took on the air of a spectral Small Heath. After watching it for a bit I got back to my strolling ending up back to the Hollow. The slight slope as the bank ran down to the path was covered in Bird’s Foot Trefoil and so I wasn’t surprised to find a brace of Common Blues here. They were both males, scrapping with each other endlessly or occasionally breaking off to have a go at a Dingy that was also hanging around here. After a little closer look of the side of the bank itself I managed to relocate the Small Pearl and so spent some time following it and hoping for it to sit tight and shut up shop.
After this it was back to the Hillock and round and round various of the little track ways – I’d forgotten how damaging this site can be to the legs with the potholes and dips hidden by the overhanging grasses on either side of the path just waiting to catch you out and twist an ankle or jar back/hip/knee. On my wanderings I ended up following the main path up the hill. On my right as I climbed was the sprawling, flowing bog and on my left a hedge of Bramble and taller trees behind lined up against a drystone wall. I spotted a Large Skipper here, several Small Heath played about and there were also a few Greenstreaks in the hedge holding territories in the hedge. At least one (possibly all but although they were a bit too active) of the Greenstreaks, was absolutely immaculate, with not a fringe hair or eyelash out of place or worn away. I practically glowed emerald like when it caught the sun and the orange marginal band stood out like burnished copper. It was so stunning it would have been worth the trip for it alone. I also encountered two Small Pearls back down on the Hillock area itself but again they don’t stop…so it was back to the Hollow…
…where I had more luck with the Small Pearls with another, definitely different individual. I’d followed one as it had flown ahead of me along the top of the bank but I’d lost sight of it as I was reaching the gap between the Pine and the Hawthorn. After investigating the other side and the Brid’s Foot Trefoil I spotted a Small Pearl flying around the grasses at the foot of the bank. It sat briefly but regularly and so I managed to be in the right place at the right time on a couple of occasions, even getting one or two passable closed wing shots. I was quite confident that I was spooking it and it was merely travelling from one spot to another either for nectar or marking it territory so I didn’t feel too bad about following it. However I finally did spook it as I was trying to manipulate a grass blade out of shot and as it flew to its next perch I left it and took the few steps back to the Bird’s Foot. A Brown Argus had joined the male Common Blues as had a female and there were now two Dingys.
Green Down 02-06-2024 PART 2
From the end we followed the track down past some very tall Stinging Nettles and through a couple of sets of gates and then on to the lower half of the site where we worked from East to West along the slope of the hill. The first part had quite tall vegetation and there isn’t much flying here. In the next section, roughly in the middle of the hill the turf was much shorter and there was a smattering of small purple flowers which my informant suggested the LBs used for nectar. Which they did. Again there were several flying about here, about 3-4 at a guess. Apart from a single Brimstone which went past but it was almost a uniform monoculture of butterflies here and so we set about wandering this way and that across the slopes every time a slatey grey butterfly would hove into view. Open wing shots were definitely at a premium as the temperature had risen and the thin turf did little to mitigate this. It seemed that the trick was to watch and wait for an LB to fly by, follow it as it picked out its nectar source and then be ready to promptly lean it as it was landing so that you could get a few shots before it closed up as it settled and orientated itself.
In the next section along, separated by a dashed line of small trees and shrubs, the vegetation was starting to creep upwards and spill outwards and so finding the LBs proved slightly trickier as did getting any shots, what with triple threat from earlier returning along with a new one, jarring your back as you trod into an unseen rabbit hole or some such other trap. Despite this we managed to find a few more Large Blues with at least 3 on offer. There was also a Common Blue, Red Admiral as well as plenty of Small Heaths and Meadow Browns. All the while as we’d been progressing the vegetation had been becoming thicker and thicker until eventually we ran into an impassable wall of scrub. Nestled into a little vegetative alcove was another Butterfly Orchid and a few White-legged Damselflies made their presence known. As we couldn’t go any further all we could really do was turn around and make our way back the way we’d come. A couple of Large Skippers waved us on our way.
According to my map there was a set of steps and a gate through to the racecourse and so having managed to locate it we found ourselves walking along a wide, level ride with springy bark underfoot. It came as somewhat of a relief after the trips hazards and hernia jarring ground we’d experienced so far on the trip. A hedge ran along either side of the race track and the odd butterfly would leave one side of the site, become obviously visible as it crossed the race track and then disappear into the vegetation once on the far side. Of the butterflies that did this one was a Large Blue and another was a very dark, almost black butterfly, slightly smaller than the Meadow Browns which I reckoned was my first Ringlet of the season but unfortunately it vanished before I could confirm this. The Large Blue was equally disappointing, flying for long enough to identify it, pausing on an Iris just long enough to approach and then disappearing just as the autofocus was clicking into place.
At the end of the Race track we once again worked our way, ever so slowly, up and along the slopes of the top part of the site but starting where we’d finished previously. The Meadow Browns had woken up properly by now; they’d ‘puff’ up from the grass on the edge of our footsteps and gave the Small Heath a run for their money in the ‘annoying’ stakes. The female Common Blue was still knocking about but now there were at least 5 or 6 Large Blues flying across the start of the slopes including some lovely fresh looking ones. As the morning had slipped into lunchtime and then early afternoon the butterflies had got noticeably quicker and fidgety and at times they were downright unapproachable. However sometimes I’d find myself in the right place at the right time and one would pick some Thyme to settle on right in front of me. At one point two landed at once but unfortunately the ensuing tussle meant getting any shots proved too tricky. Once our meanderings had brought us back to the initial slope where it had begun we also got onto a couple more. One in particular played very hard to get. It was a slatey grey individual that looked almost midnight blue when it flew and looked stunning from the glimpses that I had so of course it refused to play ball, seldom landing and when it did shutting up shop immediately.
We left it to its own devices and then when we raised our heads from the pursuit realized that we’d reached the end/start of the site. Because of this and what with the increasingly frenetic behaviour of the butterflies this seemed like the prime time to call time on the proceedings and so footsore and very hot we worked our way back down the hill to the car stopping to chat a couple of times including to the Glanville Guard from my last visit to Compton Down.
Somerset searching
With sprinkles of slatey blue
Is Green Down misnamed?
In the next section along, separated by a dashed line of small trees and shrubs, the vegetation was starting to creep upwards and spill outwards and so finding the LBs proved slightly trickier as did getting any shots, what with triple threat from earlier returning along with a new one, jarring your back as you trod into an unseen rabbit hole or some such other trap. Despite this we managed to find a few more Large Blues with at least 3 on offer. There was also a Common Blue, Red Admiral as well as plenty of Small Heaths and Meadow Browns. All the while as we’d been progressing the vegetation had been becoming thicker and thicker until eventually we ran into an impassable wall of scrub. Nestled into a little vegetative alcove was another Butterfly Orchid and a few White-legged Damselflies made their presence known. As we couldn’t go any further all we could really do was turn around and make our way back the way we’d come. A couple of Large Skippers waved us on our way.
According to my map there was a set of steps and a gate through to the racecourse and so having managed to locate it we found ourselves walking along a wide, level ride with springy bark underfoot. It came as somewhat of a relief after the trips hazards and hernia jarring ground we’d experienced so far on the trip. A hedge ran along either side of the race track and the odd butterfly would leave one side of the site, become obviously visible as it crossed the race track and then disappear into the vegetation once on the far side. Of the butterflies that did this one was a Large Blue and another was a very dark, almost black butterfly, slightly smaller than the Meadow Browns which I reckoned was my first Ringlet of the season but unfortunately it vanished before I could confirm this. The Large Blue was equally disappointing, flying for long enough to identify it, pausing on an Iris just long enough to approach and then disappearing just as the autofocus was clicking into place.
At the end of the Race track we once again worked our way, ever so slowly, up and along the slopes of the top part of the site but starting where we’d finished previously. The Meadow Browns had woken up properly by now; they’d ‘puff’ up from the grass on the edge of our footsteps and gave the Small Heath a run for their money in the ‘annoying’ stakes. The female Common Blue was still knocking about but now there were at least 5 or 6 Large Blues flying across the start of the slopes including some lovely fresh looking ones. As the morning had slipped into lunchtime and then early afternoon the butterflies had got noticeably quicker and fidgety and at times they were downright unapproachable. However sometimes I’d find myself in the right place at the right time and one would pick some Thyme to settle on right in front of me. At one point two landed at once but unfortunately the ensuing tussle meant getting any shots proved too tricky. Once our meanderings had brought us back to the initial slope where it had begun we also got onto a couple more. One in particular played very hard to get. It was a slatey grey individual that looked almost midnight blue when it flew and looked stunning from the glimpses that I had so of course it refused to play ball, seldom landing and when it did shutting up shop immediately.
We left it to its own devices and then when we raised our heads from the pursuit realized that we’d reached the end/start of the site. Because of this and what with the increasingly frenetic behaviour of the butterflies this seemed like the prime time to call time on the proceedings and so footsore and very hot we worked our way back down the hill to the car stopping to chat a couple of times including to the Glanville Guard from my last visit to Compton Down.
Somerset searching
With sprinkles of slatey blue
Is Green Down misnamed?
Green Down 02-06-2024
Was this Flaming June? Maybe as it was definitely a little warm…but for how long?
I’d seen on the Evil Book of Face that Large Blues had been spotted, a little early I thought but then Daneways is often later than other sites. After a little digging it was revealed that the sightings were from Green Down, a site that I’d not visited before, but what with the weather constantly changing its mind and family commitments in the offing perhaps somewhere I needed to go? I bit more digging and one contact had furnished me a map and instructions on where to park and which spots had produced the best numbers of the species. So come Sunday morning Philzoid and I were bombing along down the A303 and heading into Somerset.
Having parked and walked up the hill we came to a racetrack that cut across site. We could go down or up…so we started right at the top of the hill before coming back down into some lush undergrowth including a (Lesser?) Butterfly Orchid where the first butterfly of the day flew, a lonely Grizzlie. As we started stalking along the narrow tracks that criss-crossed the site and traversed the steep banks we didn’t have to wait long for out quarry as a Large Blue appeared which we managed to relocate on the steep slope after only it had completed a couple of frustrating fly-bys. As we carried on walking we added several more, with possibly a total of 5-6 here. Getting shots proved tricky as in the surprising warmth from the full sun they don’t sit still despite it still be relatively early. Added to this was the triple threat of a steep, slightly slippy slope, interfering Small Heath that liked to photobomb your subject and plenty of thin, tall grass stems that easily caught the slightest of breeze and which were invisible through the viewfinder but extremely apparent on the actual image. Still we worked at it and shared our frustrations and elation with various other butterfliers that were patrolling the hill. Also flying were the aforementioned, annoying Small Heaths but also a female Common Blue, a couple of Meadow Browns and right at the end a Brown Argus.
I’d seen on the Evil Book of Face that Large Blues had been spotted, a little early I thought but then Daneways is often later than other sites. After a little digging it was revealed that the sightings were from Green Down, a site that I’d not visited before, but what with the weather constantly changing its mind and family commitments in the offing perhaps somewhere I needed to go? I bit more digging and one contact had furnished me a map and instructions on where to park and which spots had produced the best numbers of the species. So come Sunday morning Philzoid and I were bombing along down the A303 and heading into Somerset.
Having parked and walked up the hill we came to a racetrack that cut across site. We could go down or up…so we started right at the top of the hill before coming back down into some lush undergrowth including a (Lesser?) Butterfly Orchid where the first butterfly of the day flew, a lonely Grizzlie. As we started stalking along the narrow tracks that criss-crossed the site and traversed the steep banks we didn’t have to wait long for out quarry as a Large Blue appeared which we managed to relocate on the steep slope after only it had completed a couple of frustrating fly-bys. As we carried on walking we added several more, with possibly a total of 5-6 here. Getting shots proved tricky as in the surprising warmth from the full sun they don’t sit still despite it still be relatively early. Added to this was the triple threat of a steep, slightly slippy slope, interfering Small Heath that liked to photobomb your subject and plenty of thin, tall grass stems that easily caught the slightest of breeze and which were invisible through the viewfinder but extremely apparent on the actual image. Still we worked at it and shared our frustrations and elation with various other butterfliers that were patrolling the hill. Also flying were the aforementioned, annoying Small Heaths but also a female Common Blue, a couple of Meadow Browns and right at the end a Brown Argus.
Mottisfont 01-06-2024
A family trip to Mottisfont. After wandering up the hill along the small chalk stream we reached the Rose Garden. All was quiet inside the calmed enclave, well butterfly wise that is as there were Homo sapiens everywhere. They’d all made the pilgrimage to smell the roses which were putting on a magnificent display. It was the busiest that I’d ever seen it here and if you weren’t careful you ended up being carried around and around trapped in the current of the crowd. With a bit of ‘excuse me’ and ‘please could I just…’ we negotiated our way into the less formal, end garden but even here it was still packed to the rafters and also there wasn’t a single butterfly.
Slightly confused as I was so unused to not seeing anything here we headed out onto the laws where the breeze played across the tops of the grasses and fiddled with the leaves in the trees. From here we stepped into the meadows and followed the mown path right to the end as far as we could go before it doubled back and led us to the gate and the riverside path. There was still a deficit of butterflies although I did spot a couple of Marsh Orchids, their violet colour making them stand out in the sea of straw.
We worked our way back to the main lawn and paused by the Ha-Ha for something to eat. After lunch whilst the others let their dinner go down I investigated the bank of the Ha-Ha. Finally I spotted a butterfly, a Common Blue. This was swiftly followed by a Brown Argus. I was somewhat relieved as I’d though that we’d entered a particularly vicious ‘June Gap’ but there still seemed to be some life left in the tail end to the first part of the season.
As I focused on the Brown Argus another two male Common Blues appeared. They were definitely different individuals as I was witness to all three flying at the same time. At one point I thought I’d found a Dingy but on closer examination it turned out to be very, very tired Burnett Companion. Just as things started to get going the cloud returned and things went quiet again. As the cloud rolled in the butterflies, it seemed, rolled out and apart from a white flying along the edge in the distance later as we were setting off back to the car park, that was it.
Dreadful start to June
Where have the butterflies gone?
I hope they come back…
Slightly confused as I was so unused to not seeing anything here we headed out onto the laws where the breeze played across the tops of the grasses and fiddled with the leaves in the trees. From here we stepped into the meadows and followed the mown path right to the end as far as we could go before it doubled back and led us to the gate and the riverside path. There was still a deficit of butterflies although I did spot a couple of Marsh Orchids, their violet colour making them stand out in the sea of straw.
We worked our way back to the main lawn and paused by the Ha-Ha for something to eat. After lunch whilst the others let their dinner go down I investigated the bank of the Ha-Ha. Finally I spotted a butterfly, a Common Blue. This was swiftly followed by a Brown Argus. I was somewhat relieved as I’d though that we’d entered a particularly vicious ‘June Gap’ but there still seemed to be some life left in the tail end to the first part of the season.
As I focused on the Brown Argus another two male Common Blues appeared. They were definitely different individuals as I was witness to all three flying at the same time. At one point I thought I’d found a Dingy but on closer examination it turned out to be very, very tired Burnett Companion. Just as things started to get going the cloud returned and things went quiet again. As the cloud rolled in the butterflies, it seemed, rolled out and apart from a white flying along the edge in the distance later as we were setting off back to the car park, that was it.
Dreadful start to June
Where have the butterflies gone?
I hope they come back…
