On a beautiful sunny morning I visited Martin Down National Nature Reserve primarily to see Burnt Orchid, now in its peak flowering period. Parking in the car park off the A354, on opening the car door I immediately heard the beautiful soft purring of a
Turtle Dove, the bird showed well in the scrub adjacent to the car park as it sat atop a Hawthorn and undertook frequent display flights. From the car park I headed directly to the Bockerly Dyke and walked southwards. The sound of
Corn Bunting,
Sky Lark and
Yellowhammer filled the air and my first
Cuckoo called distantly. Butterflies were abundant with good numbers of Small Blue, Common Blue and Dingy Skipper and smaller numbers of Adonis Blue, Grizzled Skipper and Green Hairstreak. I soon reached the area for the Burnt Orchid and found around 10 nearly pristine examples. Wandering back towards the car I spent some time with the small colony of Marsh Fritillary that occur just north of the main mound of the firing range. I came across around 10 males and a freshly emerged female, these are stunning butterflies and one of my favourite British species.
Burnt Orchid - Martin Down NNR
Burnt Orchid - Martin Down NNR
Burnt Orchid - Martin Down NNR
Field Fleawort - Martin Down NNR
Crosswort - Martin Down NNR
Grizzled Skipper - Martin Down NNR
Adonis Blue - Martin Down NNR
Green Hairstreak - Martin Down NNR
Marsh Fritillary - Martin Down NNR
Marsh Fritillary - Martin Down NNR
Turtle Dove - Martin Down NNR
Yellowhammer - Martin Down NNR
Yellowhammer - Martin Down NNR
Corn Bunting - Martin Down NNR
I then headed the short distance to Bentley Wood where I spent an hour or so in the Eastern Clearing. Here a very obliging and freshly emerged Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary was conspicuous amongst the more worn and more abundant (c.15) Pearl-bordered Fritillary. A couple of rather tatty Marsh Fritillary and a Grizzled Skipper were also present. However, the highlight was a stunning fresh Narrow-bordered Bee Hawk which showed very well, it appeared to have just emerged and spent some time perched low in the vegetation before vanishing at high speed and with a deep humming sound.
Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary - Eastern Clearing, Bentley Wood
Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary - Eastern Clearing, Bentley Wood
Pearl-bordered Fritillary - Eastern Clearing, Bentley Wood
Narrow-bordered Bee Hawk - Eastern Clearing, Bentley Wood
