Hampshire Dragonflies - Hatchet Moor and Testwood Lakes 11th and 12th June

My next spring target in my quest to see all the regular Hampshire Odonata and Butterflies were Downy Emerald and Scarce Chaser. Hatchet Pond is a reliable site for the former and so after a survey on 11th June, but in less then ideal conditions, I stopped in the NW corner of the pond and quickly located a couple of Downy Emerald, despite the suboptimal conditions they refused to stop and were continuously patrolling back and forth low over the water. An immature male Emperor Dragonfly and Common Blue Damselfly also braved the wind and cloud.

Downy Emerald

Emperor Dragonfly

On 12th June I visited Testwood Lakes, a site within 15 minutes of home but one that I had never visited before. Main target was Scarce Chaser, a species of sluggish and well vegetated streams and rivers, it took a little while before I located my first, an adult male, in this species the juveniles are actually more stunning showing a bright orange hue. I was happy with this stunning adult male though.

Hampshire Dragonflies - Hatchet Moor and Crockford Bridge 10th June

With a good selection of the spring butterflies under my belt it was time for me to head to a couple of New Forest sites to get my Hampshire Odonata list underway in my quest to see all the regular butterfly and Odonata species in the county.

I started at Hatchet Small Pond to the south of the main Hatchet Pond where the only new species for the year was Black-tailed Skimmer, but I did also see Azure Damselfly, Large Red Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly and Blue-tailed Damselfly.

Black-tailed Skimmer

Black-tailed Skimmer

Large Red Damselfly

Blue-tailed Damselfly - Note the red mite on top of the abdomen and the line of dark coloured mites on the underside of the abdomen.

Common Blue Damselfly

I then headed to Crockford Bridge, a classic New Forest Odonata site, but by now it was a little cloudy and the wind had really gathered strength and so it was not easy finding species. However, after a little while I saw Southern Damselfly, Beautiful Demoiselle, Broad-bodied Chaser, Keeled Skimmer and a glimpse of a probable Gold-ringed Dragonfly but it was swept away by the wind before I could be sure. The walk back to the car produced my first Silver-studded Blue of the year and an Emperor Dragonfly.

Male Keeled Skimmer

Immature male Keeled Skimmer

Egg laying female Broad-bodied Chaser

Beautiful Demoiselle

Beautiful Demoiselle

Beautiful Demoiselle

The highly localised Southern Damselfly

Southern Damselfly

A stunning male Silver-studded Blue

Glanville Fritillary - 30th May

A short visit to the Isle of Wight to see familybut i had a little time for birding and entomology.  One of my main targets in the short amount of time I had was Glanville Fritillary; a species I have not seen for many years. I visited Compton Chine where, in very windy and rather cool conditions, I eventually found a couple of rather lethargic individuals and then at Brook Down a slightly more lively individual in more sheltered conditions.

Hampshire Butterflies - Parkhill Inclosure, Brockenhurst 19th May

A visit to Parkhill Inclosure for Pearl-bordered Fritillary. I parked at Standing Hat car park and wandered north. The weather was mainly cloudy and there was very little on the wing but a sunny spell at around 16:30 produced enough warmth for insect activity to increase and was sufficient for me to record two Pearl-bordered. Also, Broad-bordered Chaser which was an addition to my Hampshire odonata list for the year.

Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Broad-bodied Chaser

Hampshire Butterflies - Martin Down 17th May

My second outing in my quest to see all of the regularly breeding butterflies in Hampshire took me to Martin Down on 17th May primarily for Marsh Fritillary which is on the wing from mid-May to mid-June. Its very important to target these species with short flight periods at the peak of their season to avoid missing them - although I guess thats an obvious statement, even with so few species to see in Hampshire, some planning is required. Other targets here were Adonis Blue, Green Hairstreak and Small Blue all of which were seen.

Marsh Fritillary - Slightly worn but still a stunning and highly localised 

species in Hampshire

Marsh Fritillary - A much fresher individual than that above

Marsh Fritillary

Marsh Fritillary

Adonis Blue - Intense blue with black lines crossing through the white border of both fore and hind wings, a stunning species of sparse chalk grassland

Green Hairstreak

Green Hairstreak

Small Blue

Small Heath

Small Heath

Common Blue - Note how the black sub-margin of the wing lacks the cross lines bisecting the white wing border unlike Adonis Blue

Brimstone - An egg laying female, note the egg towards the base of the plant 

on the right hand side

Grizzled Skipper

Burnet Companion

Forester Moth

The stunning hoverfly Xanthogramma citrofasciatum

The bumblebee mimic hoverfly Volucella bombylans

Hampshire Butterflies - Stockbridge Down 2nd May

I have set myself the task of seeing all of Hampshire's regular breeding butterflies and dragonflies/damselflies this year its not an especially challenging task given the small number of species involved but I thought it would be an interesting little project for the season. These are the regularly breeding butterfly species with 42 species present.

I began the season with a visit to Stockbridge Down on 2nd May where the main target was Duke of Burgundy but with other targets such as Brown Argus, Grizzled Skipper, Dingy Skipper and Green Hairstreak in mind. I managed to find around 3-4 nice fresh Duke's and also the two Skipper's and the Argus but the Hairstreak eluded me but there is plenty of time to try for this.

Duke of Burgundy - Stockbridge Down. A scarce species in Hampshire as in all counties, around 20 sites in Hampshire with the best sites being Butser Hill and Noar Hill where peak counts of 43 and 28, respectively, in 2022.

Duke of Burgundy - Stockbridge Down

Grizzled Skipper - Stockbridge Down

Grizzled Skipper - Stockbridge Down

Brown Argus - Stockbridge Down

18th June - Martin Down

 On 18th June I visited the wonderful expanse of chalk grassland that is Martin Down National Nature Reserve. My main aim was to see the mythical hoverfly Doros profuges, a species about which very little is known and, until regular appearances at Martin Down in recent years, was rarely seen. Despite searching a few known spots on the reserve I had no luck and I was amazed at the general lack of insects on the wing, no doubt attributable to recent poor weather.

The spectacular hoverfly Xylota sylvarum

The rather bizarre looking Conopid fly Sicus ferrugineous

The robberfly Machimus rusticus

Large Skipper

Dock Bug Coreus marginatus

A stumbled across this large specimen of Frog Orchid, a species that is 

often very small and tricky to locate.