Hampshire Butterflies - Stockbridge Down 8th August - My Final Butterfl

After my trip to Malaysia, Sumatra and Borneo I returned to the UK itching to head out for my final regularly breeding butterfly in Hampshire. And so On 8th August I headed to Stockbridge Down and walked from the eastern car park up slope to the rampart and then across the open downland. It was not until I was in the open downland where there was a high abundance of flowering Scabious that I encountered my first Silver-spotted Skipper eventually seeing around four individuals.

Silver-spotted Skipper

Silver-spotted Skipper

Silver-spotted Skipper

It was a fantastic few owns on the reserve with an abundance of butterflies on the wing with Chalkhill Blue, Adonis Blue, Dingy Skipper, Clouded Yellow, Small Heath, Small Tortoiseshell and Small Copper being the highlights.

Chalkhill Blue

Chalkhill Blue

Chalkhill Blue

Chalkhill Blue

Chalkhill Blue

Adonis Blue

Small Tortoiseshell - Only the second that I have seen in Hampshire this year

Small Tortoiseshell

Green-veined White

Speckled Wood

Meadow Brown

Small Copper

Clouded Yellow

Dingy Skipper

Treblebar

Kite-tailed Robberfly Tolmerus atricapillus

Waisted Beegrabber Physocephala rufipes a Conopid fly

The Tachinid fly Nowickia ferox

Hornet Robberfly Asilus crabroniformis with Field Grasshopper prey

Hornet Robberfly

Silver-spotted Skipper was the last of the regularly breeding butterfly for me to see in Hampshire this year and so at the end of the season my list looks like this:

Noar Hill National Nature Reserv, Selbourne - 21st May

After a breeding bird survey near to Havant I headed to Noar Hill National Nature Reserve to see if I could connect with Duke of Burgundy. This 20 hectare reserve was was formerly a medieval chalk working is owned and managed by Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust (HIWWT). The reserve consists of a mosaic of scrub and species rich grassland which has a high diversity of invertebrates, many of which are rare and scarce. The population of Duke of Burgundy at the site is one of the strongest in Hampshire and, while towards the end of the flight season, I was keen to see this rare and localised species which is on the wing for only a few weeks in a year. On arrival at the site the first butterfly I saw was indeed a Duke of Burgundy but it was a very tatty individual with worn wings and a missing antennae. The next butterfly was a stunning and pristine Small Blue and then a Dingy Skipper. I began to encounter more Duke's and through the hour or so I was at the site I encountered around 15 specimens, mostly they were fairly worn, but I came across at least three fresher individuals.

It was still a little early for the vegetation to be in full bloom but there were hundreds of Common Twayblade and Cowslip as well as around 10 Early Purple Orchid which were far past there best. It was a very enjoyable stop but the pressure was on to get back to my desk.

Duke of Burgundy - Noar Hill NNR, Selbourne

Duke of Burgundy - Noar Hill NNR, Selbourne

Duke of Burgundy - Noar Hill NNR, Selbourne

Small Heath - Noar Hill NNR, Selbourne

Common Blue - Noar Hill NNR, Selbourne

Common Blue - Noar Hill NNR, Selbourne

Small Blue - Noar Hill NNR, Selbourne

Dingy Skipper - Noar Hill NNR, Selbourne

The micromoth Pyrausta purpurea - Noar Hill NNR, Selbourne

Common Twayblade - Noar Hill NNR, Selbourne

Eyebright - Noar Hill NNR, Selbourne

Common Milkwort - Noar Hill NNR, Selbourne

Isle of Wight Weekend 15th-17th May

Sarah, Tobias and I had a weekend on the Isle of Wight to catch-up with my family but I also hoped to get out and about a little. After a hideous wet day on 15th I decided to head for St. Catherine's Point early on the 16th for a bit of seawatching even though the wind was firmly in the west, this was a last ditch attempt to see Pomarine Skua this spring after several failed attempts at Hurst Spit and Milford on Sea but it was not to be and the spring could well be Pom-less. There was little moving in the two hours that I gave it, 125 Gannet, six Manx Shearwater, two Sandwich Tern and four Kittiwake all moving east. I decided to have a stomp around the bushes but again it seemed pretty quiet with two Lesser Whitethroat, a Reed Warbler and a single Spotted Flycatcher. A Red Squirrel showed very well at the top of the lighthouse road, a species I have only seen on a handful of times at St. Catherine's.

The 16th was spent with my family and I had a very welcome lie-in for a change. I was back at St. Catherine's Point on 17th in a south-west and again didn't expect to see a great deal - although the hope for a Pom was ever present. One Manx Shearwater moving west, a handful of Gannet and six Common Scoter east was all that was seen in two hours of watching so I gave up and wandered the bushes but it was very slow going. I decided to have a quick dash in the now sunny conditions to one of my favourite butterfly spots and one that I have been visiting for around 20 years now, Brook and Compton Downs. This site is a fantastic expanse of chalk downland owned and managed by the National Trust. I parked in the small car park near to Brook Hill House at SZ 3947 8506 and walked west along the foot of the downs to approximately SZ 3853 8513. The track running along the foot of the downs faces south and rapidly warms in the morning and it is an excellent location to see many of the species present. The first section of path supports a colony of Wall Brown, a very localised species in Hampshire now, and it was good to see around five on the wing. Dingy Skipper were abundant with perhaps 35 seen.

Wall Brown

Dingy Skipper

Buzzard - Two at Brook Down kept an eye on what I was doing

Stoat - This animal ran up the path towards me and was a little shocked to see me standing there 

At my most westerly location at SZ 3853 8513 there is a small quarry and this is an excellent location for Small Blue and around 15 were present, some of which had clearly very recently emerged. This is a good location for Adonis Blue but despite hunting high and low none were to be seen, my first Common Blue of the year was a welcome sight though. Walking back to the car, I followed one of the many livestock paths that contours the down. I scanned the bramble bushes and eventually picked out a Green Hairstreak, this is a species that is relatively common on the scattered scrub on the downs but can be somewhat elusive unless one knows the traditional patches of scrub where they occur.

Brook and Compton Down looking north-west to Freshwater Bay and Tennyson Down

Small Blue

Common Blue

Green Hairstreak

I spent the last 30 minutes in the quarry by the carpark, this is a fantastic little spot for a diversity of butterflies and have have spent many hours here in the past. Grizzled Skipper, Dingy Skipper, Common Blue, Adonis Blue, Small Heath, Peacock and Wall Brown were all on the wing here.

Grizzled Skipper

Adonis Blue

Beaulieu Road Station and Stockbridge Down - 13th May

Having finished a survey a little earlier than thought I decided to head to Beaulieu Road Station for a short walk before heading to the office. It was a beautiful warm mid-May morning, just when the New Forest is at its best. Dartford Warbler were conspicuous and in full song and on the path from Shatterford Car Park south to Bishops Dyke two males were in full song amongst the Gorse and Heather.  

Dartford Warbler (Male) - Beaulieu Road Station

Dartford Warbler (same bird as above)

There were three pairs of Stonechat between the Shatterford Car Park and Bishop's Dyke and all had at least three fledged chicks as a result the adults, and especially the males, were defensive and followed me with their harsh chacking. While there were at least two bubbling Curlew and two pairs of Lapwing I was a little concerned not to hear any drumming Snipe, a sound that is usually typical of this site in the spring.

Stonechat (Male)

Through the scattered trees that line Bishop's Dyke the distinct 'chipping' of Crossbill could be heard from the Larch and Scot's pines and eventually at least three adult male, five female and 10 juvenile were seen although all were rather distant in the tree-tops. There were at least three singing male Redstart here and again the birds were mostly frequenting the tree tops, their stunning plumage contrasting against the blue sky of the morning. I had a quick coffee in Denny Wood where other than a Cuckoo singing amongst the Birch little was to be seen - even the Redstart were remarkably quiet presumably settled into breeding.

Crossbill - Male in Larch

Redstart - Male

Cuckoo in Birch at Denny Wood

With an hour or so to spare I decided to head to Stockbridge Down, one of my old butterfly'ing haunts, to catch-up with some spring species. Stockbridge Down is a fantastic site with a good diversity of butterfly species as well as picking-up a few migrant birds. I parked in the lower car park and walked along the track running parallel with the road and then over the road to the fantastic flower-rich meadow with abundant Cowslip. Below are the highlights of my short stop, in addition a single Pearl-bordered Fritillary was seen, a species I have not seen at this site previously.

Small Heath - Two were seen and both appeared freshly emerged

Dingy Skipper - Approximately 15 seen, most were again very fresh

Dingy Skipper - Feeding on its larval foodplant, Horseshoe Vetch

Grizzled Skipper - Just one seen

Duke of Burgundy - The prize species with at least six seen

Duke of Burgundy showing the underside of the wings

Duke of Burgundy belongs to the 'Metalmarks' a family with distinctive metallic markings, in this image the metallic bluish of the base of the forewing can be seen