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

Martin Down and Bentley Wood - 23rd May

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

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