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:

Hampshire Butterflies - Martin Down 6th July

I had planned to visit Martin Down NNR for Chalkhill Blue and Wall with Quail having been reported over the last couple of days adding an additional incentive. I parked at the Sillen Lane car park and walked west and quickly encountered a Quail singing from the first corn field to the north of the track and then a second singing at close range from the reserve, and then a third from the next cornfield and as I headed west two further birds were singing from the reserve. There were at least five Quail singing although there were reports today of seven. After some time sound recording on of the closest quail (see my eBird checklist here: https://ebird.org/checklist/S257449031) I crossed over to Bockerley Dyke and walked south before crossing back to the car park. The grassland was alive with butterflies with numerous Chalkhill Blue seen but no sign of Wall despite checking some of the main spots, perhaps my visit was timed between broods. Other species seen included Dark-green Fritillary, Small Copper, Common Blue, Essex Skipper, Small Skipper and Large Skipper.

Chalkhill Blue

Chalkhill Blue

Chalkhill Blue

Chalkhill Blue

Essex Skipper

Essex Skipper showing the diagnostic black antennae tips

Essex Skipper with the Conopid fly Sicus ferrugineous

Dark-green Fritillary

Dark-green Fritillary showng the white underwing spots which Silver-washed Fritillary lacks

Dark-green Fritillary note the black ant attached to the hind leg

Gatekeeper

Small Copper

Ringlet

The rare Large Red-belted Scabious Bee Andrena hattorfiana

Pennington Marsh and Crockford Bridge - 28th July

After some long hours working over the last couple of weeks I took a couple of hours off in the early morning and went to Pennington Marsh. I have not been to the marsh since the end of April and so a visit was long overdue. I walked out past Shoveler Pools and then back around Jetty and Butts Lagoons before heading back to the car. The weather was terrible, a strong westerly wind and heavy showers and so my visit was brief to say the least. I think most of the birds were sheltering and I saw relatively little. Around 25 Sand Martin were moving westwards into the wind, around 30 Black-tailed Godwit were on the lagoons, two Common Sandpiper, 15 Whitethroat, 75 Dunlin, a few Grey Plover in fine summer plumage and a Spoonbill on Butts Lagoon was about all I saw. I made a dash for the car and was soaked.

Black-tailed Godwit - Now in heavy moult

Black-tailed Godwit - This is a very warn winter plumage bird that had not 

moulted to summer plumage

Black-headed Gull - Now moulting to winter plumage

Black-headed Gull - A juvenile mouthing to 1st winter

Cormorant

Rock Samphire

Bank of rain approaching, it was very wet and windy and felt more like November than late July

Grey Plover - Fantastic birds in summer plumage

Spoonbill

As I left the weather brightened slightly and I decided to pop into Crockford Bridge in the hope of finding some sheltering Odonata - perhaps ridiculously optimistically. I wandered for around 50m east from the road and fairly quickly found a couple of Southern Damselfly and a Blue-tailed Damselfly but with more rain approaching I decided to head for the office.

Blue-tailed Damselfly

Southern Damselfly

Small Copper

Brown China-mark

Hampshire Purslane

Round-leaved Sundew