A visit to Pig Bush and to the Rowbarrow bog for Four-spotted Chaser, a common species in the New Forest which I had so far failed to see. There were several fresh individuals bombing around the bog with Keeled Skimmer and Large Red Damselfly also seen.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
