Marbled White and Adonis

[cjs]

Hi, I am trying to find any reliable sites for the Marbled White and Adonis and best time to catch both.
Charlie

[Pete Eeles]

Hi Charlie - 2 things to consider:

Flight period. You'll either end up seeing very worn first brood Adonis Blue just as the Marbled White are starting to emerge, or very worn Marbled White just as the Adonis Blue second brood is emerging. And there's a possibility that you'll miss seeing both species. Take a look at the phenology charts here: http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/species_phenologies.php

Location. Where are you looking to visit? Which part of the the world do you live in?

Cheers,

- Pete

[cjs]

Hi Pete, Thanks for the reply. I'm from Lancashire and like most people I would like to have a look at as many species of butterfly as I can wherever in the UK that may take me. I have seen 46 species and according to my list there are another 13 that I could look for (not certain how accurate my list is). The 13 are
Chequered Skipper, Silver-spotted Skipper and Real's Wood White.
Essex Skipper, Purple Hairstreak, Black Hairstreak, Heath Fritillary, Marbled White,
Chalkhill Blue, Adonis Blue, White Admiral, Purple Emperor and Large Blue which I had gone too early for last year.
But a walk in a pleasant part of the country will suffice. So far have been to some wonderful places and met some wonderful people, what a great hobby Oh and by the way what a great site this is too.
Any suggestions.
Charlie

[cjs]

Just realised that what I have posted is a bit off. Not every year but occasionally we plan a week away looking for different species. What we were planning to do this year is choose a site or group of sites where we would spend a week and might have an opportunity to see ones we have not seen before. I will check the flight periods and sites and plan a visit from there. Thanks.
Charlie

[Mark Senior]

Castle Hill NR Woodingdean , Brighton can give you Marbled White , Chalkhill and Adonis Blues certainly the 1st two at the same time .
Various woods in Sussex can give you Purple Emperor and Purple Hairstreak combined with the 1st 2 above if timed right .

[cjs]

Thanks Mark, that's really helpful and has got me looking more closely at the various aspects of this site.
Charlie

[Matsukaze]

If you see Large Blue, you will almost certainly see Marbled White at the same time and place.

[cjs]

Thanks Matsukaze, Yes I will have to re-visit Collard Hill sometime. when we were there although we were a week or so too early for the Large Blue the display of orchids did make up for it.
Charlie

[cjs]

Using the flight times and sites guide and maps etc. Thanks.
We have decided to have a couple of trips. The first one will be the first week in June to Bin Combe or Haddon Hill in the hope of seeing the Heath Fritillary then back to White Sheet Hill or Long Knoll for the Adonis.
Not planned the second trip yet but was looking at the 4th week in July for Marbled White and Chalkhill Blue with possibly Purple Emperor and Purple Hairstreak.
Charlie

[kevling]

Charlie,

For Marbled White and Chalkhill blue, I would recommend Box Hill and Denbies Hillside in Surrey (Box Hill should also provide Silver Spotted Skippers). Dropping due south into Sussex there are various woods for Purple Emperor/Hairstreak (i.e. Southwater Woods, Wallis Wood and Warnham NR).

Regards Kev

[Matsukaze]

Hi Charlie,

Of the two sites, I'd suggest White Sheet Hill would be the easier - there is a convenient car park at the end of the track and the Adonis fly either on the steep slope just over the stile or in the chalk quarry a short distance further on. The other scarce spring downland butterflies also fly there, although they will not be at their best in early June. Long Knoll is an undiscovered gem of a site, but requires parking in Maiden Bradley and a half-mile walk along a dangerous road to get there - the site is very large, uncomfortably steep and it is harder to track down the butterflies (there are the same species, just spread more thinly across a larger area).

[cjs]

HI Kev, What a good idea we have been to Denbies Hillside once when we stayed at Leatherhead, can't remember what that was for, but it is a great place so will most likely give it another try. I never even gave the Silver-spotted Skipper a thought and looking at the flight times your right, with a bit of luck and some nice weather its a chance so Box Hill as well. Thanks for the suggestion of the woods you mentioned and don't see why I don't do just that as well. Will post an update to let you know how I get on.
Sorry for late reply, Charlie.

[cjs]

Hi Matsukaze, Thanks for the information that's very helpful of you. White Sheet Hill does sound the better of the two so will try there, but your mention of Long Knoll being an undiscovered gem of a site sounds tempting as well so if the weather is kind to us we will give that some thought and maybe put that on the agenda too. Thanks again and sorry for late reply and will keep you posted later in the year.
Charlie

[MrSp0ck]

Denbies Hillside car park has had Purple Emperor fly over and land in an Ash Tree, so you can be lucky. White Admirals are also in the area of Ranmore Common opposite. Marbled White, Silver-Spotted Skipper, Chalkhill and Adonis Blues all occur on the Hillside.