Martin Down 25-09-2022
Having probably used up almost all of my remaining luck on my last visit to Martin Down and drained the remnants at Southbourne I didn’t hold much hope for seeing anything much today. But the weather was holding and at this time of year it pays to get out while you can; better to have gone out and seen very little than stay in when you’ll assuredly see bugger all! I decided that it was time to check out Sillen’s Lane end and so I found myself wandering along the flat track along the hedge heading towards the Hotspot Hollow. In my rush to get out of the house I’d not eaten lunch and so I started munching on my hot pickle sandwich. I thought this would have been okay but the butterflies had other ideas as I’d barely taken three steps from the car when a Meadow Brown fluttered up from the grass catching the sun as it did so. I struggled but in the end managed to get my lens cap off and grab a few shots with one hand whilst the pickle ate it’s way though my cheek.
![25-09-2022 1.JPG (1.48 MiB) Viewed 16561 times 25-09-2022 1.JPG](./files/thumb_9821_d07a91ecad7ddca68cd7f3db073fd62d)
I quickly finished up my sandwich and as the final morsels were flowing like lava down my gullet O spotted the second butterfly of the day – a Cloudy. It seemed like I’d a secret stash of luck that I’d forgotten about! I watched it fly up and down the path before it dropped down. It was quite jittery despite its age so I decided to delay my approach until it had completed a few flaps about and it had settle properly. This didn’t happen and after about 10 seconds or so it would start fidgeting and would take off before settling shortly after. So I settled for watching and following from afar and then nipping in for a few shots when it was still for the 30 seconds or so. It led me on a merry dance along the track and over the scrub to the grassland track that runs parallel to the stony one. It seemed to like the taller vegetation and the longest time it was settled was whilst in a small sapling.
![25-09-2022 2.JPG (1.09 MiB) Viewed 16561 times 25-09-2022 2.JPG](./files/thumb_9821_f9f9740ab3bc926c610a5be6039aa3cf)
![25-09-2022 3.JPG (1.56 MiB) Viewed 16561 times 25-09-2022 3.JPG](./files/thumb_9821_e9f55895bf8a3912bba672ad3fb258c4)
![25-09-2022 4.JPG (1.38 MiB) Viewed 16561 times 25-09-2022 4.JPG](./files/thumb_9821_f4311243b07902a40b7d748cd6033a47)
After a couple of sets of shots I left it in peace and it flew on ahead of me along the grassed track. I too followed this as eventually it fused back with the stony track and from there it would end up at the Hollow Hotspot. A Small White flew past and there were a brace of Small Coppers. At least I think they were a brace, one of them was in such a state that unless I’d gotten a close look it could have been anything! Just before the hedge started up again on my left hand side I spotted a familiar shape making its way towards me. It was a Cloudy and when it landed I managed to get in close I could see that it was the one I’d already encountered.
![25-09-2022 5.JPG (1.69 MiB) Viewed 16561 times 25-09-2022 5.JPG](./files/thumb_9821_3e201f740e1d7b95a77b92ff2196f6a8)
I didn’t add anything extra to the list until I reached the Hotspot itself and here things were quiet – with only a couple of Small Heath and Meadow Browns flying. This persisted all the way along the Dyke until I reached the halfway point where along the Dyke just prior to the bisecting track a few blues turned up. First was a female Common Blue, then a male Chalkhill before the set was completed by a Brown Argus; all one after the other which isn’t normally the way. Usually they descend on you en mass as you’re trying to get shots of one they don’t hang around in the background only appearing once they know you’ve finished with the previous model.
![25-09-2022 6.JPG (1.03 MiB) Viewed 16561 times 25-09-2022 6.JPG](./files/thumb_9821_7d92fa1cae2e7db43574ce4f309fb061)
![25-09-2022 7.JPG (1.47 MiB) Viewed 16561 times 25-09-2022 7.JPG](./files/thumb_9821_37ce83825a3883cf812c3b2f11be31fb)
![25-09-2022 8.JPG (1.28 MiB) Viewed 16561 times 25-09-2022 8.JPG](./files/thumb_9821_4da5f62a7597d8a7297c44e43a9c46eb)
![25-09-2022 9.JPG (1.27 MiB) Viewed 16561 times 25-09-2022 9.JPG](./files/thumb_9821_0e6b4e08fea9d21896628fdaebfb8f3a)
![25-09-2022 10.JPG (1.66 MiB) Viewed 16561 times 25-09-2022 10.JPG](./files/thumb_9821_cb57b3abb7da0e695605183ccf965df1)
At the halfway point the exposed bit of bank along the track played the track host to upwards of 5 Meadow Browns all perched with wings akimbo. Whilst on the other side of the path and along the Dyke a tiny Common Blue and then a female Common Blue both stopped ever so briefly – literally just long enough to go: “What was that? Oh it’s a…” and then they were off. Eventually I reached the Butts and there were a couple of Meadow Browns in the corner at the foot of the Butts as well as a well-worn Adonis. This species seem to show their wear more; you can tell from a distance and in flight that they’re looking past their best. Whereas Chalkhills always look smart when you first catch a glimpse of them and when in flight, right up to the point when they land or sit still and reveal that they’re actually in bits! I had a brief look over Field 4 and 3 now behind, usually in front of the Butts and then returned empty handed back to the little corner. From here I retraced my steps and added a few Small Heath from the grassed path that runs around the foot of the Butts from the main track.
![25-09-2022 11.JPG (1.66 MiB) Viewed 16561 times 25-09-2022 11.JPG](./files/thumb_9821_0e2ff48ac3ae03b549d24f42ceae618c)
I was well on the way back from the Butts to the Halfway Hotspot when the sun dipped behind the clouds as it had been threatening to do all afternoon. As the sun went truant the breeze stiffened and set to quite a blow and I was about to give up and head for home when a Cloudy dropped in, quite literally. It was blown towards me by the breeze and then in the shortest of lulls it sought refuge in some vegetation on the side of the Dyke. This one was definitely a different individual for as I approached it I could see that it was in almost mint condish. I grabbed a couple of record shots as I stalked it but the lack of the sun and its supporting warmth grounded it. I got into a great position kneeling on the side of the Dyke and then waited for the return of the sun. As the light made its way towards me I trained my lens on the butterfly, focused in and as the light hit I started clicking away. I wondered if this would be the very last drop of luck, the final dreg as it were?
![25-09-2022 12.JPG (1.88 MiB) Viewed 16561 times 25-09-2022 12.JPG](./files/thumb_9821_597fa68b78c3767b04462106b2ec17a4)
![25-09-2022 13.JPG (1.25 MiB) Viewed 16561 times 25-09-2022 13.JPG](./files/thumb_9821_c492873a9d8380380f67389a9e55a3c2)
![25-09-2022 14.JPG (1.26 MiB) Viewed 16561 times 25-09-2022 14.JPG](./files/thumb_9821_2f994f2715f3ca816161ec3c0cf0065a)
After a while it must have reached a suitable temperature as it flew and took to fluttering forward and back and perching in different places on either side of the Dyke – showing a penchant for both yellow flowers and also the taller bushes and shrubs/saplings. After I’d watched it land and then take off again from a few different places I set about following it reasoning that should it take off it wasn’t down to me disturbing it rather it was just behaving as had taken its fancy.
![25-09-2022 16.JPG (1.1 MiB) Viewed 16561 times 25-09-2022 16.JPG](./files/thumb_9821_fb8022257c8d8ab80ea6fc94bd09fcdd)
![25-09-2022 18.JPG (743.05 KiB) Viewed 16561 times 25-09-2022 18.JPG](./files/thumb_9821_38e83d91daeff5ecf3f0e0ac98f375b1)
![25-09-2022 19.JPG (423.52 KiB) Viewed 16561 times 25-09-2022 19.JPG](./files/thumb_9821_4b9595ac231d11c420549c8ab9898b98)
![25-09-2022 20.JPG (829.4 KiB) Viewed 16561 times 25-09-2022 20.JPG](./files/thumb_9821_375dd6510e063ae25cd74103bf0f6bf7)
Eventually I left it still flitting between perching spots and made my way back to the Halfway Point. From there I followed the narrow track, past the basking Meadow Browns, and carried on along the diagonal track on a heading towards the Tunnel Track so beloved by Greenstreaks and Holly Blues in the spring. As I walked I’d stop very occasionally for a butterfly; first for a Small Copper, then a Small Heath and finally for another Small Copper. This one had me doing a double take as or a fraction of a second I wondered if it was an aberrant (a schmidtii)? However it was just aged, the wear and tear and the removal of scales giving it the grey-ish paler look that had made me stop and stare. At the end of the diagonal track I wandered along the top track rather than along the lower tunnel track and at the end I found a male Common Blue, Small Heath and another, much more resplendent looking Small Copper. The very final stretch along the main track back towards the car produced a Small White, a Comma and a Speckie which allowed me to reach double digits of species before a Meadow Brown (the same as at the very start?) neatly brought the trip to a nice circular completion. None too shabby when I thought it was (almost) all over!
![25-09-2022 21.JPG (1.54 MiB) Viewed 16561 times 25-09-2022 21.JPG](./files/thumb_9821_1c284b94a0f26f1b7f66a942b7b670d8)
![25-09-2022 22.JPG (1.42 MiB) Viewed 16561 times 25-09-2022 22.JPG](./files/thumb_9821_f227fd84466c1c84195c4fc51e4de179)
![25-09-2022 23.JPG (1.42 MiB) Viewed 16561 times 25-09-2022 23.JPG](./files/thumb_9821_7a0897dcc9b2bf087168a4dcc6b9df1a)
![25-09-2022 24.JPG (1.37 MiB) Viewed 16561 times 25-09-2022 24.JPG](./files/thumb_9821_9aaf9ae01f0c01840e92330a66ce2ba5)
With Autumn colour
Offered up by a Cloudy
Top spot Martin Down
Have a goodun
Wurzel