Southbourne 03-09-2023
I’d been keeping an eye on various Social Networking sites as well as the sightings pages of various local branch websites and 2023 wasn’t turning into much of a ‘Cloudy’ year. I’d witnessed this first hand having not seen a single one despite checking the various regular hotspots at numerous sites. So I decided to bite the bullet and take the trip to Southbourne where a small breeding colony seems to be established. My hopes were high as the weather looked to be perfect and I’d even managed to find some free parking down one of the residential streets. From my abandoned car I walked straight through the car park and down to the beach and from here I wandered along the promenade staring to my right up at the cliffs. On the corner of the first line of beach huts I spotted my first butterfly, and even though it was just a White, I trotted up the steps, leant over into the rough grasses clinging to the side of the cliff and got a few shots. It always comes as a bit of a relief to get those first shots on the memory card.
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With my ‘eyes in’ I returned to walking along the prom. Stonechats would occasionally chastise me and gulls would ‘kee-aww’ above and there were plenty of whites; all keeping their distance. The Small Whites in particular proved troublesome as at a distance and in the bright, clear morning light they’d take on a yellowish hue. Having not seen any Cloudys since Corfu back in April, a couple of which were Helice, there were a number of instances when I’d watch a butterfly intently from afar only for it to land and open its wings up instantly revealing it to be just a Small White rather than a Helice. As I continued on I came across a few Whites that were flying closer to the beach along with a few Red Admirals – some of which seemed to be setting off for (even) sunnier climes. One of the Small Whites I found in a cluster of Whites in a little flowered flat spot had quite concave black spots and the black markings on the wing tips went almost down far enough for Southern Small White…almost but not quite far enough unfortunately.
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The next big sighting was actually a Fox that wandered across the cliff about half way up. It sat for a moment seemingly staring right at me before sauntering off unfazed amid the gorse. As I watched it disappear into the foliage I spotted a bright orange butterfly – a Small Copper. For this one I actually climbed up and over the wall and ‘securing’ myself by holding the flimsiest of vegetation with one hand I tried for a few shots. It too was dicing with death for waiting for it on the asters was a Crab Spider, legs ready to envelope it in a fatal embrace.
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I walked on further than I had on my first visit here and kept going until I got to one of the zig-zag paths. There was another Small Copper just before my turn off after another set of Whites – which seemed to be either spilling down over the top and then bombing along the cliff face or sitting in small clusters at various intervals along the lower parts of the cliffs. On the walk up I stopped for a while, enchanted by a Wall Lizard which oddly enough was clambering along one of the walls of the zig-zag.
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At the top of the hill running along the cliff top was the ‘reserve’ and so I retraced my steps; back down the zig-zag path, all the way back along the sea front and finally back up the hill to the car park. From here I worked my way alongside the top and then started at one end of the reserve so as not to miss out on anything that may have been lurking up at the top. The habitat changed as I walked from sea top footpath, down through lawns mown to within an inch of their lives and then more rough ground that, had it not been for the tall town houses and hotels on one side, could have passed for the beginnings of a dune system. All the while I checked every White just in case and sought out anything yellow in colour, even the flowers should a Cloudy be lurking camouflaged within but despite covering much ground there was not a sniff of my quarry. There had been plenty of Red Admirals, so many, and so likely that I’d count the same one several times that I scrubbed out my mental tally of them and just enjoyed the sight of them whizzing out into the void. There was also a brace of Common Blues but mainly I saw Large, Small and Unidentified Whites. Eventually the reserve ran out but I kept going, working my way through the Boscombe Gardens and out the other side. I paused here to take in a very worn Hummingbird Hawkmoth and once through the gardens the path started to fall down to the sea as it emerged onto the main footpath down to the beach. On the corner a large clump of Ivy was standing sentinel on the corner and a Holly Blue was attempting to lay on it.
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Once I’d tumbled back down to the sea-font I realised that I’d reached Boscombe Pier and so I set off back along the front past rows and rows of beach huts seeking out the zig-zag paths that would take me back up to the top again. Along the way I was stopped by an odd sight. Hemmed in to the cliff faces were two large, whites were consuming their way across the cliff-face. They had the look of the Mountain Goat from Canada about them and in the balmy weather bathing Britain they looked doubly incongruous. Weird wildlife aside I’d worked my way back up to the top with a brief sighting of a Painted Lady. ON the walk back along the top despite spotting two Common Blues, a Small Copper and a multitude of Whites and Red Admirals there was still no sign of a Cloudy…
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Finally footsore and very warm I turned off the track and headed for home. As I drove home I reasoned that perhaps I’d arrived a bit early either for those that were coming over from the continent or the homegrown ones. So I’d have to head back onto the Social Networking sites and keep a closer eye out…
No Cloudys yet seen
Try my luck down in Dorset
But still too early…
Have a goodun
Wurzel