Spent this morning with the Glanville Fritillary...in lovely sunshine! Arrived at this interesting location at 8.30 and was greeted on my way down the track towards the stile by three Glanville in lovely condition. This is my first experience of the species, the incredible history of this butterfly made me feel rather humbled, it was a privilege to spend time with them. I sat quietly watching them go about their business, and as I sipped hot coffee for my elevenses, they took nectar from their favoured Birdsfoot Trefoil
Lotus corniculatus just a matter of feet away. The Common Blue gave them little peace, constantly moving them on from their nectar source, yet often they returned to the same plant moments later after managing to out manoeuvre their pugnacious antagonist. There are several swards of Birdsfoot Trefoil on the slopes of the 'hotspot', but it's hugely important to be very careful not to trample it down, I would heartily recommend a good pair of binoculars if you intend visiting, then you can observe without doing any damage to the habitat at this special sanctuary for this superb insect. It proved tricky getting reasonable photographs from the path, but it can be done!
As a matter of interest I had a pretty good look around most of the areas on The Point that I thought the Glanville may favour, I was pleasantly surprised to find them along the entire lower pathway in mainly single numbers, I actually saw one out on the top of the hill in the later stages of the morning, however, by about 1pm the sky had totally clouded over and all species went to ground and there was not a single Glanville to be found. Two young chaps had travelled from Exeter and Gloucester, but by then the sun had retired and they sadly saw little but the odd Brown Argus, Small Copper and loads of folded Common Blues.
Allowing for any chance of double counting, I estimated that I saw at least 20 Glanville throughout a five hour visit. My advice is to arrive at Sand Point early and check the latest weather forecast for the sunshine. I would like to express my gratitude to Jack and Zonda for their excellent advice about the 'Hotspot'. Sand Point is a wonderful place.
Bill
PS. Keep your eyes open for Cream-spot Tiger (Moth) should you decide to visit, it has Local status, not a very common critter nowadays!