Perhaps we need the form represented on the species pages ...
Guy
Great shots Bill, I'm glad you had a successful visit! I can't really comment on any recent trends in Chalkhill Blue numbers in the county as this summer I've been spending virtually all of my spare time away from the chalk downs on the Dorset heaths, and I missed their entire flight period last year. However, I've never seen high numbers of the species at Fontmell Down and I think I remember reading/hearing somehwere that the management of the site for Adonis Blue and Silver-spotted Skipper may not be particularly favourable for Chalkhills - does this hold for sites elsewhere in the country? Clubmen's Down and Compton Down, just to the North of Fontmell, seem to be much better for Chalkhills, and Small Blues are also present here while they're absent, or very scarce at Fontmell. Sadly the butterfly seems to be faring very badly on the Purbecks. There are still good numbers at Bindon Hill in the West, and very small numbers at Ballard Down in the East, but they appear to have been lost from the entire length of the Purbeck chalk ridge stretching between these two sites. Some can still be seen at Durlston, and although I haven't visited at the right time of year to see them I get the impression that they are doing alright on Portland. There is a fairly strong, isolated colony at Badbury Rings too and numbers always seem to be pretty good there (it's generally the place that I go if I want to see them). I hadn't heard about a disease affecting the butterfly, but that may well explain why it appears to be suffering in some parts of the county.Willrow wrote:Mystery indeed David, I'd always considered Dorset a rather good county for Chalkhill Blue I'll take a bit more notice in future of postings about the species in Dorset, we may perhaps get a better indication of their current status if our Dorset members could give us some feedback before the end of their flight season.David M wrote: maybe Chalkhills are being afflicted by disease, though I don't really understand how it can seemingly affect populations in just one county.
No such luck Mike, only two fingers for meMikeOxon wrote:I hope it was a Chunky Kit Kat - good dose of chocolate with those!![]()
Best Wishes,
Bill
Good luck with the brake caliper. You may find the following flowchart (which I found on the web at http://www.backwoodshome.com/forum/vb/s ... p?p=314463) to be helpful.Cotswold Cockney wrote:By the way, my old car passed its test with one advisory ...
I hold my hand up!Wurzel wrote:I've just checked some of my Painted Lady shots and they don't have blue centres to the black hind wings spots either so like Millerd I think it is unusual. Has NickB got confused with the two blue marks on the very margin where the hind wings meet as all my shots do have those?
Have a goodun
Wurzel
i heard somewhere (don't know where, sorry) that there was a host-specific parasite that affects the Chalkhill Blue. And that this was found at southerly sites but it hadn't got as far north as sites like Devil's Dyke, Cambridgeshire, which is one reason why it does extremely well there.dorsetguy wrote: I hadn't heard about a disease affecting the butterfly, but that may well explain why it appears to be suffering in some parts of the county.
That's been my experience too.Hoggers wrote:But a chum of mine in King's Lynn emailed to say he's seen more Peacocks there this last week than ever before.
Brimstones are always far less approachable in spring as the males are in constant search of females which is why they rarely settle for long.Hoggers wrote: but are the Spring Brimstones less approachable than those in August? I couldn't get near them in March but today had no trouble ( or maybe my SAS-Style butterfly stalking skills have improved? )
I was at Noar Hill the previous day, and only saw Meadow Browns. I wasn't in full butterfly mode as I was with my extended family, but I kept an eye out for BH, without having much clue where to look. I did see something small and bronzish fly past in the breeze, but suspect it was a vapourer moth or something. Our visit was cut short by a huge thundery downpour that soaked us to the skinjackz432r wrote:My first visit to Noar Hill today was a little disappointingNot high numbers or many species, though I suppose the season is winding down. No Brown Hairstreaks, although somebody else did see a female whilst I was there. I was obviously not in the right place at the right time.