On Wednesday (18th June) I spent a very enjoyable day at Collard Hill, searching out the somewhat elusive Large Blue. I don't think the species is going to have its greatest season here, and the going may well remain quite tough compared to some previous years. However, with patience and diligent searching it should still be possible for visitors to find a few, especially with NT Large Blue Ranger Jono on site to help out. I had such a good time here in the company of Jono and a handful of other visitors that I'd love to return next week, but the delayed emergence has made the inevitable clash of late June priorities even worse than usual!
Aside from the Large Blue there were Clouded Yellow (including egg-laying helice), Brimstone, Green-veined White, Small Copper, Common Blue, Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell (plenty), Speckled Wood, Marbled White, Meadow Brown, Ringlet, Small Heath and a few Hummingbird Hawkmoth on the wing. A visit to Collard is more than just about butterflies and I spent plenty of time just gazing at the spectacular landscape within which the site sits. I always think it has a surreal, unique quality and it's hardly surprising that so many people attribute it a mystical significance. I very much enjoyed the company of others throughout the day, but equally appreciated the place to myself late into the evening after the sun had set. The Bee Orchids are well worth tracking down too.
The Large Blue was quite tricky to find, but I had a good start at 10.15 am when I noticed a male enjoying a thyme flower breakfast about half way along the slope. Jono and I both tracked and photographed this individual throughout the day, proving beyond any doubt that a single male will cover the entire site, from west to east. Later in the day I watched a female lay about a dozen eggs, before she retired to thick scrub to take a siesta.
By teatime we still only had firm evidence for two individuals, but the best was yet to come. After taking a break I returned in the evening, hoping to find a Large Blue at roost. With so few present this might seem like hunting a 'needle in a haystack', but once you get a feel for where butterflies are likely to roost the odds become substantially better. After a 30 minute search I found a female, which photographic comparisons showed to be a different specimen to the one seen earlier, giving a new minimum count of three. Even better, after returning to photograph a Marbled White I had watched go to roost earlier, sitting no more than a couple of metres away was another Large Blue!
There are plenty of occasions when I have seen far more Large Blue in a day than this, but any day in the company of such a special butterfly in such a special landscape is a day to remember, and this was one of the more memorable.
- a shame to have missed you! Yesterday was fairly quiet, but today we found a couple of egg - laying females, including a really fresh crowd pleaser that sat on a grass stem for pretty much the whole day - lots of happy faces all around the site.
